Can you become immune to insulin? Can hospital mix yr result

[Metalmama]

Hello,
I have had diabetes for almost 40 years, but of late my usually brill control, has gone out of control, or so it seems???
I have several questions:
Firstly, I have hypos quite a lot yet my long range test came back at a shocking 15!!!!!!! I don't believe this right at all. Can the hospital mix up your results with someone else? I truly believe this is wrong as my meter averages are in single figures.
Secondly, can you become immune to insulin over time? I was told at the clinic, yes this was true. I
I don't want 4-5 jabs a day, would prefer two or three but need to look at an insulin that will work, as currently am so stressed out with it all. So am looking at options.
What works for everyone else on 2 or three a day?
As per previous post, I don't want a pump or Lantus.
Thanks!

 

[phoenix]

Re: Can you become immune to insulin? Can hospital mix yr re

HI,
I suppose anyone can make an error but I suspect it is unlikely.
Are you testing your levels before/2 hours after meals + fasting and bedtime. Unless you are testing quite frequently a low average on the meter might not reflect the highs.
I can't really help you on different insulin regimes, I have a pump which I like very much and on MDI I used lantus which was fine.
(I went on a pump to be able to reduce my basal during exercise, luckily I'm not in the UK)

 

[Metalmama]

Re: Can you become immune to insulin? Can hospital mix yr re

Hi and thanks for the reply.
Yes I am testing before, fasting and after meals 2hrs.
I am really puzzled as not sure what is going on to be honest :|

 

[iHs]

Re: Can you become immune to insulin? Can hospital mix yr re

Hi

To get the best from any insulin regime regardless of whether its bolus/basal (Lantus etc) or twice daily mixed insulins, its essential to test bg levels at least 4 times a day and also to get the carbohydrate balanced even better, test 6 times a day.

How often do you test your bg levels? If you only test 2 or 3 times a day and the results are normal then that doesn't mean that your hba1c test is also going to be ok. It just means that when you do the test your bg levels are ok at that moment of time... the hba1c test covers a 90 day period......

It is true to some extent that over a period of time, people will need to adjust their insulin so it might just be that you need to use more of it that's all.... moreso if you have put on some weight...

There are various twice daily insulins to use..... so you might just need something with a bit more fast acting insulin in the mix than the one you are using..............

 

[Metalmama]

Re: Can you become immune to insulin? Can hospital mix yr re

Hi thanks for your reply.
I am testing around 6-8 times a day hence am puzzled by the clinic reading.
Also I hardly eat anything, today I could count on one hand, all the things I ate.
I am not overweight, live off very little food and have to inject loads to get any level of decent reading even though I eat like a sparrow. :|

 

[CarbsRok]

Re: Can you become immune to insulin? Can hospital mix yr re

Are you rotating your injection sites?
Also are you sure your insulin is OK? I have had issues with 2 different lots of insulin which were completely naff. I've had words with the pharmacy about this who in turn are having words with their wholesaler

 

[iHs]

Re: Can you become immune to insulin? Can hospital mix yr re

Also, are you sure that the long range 15 was told to you as a percentage. It might be that a mistake has been made and the 15 is really 51. An hba1c of 15% is extremely high and you would be very tired, have poor vision and loads of infections.... If you haven't got any of these symptoms then there is something wrong and you need to have the hba1c test done again just to make sure that a mistake hasn't been made.............

 

[noblehead]

Re: Can you become immune to insulin? Can hospital mix yr re

Using the converter here: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-to-bloo ... erter.html your bg would be around 25mmol/l with an Hba1c of 15, are these the sort of readings you see when testing throughout the day?

 

[jopar]

Re: Can you become immune to insulin? Can hospital mix yr re

Animal insulin yes you can build immunity to it, human insulin unlikely but possible....

As to hospital mixing up results unlikely but again possible on a rare occasion. But a large discrepancy would more likely to be either an incorrect meter (reading to low) and/or high spiking between meals..

I see that you've been diabetic for 40 years, so there's the possibility that you've just coming into the menopause range, so control problems might be more to do with changing/unpredictable hormones similar to going through puberty for teenagers! Might be worth speaking to you doctor about this, and having your thyroid function checked out another hormone that can effect control.

In truth I suspect that we'd all like not to have to inject even once a day, but alas we're T1 diabetics so really don't get a lot of choice in the matter, the minimum amount of injections per day, should really be what maintains our control rather than what we would prefer..

2 injections a day is about the minimum if you're willing either to use a pre-mixed or draw up into a syringe from two vials (need to use older analogue for the latter) but this only really works, if you stick to the same amount of carbs per meal/snack every day, maintain an almost identical daily regime, which includes the timing of injections, meals and snacks..

If you really don't want to take multiple injections a day, the only real alternative is an insulin pump, which is actually a lot better regime than using injection, a better ability to fine tune, react to sudden changes in control needs, and you so get used to having it attached to you all the time, becomes no different than wearing clothing! But a lot less hassle when it comes to bolusing etc..