My partner has type 1 and is struggling to deal with the weight gain that is incurring. She contacted diabetes.org with her issue but they banned her and directed her to talk the Samaritans. Please can someone advise me on how to help her cope. She has stopped taking her insulin completely now. Please help
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Type 1 help
- Thread starter NK99
- Start Date
catapillar
Well-Known Member
Has your partner contacted Samaritans for help? Does she have a death wish? Because a type 1 diabetic not takin insulin is putting themselves at risk of immediately life threatening complications. Is your partner testing blood sugar levels and ketones?
Not taking insulin as a means of weight management is known as diabulimia. It's a quasi eating disorder. Diabetics with eating disorders may be able to offer advice on managing this self damaging behaviour - http://dwed.org.uk
If your partner experienced weight gain after commencing insulin, this is normal and to be expected. Prior to diagnosis a type 1 will have lost weight because unable to use energy as all glucose is stuck in the blood and can't get into the cells without insulin your body thinks you are starving and starts breaking down fat and other tissues (your muscles, your organs and vital tissues, this breakdown releases ketones and turns your blood acidotic leading to DKA) to survive. When you start insulin your body will be able to use the glucose and rushes to rebuild the weight lost pre diagnosis.
Insulin doesn't cause weight gain. What you put in your mouth causes weight gain. But without insulin and with uncontrolled blood sugar you are at risk. Insulin is what keeps you alive.
Do consider contacting the Samaritans of your partner understands the risks and is content to be running so close to those risks. Encourage your partner to seek help from her DSN and GP. They may be able to offer psych support on diabetic management and eating disorders.
Not taking insulin as a means of weight management is known as diabulimia. It's a quasi eating disorder. Diabetics with eating disorders may be able to offer advice on managing this self damaging behaviour - http://dwed.org.uk
If your partner experienced weight gain after commencing insulin, this is normal and to be expected. Prior to diagnosis a type 1 will have lost weight because unable to use energy as all glucose is stuck in the blood and can't get into the cells without insulin your body thinks you are starving and starts breaking down fat and other tissues (your muscles, your organs and vital tissues, this breakdown releases ketones and turns your blood acidotic leading to DKA) to survive. When you start insulin your body will be able to use the glucose and rushes to rebuild the weight lost pre diagnosis.
Insulin doesn't cause weight gain. What you put in your mouth causes weight gain. But without insulin and with uncontrolled blood sugar you are at risk. Insulin is what keeps you alive.
Do consider contacting the Samaritans of your partner understands the risks and is content to be running so close to those risks. Encourage your partner to seek help from her DSN and GP. They may be able to offer psych support on diabetic management and eating disorders.
She MUST take her prescribed Insulin. If not She will become very sick, very soon....She must talk to her DSN as soon as possible...I gained the weight I lost back after starting Insulin....Insulin therapy just evens things out...If She eats the same sort of food before Insulin She will gain weight...She should talk to Her DSN and get a dietician appointment ASAP...All Type 1's should be able to get that
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Hello @NK99 Welcome to the forum 
Sorry to hear of your partner's situation with not taking insulin. @catapillar has explained this very clearly, it is a condition that is recognised albeit only more recently, that this is a type of eating disorder, the danger is that without her insulin she will require urgent medical assistance.
She needs to seek advice as quickly as possible, so speaking to her diabetic team, GP or contact 111 as soon as possible.
Please urge her or do this for her as soon as possible and let us know how you get on ? We cannot do any more other than tell you what the consequences will be unless she does this, however we are here to support you, best wishes J
Sorry to hear of your partner's situation with not taking insulin. @catapillar has explained this very clearly, it is a condition that is recognised albeit only more recently, that this is a type of eating disorder, the danger is that without her insulin she will require urgent medical assistance.
She needs to seek advice as quickly as possible, so speaking to her diabetic team, GP or contact 111 as soon as possible.
Please urge her or do this for her as soon as possible and let us know how you get on ? We cannot do any more other than tell you what the consequences will be unless she does this, however we are here to support you, best wishes J
Hello @NK99 Welcome to the forum
Sorry to hear of your partner's situation with not taking insulin. @catapillar has explained this very clearly, it is a condition that is recognised albeit only more recently, that this is a type of eating disorder, the danger is that without her insulin she will require urgent medical assistance.
She needs to seek advice as quickly as possible, so speaking to her diabetic team, GP or contact 111 as soon as possible.
Please urge her or do this for her as soon as possible and let us know how you get on ? We cannot do any more other than tell you what the consequences will be unless she does this, however we are here to support you, best wishes J
100% Agree
Sorry if this sounds harsh, mate, but, tough love and all that, this sounds like attention seeking on a grand scale.
Google pictures of people who were dx'd before 1921, just before Banting and Best discovered insulin - they look like holocaust victims.
Then google Eva Saxl - she and her husband managed to figure out how to make insulin from scratch from water buffalo pancreases during the middle of a war, and saved several hundred other people to boot - heroes.
Seriously, man, with all the free facilities and innovations available to T1s today compared to back then, I'm happy I'm D now and not then.
Worries about a bit of weight gain pale into insignificance compared to, well, you know, dying because there's no cure or having to make the stuff yourself.
Like I said at the start, this is a bit harsh: there's either a bit of mental health issues going on there, in which case you have my sympathy and there are facilities for that, or it's just plain bloody attention seeking.
I've spent a bit of time in the 3rd world where people grasp solutions in a practical way without any questions. It only seems to be in the 1st world with all it's benefits that people still carp about something as minor as weight gain.
