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Weight gain with Insulin

R

rogerr

Newbie
Messages
1
Type of diabetes
Type 1.5
Treatment type
Insulin
Is there any evidence of Insulins causing weight gain and podginess? And if so which Insulins cause the most gain?
Thanks in advance for any answers.
 
When I was on Novarapid I gained weight, it made me hungry so I’d inject then I was hungry I’d inject then I was hungry etc it was a viscous circle. As soon as I was taken off it I lost the weight I’d gained.
 
Sarah69 said:
When I was on Novarapid I gained weight, it made me hungry so I’d inject then I was hungry I’d inject then I was hungry etc it was a viscous circle. As soon as I was taken off it I lost the weight I’d gained.
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Though it will affect people differently, some it may well make feel hungry, personally I was on novorapid for a few decades - I was always slightly underweight.
 
My understanding is that excess insulin causes weight gain.
If you do not experience insulin resistance, there is no reason why insulin should cause weight gain.
I have been injecting insulin for 20 years (and my body produced its own for as long) using 5 or 6 different insulins over the years and still weigh the same as I did when I started.

I believe it is dangerous to propagate the myth that insulin causes weight gain.
Too little insulin can cause death through DKA

Rokaab said:
some it may well make feel hungry,
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High BG due to not enough insulin makes me hungry
Low BG due to too much insulin makes me resistant to food.
 
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any insulin causes weight gain. It's a hormone. Insulin delivers glucose to your cells, and glucose is converted either into energy or fat.That is why a sharp weight loss is one of the main symptoms of T1. But this does not mean that you should give up inulin. In addition, if you exercise, insulin increases not only fat mass but also muscle mass.
 
Zhnyaka said:
any insulin causes weight gain.
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NO IT DOES NOT
Humans need insulin to live.
You will lose weight if you do not take weight - you will lose feet, if not your life

Please stop scaring people that a necessary hormone will cause weight gain.
It is dangerous.
 
In Response said:
NO IT DOES NOT
Humans need insulin to live.
You will lose weight if you do not take weight - you will lose feet, if not your life

Please stop scaring people that a necessary hormone will cause weight gain.
It is dangerous.
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Oh, I'm sorry, I read it wrong. Of course, it is necessary for life. Without him, our weight would have been 20 kilograms, and then death
 
Too much food causes weight gain. But the interplay between food, insulin and insulin resistance is complex. When using insulin it's very easy to get into the habit of feeding the insulin, gaining weight, using more insulin, and feeding it some more. I know I've been there. It's mostly reversible to some extent but can be very difficult.
 
I didn't say will, i said can, which is factually accurate. the original poster is type 1.5 so knows that regardless of anything else, Insulin whether now or in the future, is a necessity. Nobody needs to be scared of Insulin, without it we're all in it. Some people gain weight others don't, hence can.
 
I added two stone very quickly after starting insulin, I did not change my diet. This isn’t an answer to the question, just a personal observation.
 
In Response said:
High BG due to not enough insulin makes me hungry
Low BG due to too much insulin makes me resistant to food.
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Hi,

So you first point on the high BG I get. Body gets the “fuel switch” cut due to lack of insulin… (Not healthy as it backs up in the blood stream..)

But “resistant to food” on a low… could you please elaborate?
 
Yes I found insulin definitely causes weight gain but it will be dependent on your amount too. The larger the dose the more Likely you are you gain because it is a hormone. I’ve had similar talks to my consultant and nurses. You just have to remember if you need it then you need it.
 
For what it's worth, I weigh the same as I did upon diagnosis, 7 years ago.
I'm still fat with a BMI of around 35, but I'm not fatter than I was and I'm on relatively high doses of insulin (around 100 units of basal, some 20 to 35 units of bolus usually).
It's not a given to gain weight on insulin.
 
I'm interested in the whole insulin makes (T2) diabetics fat thing I keep hearing. For T1s it's obviously a bit different - by definition if you're dead you can't put on weight, so it's a moot point, though the points below would also apply before the being-dead bit happens.

For those who are eating the same quantity of food before/after starting to take insulin, presumably the root cause of any resultant weight gain is that rather than glucose being lost overboard in their urine, it's being stored (in adipose tissue) due to the insulin? Therefore if they were not diabetic they would have the same weight gain. On the positive side at least they won't suffer from complications caused by long duration high BG.

I could also see that perhaps when taking insulin and having lower BG levels this may result in increased hunger (if constantly low), or at least normal levels of hunger (that was previously diminished due to high BG levels.) Normal is obviously different in different people, but again it seems like this is more that someone is going back to normal rather than insulin causing the problem.

In both of the above cases I don't think insulin can be blamed, rather BG level itself (and potentially incorrect use of insulin if you're running low).

There is also a (I think small) effect of increased insulin concentration in peripheral tissues causing adipose tissue to increase in size, which I have read about as a justification for the "insulin makes you fat" theory. Does anyone know off-hand if injections require more insulin than would be produced by the pancreas, I assume it should be a similar amount, which would mean that any direct effects would be localised to the injection site. If this is true, I'm not sure how big an effect it actually is as I've been injecting for more than 35 years and while I weigh more than I did when I was 7, I'm lean, and my injection sites are not fatty.
 
In Response said:
I do not want to eat when my BG is low.
I get the opposite of hypo munchies.
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Thanks,

Sounds concerning…

First thing on my mind when the symptoms arrive ever since diagnosis as a kid. Treat it.
Easier to control during the day. Waking on a night hypo takes a fair bit of self control..

I’m the other way round if too high. No appetite what so ever…

With regards to weight gain. I put on what I lost prior to diagnosis grew to a slim young adult & stopped in my late teens, over 30’odd years back…
 
Jaylee said:
Sounds concerning…

First thing on my mind when the symptoms arrive ever since diagnosis as a kid. Treat it.
Easier to control during the day. Waking on a night hypo takes a fair bit of self control..
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It is only concerning if I deliberately avoid eating when low.
i have enough self control to force myself to eat fast acting carbs when I hypo. Thankfully, as I use a pump, I do not have to follow up with the 15g of slow acting carbs so it is not that hard to manage.
it also helps me Identify a hypo.

So nothing to be concerned about.
 
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