Type 2 new to insulin

[dpsherlock]

Hello.
I have just signed up and wondered what other people have achieved blood sugar-wise in their first 6 months of injecting
Dominic

 

[mick900]

I started on insulin ( novomix30 ) beginning of this month and it's working blood sugars down, just got to be careful not to drop to low especially at work but they have been warned.

 

[eddie1968]

Tablets made me ill and didn't do anything BG wise. After a year of Humulin M3 my HbA1c's went from 94 to 58 mmol/mol and feel a lot better. You get used to all the finger pricking and injecting becomes second nature. The anxiety issues associated with insulin soon go too. Insulin has no side effects as well ! Good luck.

 

[Molly56]

@dpsherlock ...My partner started on insulin in February...initially Humulin 1 and then moved on to Novomix 30....one side effect that I have noticed is weight gain ...he gained quite a lot of weight (approx 20lbs) compared to his starting weight and being overweight to start with this has not really helped.
This may partly have been due to one of the tablet medications he was on (Gliclazide) but he had been on this medication for some years before with no real rise in weight....the dramatic weight gain happened after starting the insulin. His activity levels are very low (almost non existent) so this probably doesn't help.
His medication has recently been changed to drop the Gliclazide in favour of Forxiga which comes with its own potential side effects but hopefully this will help him to lose some of the weight gained.
Is probably worth just being aware that weight gain could be an issue but if you are active and pay attention to diet then hopefully this will not cause you a problem.

 

[eddie1968]

Molly I have LOST weight on insulin - rather a lot in fact. From 105kg to 88kg. Your partner needs to adjust diet and his exercise regime.

 

[skipworth]

It is known that being on insulin can lead to weight gain, and that in turn leads to having to take more insulin. You need to reduce carb levels to an acceptable Carb to insulin ratio that helps maintain your weight.

 

[Molly56]

Molly I have LOST weight on insulin - rather a lot in fact. From 105kg to 88kg. Your partner needs to adjust diet and his exercise regime.

It is known that being on insulin can lead to weight gain, and that in turn leads to having to take more insulin. You need to reduce carb levels to an acceptable Carb to insulin ratio that helps maintain your weight.

@eddie1968 ...well done on the weight loss....I was just trying to point out that potentially insulin can cause weight gain if diet and exercise are not included in the equation...my partner has adjusted his diet and now eats a lot less carbs than he used to by cutting out porridge, potatoes and the majority of bread and looking at carb contents of foods purchased so some progress is being made.
However no adjustments are made to the quantities of insulin he is injecting (Novomix 30 twice a day @ 28 units taken at approx 11 am and 6pm) so I sometimes wonder if more insulin is being injected than is needed for the carbs consumed....I don't know the science behind it all but assume that perhaps too much insulin in the body is as bad as too little...and hence the tendency to pile on the fat....someone told me that insulin is a fat storage device.......with a BMI reaching the high 30s for my partner this is not good....

@skipworth ...could too much insulin and too few carbs be potentially adding to weight....am finding this all very confusing...

 

[Daibell]

Hi. As others have said, Gliclazide and insulin don't cause weight but enable the body to use excess carbs. Weight gain in on insulin would normally mean you need to reduce the carbs. Try to keep well below 200gm/day and see how it goes. If the Gliclazide didn't cause weight gain it implies your pancreas was not being stimulated by it e.g. not enough working beta cells or whatever. BTW if you reduce the carbs you will need to reduce the insulin so keep testing!

 

[skipworth]

From my experience you need to work out your own carb to insulin ratio, how many units of insulin to take is critical as too much can either send you into hypo or be retained within your body increasing insulin sensitivity and converting more glucose into fat. It can be a bit hit and miss until you manage to work it all out, and it is really messy having to calculate how amny carbs are in what food before a meal. However a good rule of thumb for me appears to be approx 100g bread, pasta, potatoes and rice will all add about 60-70 carbs to a meal. Fresh veg and some fruit will keep your carb down to around 10-20 carbs per meal. I am currently working on 6 carbs to one unit of insulin. You will need to test before a meal, work out how many carbs you are eating and then decide on how much insulin to take, (most nurses reccomend you start at 10:1), and then take another reading after 2/3 hours. If you have gone below 7 then you are pretty much there, if not you may have to adjust your dosage until you get it right. If you go too low then increase your dosage to get between 4.5 and 6.5. Oops this is for those on basal and rapid insulin, I don't think the same principles work for the mixed insulin as it is expected to work throughour the day, however I would be expecting to acheive a fasting level of under 7 in the morning.
Hope this helps

 

[phoenix]

sorry, Skipworth; if I injected for 60-70 g of carbs for 100g of bread or potatoes then I would be very hypo. Cooked rice or pasta also have fewer
Potatoes 16-22g carb per100g
bread will vary 40-50 g carb per 100g
cooked Fresh pasta 30g carb per 100g
cooked dried pasta 22g carb per 100g
cooked rice 30g carb per 100g
have a look at this https://www.upbete.co.uk/media/14807/carb_tables_2011.pdf

 

[skipworth]

Sorry, yes you are probably right, but I work my carbs out on pre cooked dry weights for rice and pasta and I eat home made bread which tends to have a higher carb concentrate than bought bread, but that is just for me, some people can tolerate some carbs better than others, and the trick is knowing what you can tolerate as ian individual and what inmsulin it takes to get your numbers right.