ianslaney

I am retired and am theoretically Type 2 but I might as well be Type 1 (my diabetic nurse's words not mine) having been totally insulin dependant for over 20 years since when I was diagnosed with moderate to severe diabetes. I tried tablets - but they had little or no effect. Over the years I have been pretty well controlled with an HbA1C hovering around 40mmol due to vigilance. My clinic would like to see that considerably higher - but not me because it's harmful. I am on a Basal Bolus insulin regime and was up to recently injecting Novorapid up to 24 units/day, and Glargine 32 units/day. About 2 months ago I decided to embark upon a project to reduce my weight which was c. 91Kg and to try and lower my insulin intake. I am a big chap, but not fat, so 91kg a bit much but not too bad. I have since been successful in reducing my weight by both stopping sneaking biscuits when no one was looking, avoiding white flour and eating very little bread and carbohydrates. I only eat rye bread or Scandinavian crackers. Apart from that my diet has not changed greatly. My wife weighs everything we eat and I eat lots of veg but not much in the way of meat or fats. My insulin intake has now gone down significantly (very gradually) from 32 to 25 units/day of Glargine, and similarly from about 24 down to 15 units/day Novorapid. My weight has also gone down dramatically by 6 Kg during this period to c. 85Kg. which mirrors the insulin reduction. This has not been easy and needs very close watching and testing throughout the day to avoid hypos. I test about 6/7 times a day which is the ONLY way to control it. So it has been achieved by cutting out snacking, but importantly this afforded an associated reduction in my insulin intake which mirrored my weight reduction almost exactly. Lesson to be learnt here: never forget that insulin is a fat producing hormone. More information about this - if anyone is interested that is.