Lada and weight gain.

[Millie74]

Hi,

I have gained one stone since starting Lantus/ Novorapid and insulin in June. Worried will just keep gaining. I am going to return to low carb and reading Diabetes Solution. I originally did a keto diet after being diagnosed with T2 in Jan 2019. I went from 11st 7 to 9st 7. After Lada diagnosis one year later and slightly increased carbs now 11st 7 again and feel awful. Teach dance for a living, so not confident like this. Any advice? Is it possible to lose weight on insulin?

 

[ert]

I went from 60 kg to 80 kg starting insulin. I had to work really hard to lose it. I also follow Bernstein but ate low carb before my diagnosis, so my diet did not change over this time. I had to write everything down on myfitnesspal.com and restrict my calories to 1000 calories a day (sometimes 1200) to lose weight. I had to complete this 5 days a week with two days off in order not to plateau. I increased my exercise also.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases... common,your overall diabetes management plan.

 

[In Response]

I am sorry to read that you are unhappy with your weight gain. Bear in mind that untreated type 1 diabetes with prolonged highs, which you would have likely experienced with your initial wrong diagnosis, can cause weight loss. Therefore, it is not uncommon to regain that weight when treated correctly.

The other thing I would like to emphasise for others starting out with type 1 is that insulin does not cause weight gain. Everyone has insulin and not everyone is overweight.

 

[Millie74]

I went from 60 kg to 80 kg starting insulin. I had to work really hard to lose it. I also follow Bernstein but ate low carb before my diagnosis, so my diet did not change over this time. I had to write everything down on myfitnesspal.com and restrict my calories to 1000 calories a day (sometimes 1200) to lose weight. I had to complete this 5 days a week with two days off in order not to plateau. I increased my exercise also.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/insulin-and-weight-gain/art-20047836#:~:text=Weight gain is a common,your overall diabetes management plan.

Thanks. Started gaining weight after LADA diagnosis when told to increase carbs ro 50g a day. Told if didn’t do this as a type 1 may get DKA. Not sure if true. I gained a bit then and then started Lantus. Gained 7 pounds. Then on rapid another 7. Still eating about 50g carbs a day/ 1000 cals and have an active job, so feeling very low now. I did have a few treats over xmas. Had to increase Lantus from 9 to 11 and still running at 9mmol all night. Is that due to increased weight or the few high fat treats over xmas? I will read the link. Thank you.

 

[Millie74]

I went from 60 kg to 80 kg starting insulin. I had to work really hard to lose it. I also follow Bernstein but ate low carb before my diagnosis, so my diet did not change over this time. I had to write everything down on myfitnesspal.com and restrict my calories to 1000 calories a day (sometimes 1200) to lose weight. I had to complete this 5 days a week with two days off in order not to plateau. I increased my exercise also.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/insulin-and-weight-gain/art-20047836#:~:text=Weight gain is a common,your overall diabetes management plan.

 

[Millie74]

Can I just ask what you did on 2 days off to avoid plateau?

So it is possible to lose weight on insulin, not just maintain? Also, is it ok to have under 50g carbs a day if you want to?

 

[Millie74]

I am sorry to read that you are unhappy with your weight gain. Bear in mind that untreated type 1 diabetes with prolonged highs, which you would have likely experienced with your initial wrong diagnosis, can cause weight loss. Therefore, it is not uncommon to regain that weight when treated correctly.

The other thing I would like to emphasise for others starting out with type 1 is that insulin does not cause weight gain. Everyone has insulin and not everyone is overweight.

Thanks. It feels like it has contributed to weight gain. I wasn’t running that high on low carb before insulin. Gor hba1c down to 48mmol.

 

[EllieM]

So it is possible to lose weight on insulin, not just maintain? Also, is it ok to have under 50g carbs a day if you want to?

It is, as @ert has confirmed, but some people find it much easier than others. I think a problem with being on insulin is that when you get a hypo you have to take sugar, which feels very counterproductive when you're eating low carb.

As for the 50g, some people do eat less than that (look up Typeonegrit on facebook who are a T1 group of very low carbers who follow Dr Bernstein's book "Diabetes solution".) The reason some/many diabetic educators disapprove of this is that if you are in dietary ketosis you can't necessarily use a ketone test to detect whether you are going into DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis, which is high ketones plus high blood sugars and is caused by insufficient insulin.) So eg if you get the flu and your blood sugars shoot up, you don't know if your ketones are high from your diet or from needing more insulin because you are sick.

Just a thought, but have you had your thyroid checked? Thyroid conditions can cause weight gain and are very common in diabetics.

 

[Millie74]

It is, as @ert has confirmed, but some people find it much easier than others. I think a problem with being on insulin is that when you get a hypo you have to take sugar, which feels very counterproductive when you're eating low carb.

As for the 50g, some people do eat less than that (look up Typeonegrit on facebook who are a T1 group of very low carbers who follow Dr Bernstein's book "Diabetes solution".) The reason some/many diabetic educators disapprove of this is that if you are in dietary ketosis you can't necessarily use a ketone test to detect whether you are going into DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis, which is high ketones plus high blood sugars and is caused by insufficient insulin.) So eg if you get the flu and your blood sugars shoot up, you don't know if your ketones are high from your diet or from needing more insulin because you are sick.

Just a thought, but have you had your thyroid checked? Thyroid conditions can cause weight gain and are very common in diabetics.

Last year thyroid was ok. Will check again. Thank you for responding. It’s disheartening as teach 14 hours dance in community a week and always tried hard with diet. Maybe I should try 40-50g carbs a day. Should not get into ketosis then. Hard to know best approach. I definitely had treats over xmas. Was a roller coaster though. Managed to stay 70/80% in range but on a lot of rapid corrections. I haven’t taught dance since 6th December. Start again next week. I am reading Bernstein. Got it for xmas. Just deleted FB app to take time off social media or would look at group. Thank you. Appreciate your comments

 

[Daibell]

If you gain weight when on insulin almost certainly you need to reduce your carb intake. Insulin enables the body to metabolise carbs and if you have too many the excess glucose will be stored as fat. I've seen some posts from those with T1 who say they eat whatever they want and just Bolus for it; I wish. I have to control my carbs quite tightly to avoid weight gain and my BS going exponential. We really are all different.

 

[Millie74]

If you gain weight when on insulin almost certainly you need to reduce your carb intake. Insulin enables the body to metabolise carbs and if you have too many the excess glucose will be stored as fat. I've seen some posts from those with T1 who say they eat whatever they want and just Bolus for it; I wish. I have to control my carbs quite tightly to avoid weight gain and my BS going exponential. We really are all different.

 

[Millie74]

Thanks. I generally eat 40-50g carbs as was eating low carb before eating insulin. The DN has told me with the right ICR I can eat what I want. At times I try with things like porridge for breakfast (30g carbs) , but rarely stay in range and have slowly gained. Then tried to have a nice Christmas and gained 5 pound more. Nightmare. Think will be difficult to lose. I can manage 40-50g carbs a day quite well. Going to return to this or lower and 1000cal ish a day. Just hope can lose weight again.

 

[ert]

Can I just ask what you did on 2 days off to avoid plateau?

So it is possible to lose weight on insulin, not just maintain? Also, is it ok to have under 50g carbs a day if you want to?

I seem to hit a weight-loss plateau if I try to reduce my calories long term without small breaks.

 

[jonathan183]

Last year thyroid was ok. Will check again. Thank you for responding. It’s disheartening as teach 14 hours dance in community a week and always tried hard with diet. Maybe I should try 40-50g carbs a day. Should not get into ketosis then. Hard to know best approach. I definitely had treats over xmas. Was a roller coaster though. Managed to stay 70/80% in range but on a lot of rapid corrections. I haven’t taught dance since 6th December. Start again next week. I am reading Bernstein. Got it for xmas. Just deleted FB app to take time off social media or would look at group. Thank you. Appreciate your comments

You should find some of Dr Bernstein's videos useful as well, search for DKA and you will see it is dehydration and high blood glucose which is the issue

I have been on insulin almost 2 years now with ketones varying from about 1mmol/l to around 6mmol/l. The only time this has caused an issue is having higher ketones and glucose makes me feel ill (I suspect these were due to body running low on insulin but nowhere near DKA levels). I'm usually on one meal a day (sometimes 2 meals a day) but sometimes do fasts for a couple of days which also works provided the basal is right or slightly low.

YMMV some people feel ill with lower ketone levels.

 

[ShelleyDubs]

Hi,

I have gained one stone since starting Lantus/ Novorapid and insulin in June. Worried will just keep gaining. I am going to return to low carb and reading Diabetes Solution. I originally did a keto diet after being diagnosed with T2 in Jan 2019. I went from 11st 7 to 9st 7. After Lada diagnosis one year later and slightly increased carbs now 11st 7 again and feel awful. Teach dance for a living, so not confident like this. Any advice? Is it possible to lose weight on insulin?

Hiya, sounds like Keto was perfect for you. I do Keto/low carb for LADA (was originally diagnosed T2 as well). I adjust my insulin to reflect what I actually eat. I’m on around 5 units per low carb meal of combo insulin now. Rarely hypo. Weight gain happens with increased carbs, I think. The only way I worked it all out was trial and error, and doing what felt right to me based on Libre testing for trends up or down. Good luck - you know what works for you, so chat with your medical profs about it and see what they say. Yes, you can lose weight on insulin. I did and I’m sure you will again, too.

 

[Millie74]

Hiya, sounds like Keto was perfect for you. I do Keto/low carb for LADA (was originally diagnosed T2 as well). I adjust my insulin to reflect what I actually eat. I’m on around 5 units per low carb meal of combo insulin now. Rarely hypo. Weight gain happens with increased carbs, I think. The only way I worked it all out was trial and error, and doing what felt right to me based on Libre testing for trends up or down. Good luck - you know what works for you, so chat with your medical profs about it and see what they say. Yes, you can lose weight on insulin. I did and I’m sure you will again, too.

 

[Millie74]

Thanks. They said that they don’t support low carb and to eat at least 80g carbs a day. They have really put me off. But not shifting weight on 80g carbs a day.

 

[Millie74]

You should find some of Dr Bernstein's videos useful as well, search for DKA and you will see it is dehydration and high blood glucose which is the issue

I have been on insulin almost 2 years now with ketones varying from about 1mmol/l to around 6mmol/l. The only time this has caused an issue is having higher ketones and glucose makes me feel ill (I suspect these were due to body running low on insulin but nowhere near DKA levels). I'm usually on one meal a day (sometimes 2 meals a day) but sometimes do fasts for a couple of days which also works provided the basal is right or slightly low.

YMMV some people feel ill with lower ketone levels.

 

[Millie74]

Thanks. Low carb makes sense to me. Just can’t get DN to support it. Going on s DAFNE course and the DN and dietitian said I had to eat minimum 80g carbs a day.

 

[Millie74]

Hiya, sounds like Keto was perfect for you. I do Keto/low carb for LADA (was originally diagnosed T2 as well). I adjust my insulin to reflect what I actually eat. I’m on around 5 units per low carb meal of combo insulin now. Rarely hypo. Weight gain happens with increased carbs, I think. The only way I worked it all out was trial and error, and doing what felt right to me based on Libre testing for trends up or down. Good luck - you know what works for you, so chat with your medical profs about it and see what they say. Yes, you can lose weight on insulin. I did and I’m sure you will again, too.