a second honeymoon?

Hi Dave,

I'm not an expert as I'm only a year down the line myself, but I think the pancreas will have a few spurts before it finally decides to conk out. I think some people can honeymoon on and off for years. I seem to be having my first experience of this at the moment, even though I've had type 1 since April 08. I too am taking little insulin - make the most of it while you can!

Take care,

Jessie.

You can honeymoon for two years after diagnosis. Good for your poor wee pancreas! Fighting back. Do your best to keep your sugars normal so you can prolong its function for even longer.

Maybe the fact that your normal routine, how much exercise you have and what you eat is making you more sensitive to insulin. I find that people try to keep their insulin intake the same all the time, but if you eat low GI foods consistently, or start exercising a bit more each day, your body becomes much more sensitive to insulin meaning more hypos and a lower dose is required.

It works the same way to, if you start eating more high GI foods that cause high BG levels, then you will become more resistant to insulin. It's the same if you start exercising less, like if you stop walking some where each day and drive there instead, you will slowly become less insulin sensitive.

I also find that my body works with my lifestyle, because I've had time when I was on 40+ units of levemir and 25+ units of novarapid a day and each day I got more and more resistant to insulin, because I was having high BG levels and not exercising. Insulin resistance seems to build on top of its self, to the point where if you are insulin resistant, you will become even more resistant if you don't make a change.

It also works the other way, after weeks of eating low GI food and exercising a lot, I had much better control of my BG levels and I only needed 16 units of levemir and 10 units of novarapid each day. After keeping the same diet, I realized that I was hypoing more and more, because my insulin sensitivity was improving every day. I am now at a point where if I was to eat the same thing that I ate months ago when I was taking 40 units of levemir and 25 units of novarapid in a day, I now would only require 5 units of novarapid and no levemir.

Even now, I know that my insulin sensitivity is slowly increasing, so in time I will need even less insulin. I don't know what the lowest dose possible is, but I know that people taking huge amounts of insulin can defiantly make changes to their diet and exercise so they don't have to take nearly as much and I doubt taking lower doses is because of honeymooning, rather you are just developing a higher insulin sensitivity.

Blimey this was funny to read!
I'm only 4 months in and had got pretty good control which the DN says is down to honeymooning rather than my relatvely low carbing (approx 90g a day). I wen on holiday in May (and also had a lovely time! 8) ) but whilst my control was ok on holiday my readings went through the roof on my return! I didn't know whether it was a virus or honeymoon ending etc much the same as you.
I assumed end of honeymoon period and ended up on 3 times the amount of basal insulin.
However a few weeks back at home and slowly but surely this has come back down to the same level I had pre-holiday and I'm now finding I'm hypo-ing after lunch on only 1 unit bolus so think I'm going to cut that out from tomorrow!

I'm now putting it down to change of routine / temperature???
Nice to know I'm not the only oddball!!! :lol: