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Allergic to all Insulins

paulgolding2012

paulgolding2012

Member
Messages
13
Location
Lymington, New Forest, Hampshire.
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Other
Just recently I have undergone two lots of allergy testing on Insulin's. The results of the testing have found that i am allergic to all Insulin including the one they want me to start to take this coming Monday 7/7/14. This Insulin is i believe new to this country (UK) and its called Tresiba degludec concentrated. They have now issued me with two Epipens in case i have an emergency allergic reaction to this new Insulin, which like i said, they found that i was allergic to at testing.
I really don't know what to do, the last insulin i was taking had extreme adverse affects on me and now to be told that there is no other insulin to take worries me completely.
They also say its very rare, but there must be other people experiencing the same problems?
If so, please get in touch, i would very much like to hear from you.
Many thanks
Paul
Lymington
Hants
UK
 
Hi Paul and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear of your adverse reaction.to Insulin. I see you are type 2, so is there nothing that the diabetes specialist can give you? I'm sure I have recently seen a thread about Tresiba ? I will try and have a look . I sincerely hope you can find something that works for you.

Best wishes
 
Paul, just as a suggestion but have you or your team considered using animal insulin? Some people are allergic to human and analogue insulins and so use beef and pork insulins instead.
 
noblehead said:
Paul, just as a suggestion but have you or your team considered using animal insulin? Some people are allergic to human and analogue insulins and so use beef and pork insulins instead.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your suggestion, Unfortunately I am allergic to all human and analogue insulins. Everything has been tested on me and nothing works, I'm even allergic to the pens.
 
Atkins induction diet is about 30g of carb a day and would have a lower need for bolus and less reaction. Healthy fat would make up the lost carbs

See the dr if this could be a possibility to you
 
Hello Paul

about 2008 or 2009 there was a medical article in Diabetolgia about a person who was allergic to insulin and had their blood washed through something similar I imagine to dialysis. I think there were 2 hospitals in the UK that could do this. May be you could mention this to your doctors if they haven't seen the article.

Also, oral insulin does exist....Oralyn is available in India and is sprayed towards the roof of the mouth (buccal lining) and Afreeza has now been given FDA approval. You may be able to tolerate these insulins so a special case could be made to obtain them.
 
It's r not that common but there are lots of papers about how various individuals with insulin allergies have been treated.
Here are a couple
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18186805
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23601039
You can find lot's more here (though really I would have thought that a doctor could do his/her own research if it was something they knew little about)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?linkname=pubmed_pubmed&from_uid=18186805

A common method seems to be gradual sensitisation using the insulin that you are least allergic too.
This extract from a specialist book describes a treatment over 6 days .http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-hcUH7OisPQC&pg=PA404&lpg=PA404&dq=insulin immunotherapy&source=bl&ots=L2K4xg5eoU&sig=6IsyOq0XHnm63IKsP_UvZdei7dY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zlG4U-ywFKi80QWQoYHIBg&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=insulin immunotherapy&f=false

I noticed one case where a person with T2 was successfully treated using an insulin pump. ( as few T2s get insulin pumps in the UK it is perhaps important that the authors are British; from the Royal London )
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1464-5491.2006.01811.x/abstract
 
Thank you... I am open to all suggestions, I am truly at my wits end.
I need to start this new insulin on Monday and because I already know I'm allergic to it, it makes me very worried about what could happen. I know I have these two epi pens, but I honestly am scared of the outcome.
I have no support from my diabetic team, who seemed to have given up calling once they found out I was allergic to all insulins. I will however be asking a lot of questions about other ways of controlling my blood sugars. For the last eight weeks I have been taking Apidra short acting insulin, but the side affects were extreme itchyness all over the body, with the injection site being like you have been stung by a wasp every time you inject. I have been taking a number of fexofenadine to overcome the itchyness and have been told that I need to continue taking them once I change over to this new Tresiba insulin. I have been told to cease taking Apidra.

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Hi and I'm sorry to hear of your serious problem. You say you are a T2. Are you normal or overweight? Insulin is sometimes given to T2s who are overweight where a serious reduction in carbs and further tablets might help as much as insulin. You may, of course, actually be a Late onset T1 which really does need insulin. Have you been thru the Gliclazide tablet route?
 
Yes been through all the tablet routes. Since first taking insulins I have increased in weight. I have been told about desensitisation but with no guarantees. Was told I would have to stay in hospital for 7 to 10 days. I have said No.
What I want is to be able to control my sugars without any side effects.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Hi and thanks for the info. Are you following a low-carb diet to try to get the weight down? Weight gain when taking insulin implies having too many carbs in the diet. Do reduce carbs as far as you reasonably can to get weight down and see where that leaves your blood sugar. It will then be easier to agree the next best moves including the two tests for late onset T1 if your blood sugar remains high having lost weight
 
You won't have to inject tresiba as often as Apidra. They have a very different time profile. Apidra is about the fastest and Tresiba very long term so They aren't really acting in the same way so you will need plenty of advice on dosing.

I myself would go for desensitisation , there are many reported cases of it working and it seems to be a standard procedure; but then I'm insulin dependent so absolutely require insulin.

If you can reduce your glucose levels without insulin then it wouldn't be necessary. If you have actually tried all other options then (in my opinion) a period in hospital now seems a small price to pay to help avoid the serious problems caused by high glucose levels.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. .. I agree that I must reduce carbs and the reassess the situation. What I can't understand is "why I should take this new injection (Tresiba) when they know that I am actually allergic to it to start with. I think as Monday gets closer the scarier the thought of a reaction grows stronger. I am more likely just being a wimp, but after having a huge reaction from Humiliation I really don't want that again.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
First day of taking Tresiba and I have come out in a rash down both sides of my trunk and I am extremely Itchy. I have taken Fexofenadine and Cetirizine which seems to be working a little. Just going to have to now monitor the situation. The Itchyness is worse now, than it was when i was take Rapid Apidra.
 
jack412 said:
Have you cut out as much carb as you can for a smaller combined dose with the nurse
Click to expand...
I am cutting out carbs, as for a nurse, they all seemed to abandon me once they new i was allergic to all insulin's. They used to ring me 2/3 times a week, but now have not heard from them in well over a month. I was prescribed tresiba by the diabetic team at the hospital in the allergy department. At the moment i am really suffering with extreme itchiness.
 
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