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Allergy to Insulin

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Angiebabe

Member
Messages
5
I have been type 2 for 10 years - controlled by diet for 7 years and Diamicron for 3 years. BGLs now uncontrolled by Diamicron and put on long acting Insulin (Lantos) after first injection I had allergic reaction with rash on my face and chest, then tried Protaphane which caused much more serious reaction eg breathing difficulties, whole body rash and very fast heart rate. Saw Endocrinologist today and was told I cannot take ANY insulin at all and that all he could offer was for me to loose more weight ! He has referred me to have allergy tests and said that if I am allergic to the excipients (what insulin is preserved in) and not the insulin per se, I might be able to have specially made insulin without the chemicals that preserve it. I wonder if anyone else has this really worrying situation? My specialist said that I was the first patient he has had in 30 years who is allergic to insulin and that it is very rare - I do hope someone can offer me some practical advice now as the allergy tests will take a long time to complete and in the meantime I have uncontrolled diabetes. Thanks
 
Hi Anglebabe

Welcome to the Forum.

Soory to here of the problems you are having. While you were on Diamicron (gliclazide) were you also on Glucophage (metformin)? It may be that you insulin sensitivity is is not being tackled as glucophage has been for many years the drug of choice for assisting with that problem. Youmight want to suggest to your Endo that you try Metformin and, possibly, in conjunction with one of the new diabetes medications such as exenatide (Byetta). The issue of your problem may need to be looked at for the future but is seems to me that perhaps there are other options than insulin that you could try at this stage. One of the good effects of the metformin/exenatide combination is that it also can assist with weight loss.

Hope this helps

Doug
 
Hi Doug, thanks for your reply and support - I was put on metformin 3 years ago but had crippling pain in my tummy which was so bad I collapsed in the street plus terrible trots - great for weight loss tho!! Had to stop that and tried Januvia which gave me headaches leading to migraines after a week on it - I am also severely allergic to Shellfish and nearly died last time and need to carry an Epipen (adrenalin) in case I accidentally eat any also allergic to MSG - what a true blue Aussie whinger am I - I live in South Australia born in Essex. Endo said there are no other tablets available for me to take - hence my deep worry. I had small portion of low GI cereal and no other food for 4 hours and BGL was 16.8 - it seems whatever I eat goes straight to 'sugar' and so not even sure what I can eat - thanks again.
 
PS Doug - Byetta has exactly the same excipients as all the Insulins - so too risky for me to take - I need to find out via the allergy testing if I am allergic to Insulin and or the excipients before my Endo will prescribe me any more diabetic meds - I just hope my appointment with the hospital to find out isn't too long away but as with all national health hospitals waiting lists are usually very long !
 
Are you able to get bovine or porcine insulin? It's not that common any more but, although not impossible, they have a very low rate of allergic reactions. You may also want to look into Nateglinide, Repaglinide and Acarbose and see if they are available and viable for you.
 
I can offer no help for the insulin part of it, but...when you say you're allergic to MSG, do you mean anaphylactic shock-or-wheezing type of allergic (IgE-mediated)? Or do you mean that it gives you headaches, heart palpitations, etc.? I ask because I'm sensitive to MSG and have a hard time taking any pills long-term because the fillers and binders they use have free glutamates. If that's the case, your headache reactions to the meds MAY (just may) have been to the free glutamic acid instead of the meds, themselves. This seems especially likely if you have problems taking most meds, in general. Have you tried having any made specially for you without those ingredients by a compounding pharmacy?

Also, have you tried a low-carb diet? If I were in your situation, I'd try a Dr. Bernstein-esque diet, which is one of the most rigid low-carb diets and seems VERY successful with most patients who do it. I recently read his Diabetes Solution and was seriously impressed; it's not the only way, but he was a pioneer and seems to have at least one approach to diabetic control down pat.
 
Can't help much just able to give you some information about insulins..

Allergic reactions to human insulin isn't that abnormal, Sometimes swapping back to the Animal insulins works, it's wise that you have the allergies tests to see if it's a preservative ingredient that you'll reacting two or the actual insulin, I know they call it insulin by it's a DNA alter thingy which is grown on bacteria so this might be the cause..

I know of one diabetic T1 that is allergic to insulin (both animal and human) so they have their insulin delivered via a Dia port and the use of an insulin pump, the gets the insulin to as near as source as possible and the pump means that only enough insulin at any one time is delivered. This seems to help to keep things at bay and reactions to a very mim..
 
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