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Am I 'Cured'??

P

Paul1976

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The puzzle that is Asperger syndrome that I still can't fit together.
Only 6 units of Humalin I(I wanted to try less than the dose prescribed and work my way up as required) last night and my fasted reading this morning was 5.5!! I haven't seen a 5 on my meter,well never I think,so surely if such a very small amount of insulin is all it takes to bring my readings right down,well,I'm pretty confused. :think:
 
No, not cured. You're just discovering that people need just the right amount of insulin and it's very variable. You still have some of your own so only need a bit at the moment to supplement it.
Actually you may even find that you need less for a while because you had high glucose levels. These are toxic and make you more insulin resistant. Now you are achieving more normal levels the insulin won't have so much work to do. Even people with classic , fast onset T1 (rather than LADA) often need hardly any insulin immediately after their high levels have been brought down. It's called a honeymoon period and in classic T1 lasts for up to about a year. However they will need more eventually. With LADA the loss of insulin production can be slow and is very unpredictable Some people have periods where they seem need a bit more insulin followed by periods where you need less.
When I was diagnosed I had had LADA for at least 3 years, had very low C Peptide and went straight onto insulin. On leaving hospital I used 32 units a day. This was just over .5u per Kilo, so an amount of insulin roughly equivalent to what a non diabetic of my weight would release in a day. I've been using insulin for 7 years now. Yesterday, I used 23units.(and I ate about 160g carbs)
 
Not cured I'm afraid, just need little amount of insulin! But you still in honeymoon period!

A couple things going on here..

When you first diagnosed, the pancreas is still producing some insulin, but not enough to do it's job probably, so high Blood glucose levels, but high blood glucose levels are insulin resistant... So initial insulin dose, will be higher to combat the insulin resistance and bring levels back to normal range.. But as the blood glucose start getting the near to the normal range the resistance lowers and you need less insulin to do the same job..

During the honeymoon period, because the body is know being supported by injected insulin, the pancreas doesn't have to work extra hard to produce insulin with a decreasing ability, so can ease off... This can actually restore some of the pancreas function. So it isn't unheard off when a newly diagnosed T1 diabetic, after the initial introduction of insulin, to reduce to very small amounts and in the odd case actually need to stop injecting insulin for a short period of time...

You generally know that you are coming out of the honeymoon period, as blood glucose normally goes up and becomes unstable as you start taking over more of the pancreas function with the injected insulin and your ability to adjust dose to your needs really starts showing..

But our body does change over the years, and how we control and tactics use also changes, as we adapt as we go...
 
I am also taking very small amounts of insulin, though I'm diagnosed as type 2 not LADA. I only use 5u in the morning and 5u in the evening. But last night I forgot to take the insulin and my waking reading (admittedly quite late) was 9.3 - as opposed to 4.5 ish. So although the amount you're taking is pretty small, it may we be doing quite a lot.
 
Thanks everyone for your info! Things are a lot clearer now and it now make sense now it's been explained to me.
It's a strange old beast this Diabetes sometimes!
 
Hey Paul!

Yeh, that was something I was trying to warn you about on another thread - you need to be prepared to back-peddle fast with the insulin :crazy: They started me on 6 units of Insuman Basal (similar to your Humalin 1) and within a week, I was having to halve the dose as my BG was nose-diving overnight. It took me 18 months to get back up to 6 units! I now take 7 units split 3 in the morning and 4 at night - that's more than 2 years on since starting the insulin. I did need to add bolus (Apidra) within 2 months of the Insuman as my fasting levels were brilliant, but those after food spikes were still too high. Keep an eye on it and add the bolus as you need to.

Take care.

Smidge
 
Thanks Smidge! :wink: I'm going to have to monitor it VERY closely and keep in close contact with the team as by the sound of it the honeymoon period could be 1 week,1 month,1 year,5 years or who knows by the sounds of things and an added Bolus looks inevitable after reading yours and other Type 1's and LADA's advice ,have you had any side effects with Apidra or would you recommend it?

Many thanks

Paul
 
Hi Paul,

I love Apidra! I know that sounds ridiculous, but I didn't have a moment's trouble with it. It was just like a miracle how it got my BG under control - it was the first time in a year I could eat without going into double-figures! The one down-side of Apidra is the ClickStar pen - it doesn't have half units and I was finding it difficult because I am very sensitive to insulin, so I was having to try to eat the right amount of carb to round up or down to the next whole unit of Apidra. Luckily my DSN let me try the Eli Lilly Humapen Luxura (or something like that!) with Apidra. You're not supposed to use that pen with non Ely Lilli insulins, but as long as you're carerful putting the Apidra cartridge in it, it works really well. Apidra is very quick acting and is more or less out of my body within 3 hours, so it reduces the chances of hypos and you can get pretty tight control, whereas Novorapid is reported to start a bit slower and stay around a bit longer and can cause you to go low at the 3 to 4 hour mark. I guess they would probably try you on Humalog seing as you already use Humalin - I don't know much about Humalog, I'm afraid, but several members of the forum do use it, so someone will be able to tell you about it.

Smidge
 
Paul1976 said:
Only 6 units of Humalin I(I wanted to try less than the dose prescribed and work my way up as required) last night and my fasted reading this morning was 5.5!! I haven't seen a 5 on my meter,well never I think,so surely if such a very small amount of insulin is all it takes to bring my readings right down,well,I'm pretty confused. :think:
Click to expand...

I don't know anything about insulin, and you know that you aren't cured, but it's a bloody great effort in turning around your diabetes. You were up to your neck in it when you first came here. I'm sure that the insulin is partly responsible, but don't let it take all the credit, you've had to work very hard at the low-carbing too.

Well done man!

S
 
Paul that's great so don't be confused celebrate your success! You've done a marvellous job and should be proud of what you've achieved. :clap:
 
Thanks everyone for all of your kind words of encouragement! :D I'm so glad that I found this site and you guys!
 
Agree with the others: well done fella! You always seem to tackle things with a good spirit and sense of humour too, so well done on that as well!
 
Paul1976 said:
Only 6 units of Humalin I(I wanted to try less than the dose prescribed and work my way up as required) last night and my fasted reading this morning was 5.5!! I haven't seen a 5 on my meter,well never I think,so surely if such a very small amount of insulin is all it takes to bring my readings right down,well,I'm pretty confused. :think:
Click to expand...

Paul I am so sorry I missed this news. I am so thrilled for you. I could easily come to see you and give you an enormous hug. You have been to hell and back, yet have never given up or even waivered. What an inspiration you are to so many of us. Brilliant job.

Joanna xx
 
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