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Coming off insulin

M

mikewales007

Newbie
Messages
2
Hi, I am Type 2 and have been taking insulin Levemir for about 5 years now. before that i was just on tablets for about 15 years.

I have always had good long term readings when seeing my diabetic nurse, usually below 5.5.

I have lost a lot of weight in the last 3 years, 17 stone down to 13.5, so recently I have only been using 8 units of insulin in the morning and 7 at night.

At my recent appointment with the nurse we spoke about me stopping insulin. She said that would be good and only take 2 Metformin a day.

My fasting readings morning and evening are usually low 5's, sometimes high 4's

I cant find any info on the web about stopping insulin, am I doing the right thing?

Any advice please?
 
Dear MikeWales007,
Reading your recent posting it would look like by reducing your weight you have found out that you need less insulin to still acheive relatively good B/G control. I certainly would think it wasn't a good idea to suddenly cut out using insulin in one move but continue as you are in gradually reducing the level, whilst still monitoring your B/G on a regular basis. By doing it this way, it will mean that your Beta cells will then become slowly accustomed to releasing and producing insulin, for after all, as you say you have been using insulin for these last 5 years, so your body will naturally take it's own time to re-adjust.

If you should decide to wean yourself off insulin do so with your Dr or Dn support, and I imagine that you know all about GL loadings, so please be aware of avoiding those nasty GL's that can spike your B/G levels and place undue stress on these delicate recovering beta cells.

Please let us know how you get on
 
Agree with lazybones, better that you reduce the doses gradually and monitor the effects rather than stopping it completely.
 
Hi Many thanks for the responses. maybe I should have said that I HAVE stopped my insulin. In fact it has been 3 weeks now.

My bloods pre-meal in the 5's & 1 hour after are a maximum of 7.6 usually. I have tested them once so far 2 hours after a meal and they were 6.4.

I am taking 2 Metformin a day, one morning and one evening and keeping a good eye on what I eat/drink.

I am sure that I am not some medial marvel. My diabetic nurse did say when we spoke about coming off insulin, why was I put on it in the first place. Well I suppose being a few stone heavier and not responding to only Metformin and another tablet (name escapes me now), was the reason.

I think I better make an appointment with my GP just to check that this is the right way to go!
 
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