High doses of insulin

[Alisha2]

I have been type 2 for teh last 10 years, I started on insulin from day one, I now take Levimer 160 units twice daily, Novarapid between 80 - 100 units a day and metformin 1000mg twice a day, I also suffer form depression which does not help my diabetes, I tend to binge eat when stressed and not able to cope with things, is there anybody out there that has similar experience and any suggestions as to what I can do to reduce my insulin and increase my mood.

 

[hanadr]

Those insulin doses are big. Have you asked if you are insulin resistant?
If you are, Resistance exercise is often helpful. Weights, or resistance machines at the gym. Or eevn simple resistance bands. It has more effect on insulin resistance than cardio exercises.

Since your insulin/exercise needs to match what you eat, that's where you could look.
Many of us here have found that cutting back as far as possible on carbs has several beneficial effects
1 It lowers the medication needed
2 It helps weight loss if necessary
3 it gives you loads of energy.
It's worth a try and it can't harm you if you monitor your blood sugar regularly.
Hana
Ps although the healthcare professionals sincerely believe you need to eat "plenty of complex carbs", they are mistaken.

 

[cugila]

I have been type 2 for teh last 10 years, I started on insulin from day one, I now take Levimer 160 units twice daily, Novarapid between 80 - 100 units a day and metformin 1000mg twice a day, I also suffer form depression which does not help my diabetes, I tend to binge eat when stressed and not able to cope with things, is there anybody out there that has similar experience and any suggestions as to what I can do to reduce my insulin and increase my mood.

Hi Alisha.
Welcome to the Forum. Let's see if we can help you get better control of your Diabetes. Although you are not newly diagnosed I think that you could benefit from some of the advice we hand out as a basic guide for all Diabetic's. Something that may help.......have a read and see if it goes along with what you do and have been previously told ?

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed diabetics. We hope that these few ideas gained through experience help you to gain control and give you some understanding of Diabetes. This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid OR reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

If you are on Insulin you may find that reducing the carb intake also means that you can reduce your dose of insulin. This can help you to keep weight gain down as Insulin tends to make you put on weight and eventually cause insulin resistance. This should be done slowly so as not to cause hypos.
The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating, then two hours after eating, you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the effect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try!!

If you are an Insulin user in theory you should have no problem getting test strips.

The latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l........(Type 1 & 2)
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.....( Type 2)

2hrs after meals....... no more than 9 mmol/l ......(Type 1)

If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

The above is just general advice and it is recommended that you discuss with your HCP before making any changes. You can also ask questions on the forum on anything that is not clear.

Ken / Sue.

 

[jopar]

Hi Alishi

It is a serious dose of insulin..

I know that if you are binge eating then at times you must really struggle with control, if you are constantly runing high numbers this will impact on your depression and make it harder to cope with stress...

I think that you really need to speak to your diabetic care team, if you are being treated by your GP surgery then ask to be referred to the diabetic specialist/consutlant at the hospital clinic, as they will be able to arrange different help and perhaps if you fit the critia for byetta then swap you over to this..

They will also be able to refer you to an counsellor who understands diabetes, also a dietitian both these will be able to you with support and some statigies that will help you address your eating habits..

And then there is us lot, who can rant to when the going gets tough, come up with some straigies that enable you to cope better and start taming your control..

 

[Alisha2]

High insulin levels

I just want to say thank you to those who responded to my previous post, it is the first time in 11 years that I feel people understand what I am going through, its nice to know that I am not alone and that I shall try the suggestions that people said and let you know, thank you my diabetes buddies.