High sugars long term pump user

[Patchworkbarbara]

I've been on a pump for 15 years or more, my sugars have always been well controlled, apart from an adverse reaction to the Covid vaccine, when along with a lot of other people, they went sky high, until last week, when they suddenly hit 30 and stayed there, despite everything I've done to get them down. The diabetic clinic has recommended that I go back onto pens for a while, but has anybody else suffered this, and what did they do to get their sugars back to normal. Can a body stop absorbing Humalog Insulin? Has anybody else had this reaction? I'd be grateful for any help, as I don't want to go back onto having to use pens again.

 

[Shaun B Jones]

Your question is a very important one and the shirt answer is YES, the body can stop absorbing humalog. I have had type one since 4byrs old so that's 48 yrs, over this time I've used all the long acting insulins. A few years ago humalog started to take a very long time for its onset, that is for it to start. Rather than begin in 20 minutes it would not begin to reduce bg for almost 2 hours on the dot. Of course before going to the endocrinologist and her telling me "what you say is impossible", I tried everything, like getting a new script and throwing out all my old humalog etc and then using, and this was the decider, some old novolog. The old novolog would begin action within 20 minutes but the brand new humalog, like the humalog I just threw away would begin action in 2 hours! So for some reason my body had developed a sort of 'tolerance' to it. I did a lot of reading at the time, most of which now I have forgotten, but there was a lot of evidence to say that over time the body can build up resistance to the specific insulin it's using. It seemed that the problems associated with it were all very personal/specific to the individual, however one thing seemed to be consistent: that after some time of the individual not using that insulin, and they would regain their tolerance. Eventually I tried using humalog again after not touching it for a few years and sure enough it worked as suspected. Sorry for my long winded reply, I just thought it would been important context, and that one could go a life time of type one and never have this but almost anyone that has experienced this will have had to been using insulin for a very long time.

 

[Melgar]

Hi @Shaun B Jones , welcome to the forum. I think your post is very interesting and enlightening. I'm wondering if you can remember any of your sources for a slow progression of insulin intolerance to certain insulins that is not related to insulin resistance ? I read that you have forgotten much of what you read , you said " but there was a lot of evidence to say that over time the body can build up resistance to the specific insulin it's using" I think it would be very useful for members to be aware of this. I had a quick look on the internet, but the results kept circling back to insulin resistance. I'm certainly not doubting you, and it is very likely the wording of my search criteria is not picking it up. I'll have another look later as I'm off to work, but if you happen to recall them that would be great. Once again welcome to the forum . Mel

Ed sentence

 

[Patchworkbarbara]

Thanks for the reply, and your help. I appreciate hearing from other people who have had the same problem.

 

[Hopeful34]

I'd suggest asking your clinic for a different insulin. The ultrafast acting ones Fiasp or Lumyjev work well for a lot of people using pumps. They don't suit everyone, but definitely helped me. You've got nothing to lose, and it would test whether Humalog has stopped working for you.