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Insulin Dosages

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PJI

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I wonder if anyone could give an opinion on the amount of insulin I am having to take,I am currently taking 200-220 units of slow acting insulin, along with 15 units of fast acting with every meal.
Coupeled with 2x500mg of Glucophage, 1x Asparin, and 1 xLipitor.
My control is not good and I am going to have to up my doses, I have been to see my GP over what I consider to be massive doses of insulin compared with cther diabetics I have spoken to, and the response is "just keep upping the dose".
Can anyone offer any advice please.
 
Only that we are all different! The correct dose is the one that gives youthe best control. The other way of looking at it isto reduce the amount if carbohydrate you eat/drink..and then teh insulin might drop a bit too??
Is it worth seeing if your GP will refer you to a specialist?
 
Oh dear, if your levels are high you must be feeling poorly.

That does seem like a massive amount.

Well, at least the long-acting sounds HUGE, in comparison with the rapid-acting. What insulins are you on? The basic idea (as I'm sure you know) is that the long-acting insulin covers your basic metabolic needs - in other words, it keeps you ticking over. The rapid-acting is designed to cover what you eat at meal times.

It is also strange that you shoot the same amount of insulin each mealtime? Are you aware that most people on a basal/bolus regime (ie a long and short acting insulin regime) adjust the dose of insulin they eat at each meal to match the food that they are eating? This is all based on the amount of carbohydrate you consume - carbohdrate-based foods are for example, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, sugars etc etc.

What's your diet like? Do you eat an awful lot of carb? If so, cutting down on the amount of carbohydrate you eat will undoubtedly help you.
 
Hi PJI,

Sorry to hear you're struggling with you diabetes at the moment.

It sounds as if you suffer from insulin resistance, since you're having to use doses far bigger than some other people. The trouble is that using more insulin will only make you yet more insulin resistant. The 'keep upping the dose' advice is criminal.

You might consider reducing the amount of carbohydrate in your diet though. As LadyJ mentioned, it's these seemingly innocent 'staples' that demand lots of insulin for very little nutrition. You don't need to go hungry by the way. Replace the starches and sugars with vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, nuts etc. and both your blood sugars and your insulin resistance will start to improve immediately.

All the best, and keep us posted

fergus
 
It does seem that the proportion of basal and bolus insulin is out, maybe balancing them out would help things. Are you on any medication to help with insulin resistance, like metformin?
 
Thank You everyone for your kind assistance,I am on metformin 2x500mg per day,also asprin and 1x 40mg of Lipitor the anti cholestoral drug.
It would seem from your posts that I have a resistance to insulin.
I am going to seek help with the local hospital diabetic specialist and also try and cut my carbohydrate intake down, not that it is that high anyway.

Once again many thanks for replying so promptly to my post it has been agreat help.


Regards

P.J.
 
Hi, you're not on your own in suffering from insulin resistance.
Ask your gp for an appt with a diabetes specialist before you're taking over 1000 units a day.
Carb counting is the best way to go. I'm unlucky in that I've been on steroids for years which doesn't help bg.
Go to your gp and get your resistance sorted before any complications occur
 
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