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Insulin resistance?

G

Glass_half_full

Newbie
Messages
4
I have been type 1 since Feb this year. All going quite well until the last two weeks! I feel like I might as well have not been taking my insulin. Constantly high sugars and feeling like my insulin isn’t doing anything! Prime example tonight. I’m on 1:20 ratio. I sometimes do 1:15 depending on what I’m eating. Tonight I did 1:15 and my sugars didn’t even go down a little bit. Just up. I’m now sat at 16mmols wondering whether there is any point injecting again as it isn’t doing anything.
Is insulin resistance a thing this early on? Going to ring my nurse tomorrow and speak with her. Just feeling abit frustrated! :-(
 
Hi @Glass_half_full ,
In the early days of T1 our pancreases still produce some insulin. As more and more insulin producing cells die, the amount of insulin produced by your body gets less and less. This means it's expected you'll need more insulin over time.
This process seems a bit unpredictable in many of us, sometimes we can suddenly produce more insulin than expected, giving us surprise lows, sometimes we stay stable for a while and sometimes our insulin needs suddenly increase.

Your ratio of 1:15 or 1:20 means you're on relatively low doses of insulin, which may mean your beta cells still have quite a bit of life left. Many diabetics start out on a 1:10 ratio or even more.

Have you contacted your consultant on how to tweak your ratio? I'd give them a call about it tomorrow.
It can also mean your basal dose needs to be changed, I'd ask about that as well.

Wish you all the best!
 
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Hi there Glass_half_full - How are you feeling in yourself with a score of 16? That's a bit high.

Do you have strips, or urine strips you could test yourself for ketones? High blood glucose with ketones could be a red flag.

Not all high blood sugars have ketones, or are very dangerous, in the short term, but it's better to be safe than sorry, and check if you can.
 
Yes, 1:20 probably means you are relying on some insulin coming from your pancreas. (Though some people maintain incredibly low quantities of insulin use throughout their lives). I do have some insulin resistance (T2 dad) and I'm 1:3, so you can see that in the global scheme of things you are still very insulin sensitive. Some (usually T2) diabetics have to take literally 100s of units of insulin per day. And be aware that some people can have different ratios at different times of day, while illness, stress and insulin also play into the mix.

Talk to your team and try not to stress. Good luck.
 
Insulin resistance

I've had a couple of instances of insulin not working during 47 years of diabetes, but has always been due to a reason. The last occasion was when I broke my sternham many moons ago after a car crash. Leaving hospital I started to return to exercise but had no energy and felt dreadful. Spoke to Doctor and with 24 hours of insulin change started to feel much better with improvement to blood etc.

Suggest drinking more water and less exercise initially to allow your body to settle naturally and natural yogurt could rebalance you before giving up on your current insulin. Don't forget you could increase your insulin for example as if you have an infection for example. Hope this helps.. Stay safe
 
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