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Insulin

nessa1970

Well-Known Member
Messages
386
Location
New Zealand
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi. I saw my dn yesterday and she's changed all my insulin intake ...
My question is: why does it fluctuate... if your beta things are all dead then how come one person may take 20 background etc an others higher or lower.
My correction was 1-5 now it's 1-3 My carb one is 1-5 was 1-10, an my lantus is 12 was 9.
 
Regards to your basal question, age, weight & activity are just a few factors that can determine how much insulin someone takes.
 
Very good question... would like to know myself!! I have bee using a Freestyle Libre and have been testing constantly and done bolus testing etc... i have noticed that at certain times of the day my blood sugars rise then at times can dip.. can only presume that these are 'Liver dumps' I have changed my ratios at meal times to try and offset any rises which seems to have worked so far for me may be this is the case for yourself which is why maybe your DNS has changed your ratios.... may also be changes in the weather... who knows.... only been diagnosed 18 month back and am still trying to figure a lot of this out myself
 
I hope your insulin changes help @nessa1970

I agree with Noblehead above. I'd also say that the body's other hormones can have an effect too, and that it also depends on how sensitive we are to insulin.

Don't worry about the changes in doses. If they work and make it easier to keep your blood sugar down then that will be great.
 

The short answer? Not all metabolisms are the same.. Genetically 200,000 years in the making. We are still quite diverse!
The modern diet is also a "recent" development.. (Packaged food & such like.)

"Different strokes, different folks!"
 
nessa1970 said:
My question is: why does it fluctuate... if your beta things are all dead then how come one person may take 20 background etc an others higher or lower.
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People are different. People are complex. Insulin is a hormone, when your body is producing it it knows how much you need to harmonise with the other hormones in your body. We all have different hormone levels, different activity levels, different weights, different diets. That means we have different insulin requirements.
 
As others have said there are many factors at play. The common one is insulin resistance linked as a result of some excess weight. The body can't then use insulin efficiently and there can be unpredictable swings. If your BMI is a bit on the high side then reducing the carbs in the diet may help stabilise things.
 
If you're newish to insulin it could be the honeymoon ending. I've been on insulin 3 years and just recently had to double my doses, especially in the morning. Going to the endo next week and I will get another cpeptide which was low last year.

This change also occurred when the weather changed and got colder.

I feel like I'm always 'figuring it out' as it's always changing even if my food isn't. Just when I have a system going, something changes
 
Yes it will be great. But more insulin more weight put on right? I'm doing lchf so I'm eating omelette and egg alot. As then I don't need to bolus right? It's the only I can keep my weight from going higher. An it not affect my bs badly.
As I was 57 kg then I went to 68kg an am still maintaining that level but I cannot lose anything atall even if I'm eating perfect lchf food. So with all the hikes in insulin I'm just trying to remain at 68. I'm not ok with anything higher. I've allready allowed for a 10kg gain. I don't think I want the pump now. I am guessing that'll pack more on. Insulin may not put on weight but it does something in combination with eating etc. Cause when I was normal prior to all this I never found it hard to lose weight. This gain doesn't shift...
 
I'm doing LCHF, eating eggs, meat, fish, chicken etc with salad and/or broccoli and cauliflower. Even on LCHF I still need to bolus...it's nowhere near as many units as I would take for carbs but I'm still injecting 3-5 units at each meal
 
mahola said:
It's a curious thing, insulin and our bodies. I'm not insulin resistant or overly fat (UK size 12) but I need a big dose of basal to keep me going. 50 units!
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50!!! Omgosh I'm on 22 an that seems alot. See that's what is interesting how we vary so much. I imagine there are differences in male female, but quite curious as to why some are low an some high.
 
Yes an it's frustrating lol I like to know "why" an quite often with diabetes there is no solid answers atall it's all guess guess....
 

No, insulin doesn't cause weight gain. I want to shout this very loud because it's at least the second time I've said it today! Put that **** out of your head. Insulin saves lives and preserves limbs, kidneys and eyesight. Insulin does not make you fat. If you eat a healthy diet and take the amount of insulin you need to control your blood sugar, then that's good. Please don't be afraid of insulin.

You'll still need to bolus for protein if you're eating LCHF. It's not an easy answer control-wise. Have you tried using something like MyFitnessPal to count calories, carbs, etc? Calories can matter too if you're struggling to lose weight. Keeping records will show you if there's any obvious answer to your difficulties in losing weight. LCHF doesn't suit everyone. Some people end up having to take large/larger amounts of insulin because the diet itself can pitentially mess with your insulin sensitivity.

No, a pump wouldn't make you put weight on. It would just allow you to tailor your insulin more closely to your needs

I sympathise with your weight worries. Sorry if I've said all this before, but have you had your thyroid checked, could there be a hormonal issue, have you asked about Metformin? I've probably said at least one of those before, but they're all worth repeating anyway.
 
nessa1970 said:
But more insulin more weight put on right?
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No, insulin doesn't make you gain weight. It allows you to process your food properly, if that leads to weight gain thats the food you are eating, not the insulin. The other thing insulin does is keep you alive.

nessa1970 said:
I'm doing lchf so I'm eating omelette and egg alot. As then I don't need to bolus right?
Click to expand...

No. Low carb is low carb, not zero carb so your going to have to bolus for the carbs you do eat. And because you are eating low carb there is a risk that will push you ratios up further due to insulin resistance. In addition when low carbing you will likely find you need to bolus for protein because your body will perform gluconogenesis on protein and that will increase blood sugar.
 
I took myself off metforman but will take it again. No I'm really getting good at taking the insulin. Just frustrated. I ate oopsie bread an that has zero carb an I'm like 17.1 before I eat it is woke up at 12 .3 ate nothing then about to eat the oopsie an I'm 17. *** I haven't eaten ... so I do a correction of 4.... eat one oopsie didn't bolus as its zero. So will see in 2 hours . I'm going gym pools from Monday coming. I'm not touching any carbs accept for veges salad stuff an occasional fruit cause I love fruit. Even a dam peach is 9. That's 2 units. Omgosh bye fruit.
 
Oh Gees I don't even understand that. How do I no what to bolus for on eggs it's says zero carb.
 
nessa1970 said:
Oh Gees I don't even understand that. How do I no what to bolus for on eggs it's says zero carb.
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Nessa, I'm not T1, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to respond, in terms of bolus rates.

If you do a forum search, using something like "bolus for protein", you should find some informative content. There have been a few threads on it.
 

If you're waking high, that could be Dawn Phenomenon or your basal not being enough (speak to your DSN). Not eating may have made it worse as you could then have a liver dump. Even I wake on a good number and then don't have breakfast, my BS will go up and be hard to get down.

I personally think you should try eating a small number of carbs a day. LCHF can make insulin resistance worse and make it harder to keep your BS down, meaning you need more and more insulin.

If it was me, I'd ask about going back in the Metformin, do a basal test or ask your DSN if you should increase your basal, get your thyroid and female hormones checked, and try a different diet that is less likely to make you insulin resistant. Even, say, 20g carbs at each meal, is still very low but might be enough to help.
 
As already stated, it's the excess of foods consumed that gives you weight gain, NOT the insulin you take which is the item which your body needs to process said foods.

However, most people can still produce 'some' insulin naturally if their beta cells are not all destroyed. As this figure is individual to each person there's no hard and fast rule that you can apply - you need to find out what your body requires and work with that.
This is how some people NEED to inject insulin even on LCHF, whereas I am lucky to find a plateau where I still have enough beta cells producing insulin naturally - now I've found the foods it can cope with.

The further problem us T1's have, is that nothing is fixed forever, and what suits us right now, has the ability to change when you least expect it and for seemingly no reason. This is why you need to carry on test, test, test, even when it seems that you have good control.

LCHF works for a lot of people, but by no means a cure-all and even with that still needs careful monitoring.
 
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