Is using a lot of insulin bad for you

dansmith46 said:

Hello, I am 17 and have had type 1 diabetes for 9 years now. I have a pump so I have largely continued to eat whatever and whenever I please because I can just bolus for it. However I read recently about the man who just turned 90 with diabetes and he used insulin but in small quantities because he barely eats anything as his method to longevity of life.

I just want to know if what I am doing is harmful to my health. I am an athletic person so I dont pig out every day but I do indulge in the grazing (eating little bits all day) method of eating, and then just bolusing for it. Is this bad for me diabetes wise.

Click to expand...

Hi dansmith46.

I am not sure about the grazing all day and bolusing but my son who is 14 and on MDI's since February this year saw his consultant last week who asked roughly how much insulin he was having in a day. He was averaging around 7 units for breakfast, 5 units for lunch, 10-12 units for tea and although he has 70g carbs for supper he does not bolus for supper then 15 Lantus at night, the consultant said he is not taking on much insulin for his weight so he needs to eat more with insulin. During the day if he is feeling his bg is low he will eat a small snack obviously without bolusing.

I will add that James is 5ft 2" and 7st. 2lbs so could do with putting on more weight. Although he does like the fact that he can eat more, he does not like the fact that he may have to inject more

Hope this is of help

Hi,

The more insulin you take the more weight you will put on. That is a given I'm afraid. There is some evidence and argument that we should be trying to have as little insulin floating around as possible.

This is a link to an essay on that, it is from the famously slightly bonkers Dr. Mercola, but I think it's an interesting and quite convincing description of what insulin does.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... t-one.aspx

Dillinger

Hi dan,

I too am a grazer throughout the day therefore i dont eat lunch cuz of it. I use a pump as well and bolus for the grazing - if i have a piece of toast i have 1.5u uz my ratio is 1u =10g of carb. I dont think i have too much insulin as i dont sit and eat lunch so no carbs there and fruit doesnt send my bs too high after i have eaten it.

I havent been told by dsn or consultant that this is bad. If it keeps you stable throughout the day and you have no probs with hba1c then your diabetes can't be suffering. I think you need to be careful if you are bolusing too much because you are grazing on a lot of carb. If it works for you then keep doing it......everyone is different.

josie

If you insulin is matched to your needs then you won't put on weight or do yourself any harm in the long run..

Insulin can only do it's other function of laying down fat for emergency fuel stores if it's got something to do it with...

Which basically means..

Our bodies need fuel to function any spare fuel will be turned inot fat and laid down around our bodies... Insulin not only regulates are blood glucose by ensuring it maintains a stable level, it also unlocks the cells to utilise the glucose for fuel... It then plays a part in converting spare glucose into fat which is laid down around the body..

So if your food consumption provides enough fuel to fuel the body, so it able to maintain an health weight and doesn't exceed this, there is no spare fuel to be turned into fat.. It can only do this if you give it something to do it with..

The amount of insulin that the body requires to do the same task is different for each indivdual..

And you can't take two diets and say that because that one in theory uses less insulin than that one it's better for you to follow.. Because as we all know that often than not theory is much difference in practice..

Theory wise dillingers diet is supposed to use less insulin based on he eats less carbs than I do per day...

But he uses a lot more insulin than I do to follow his diet!

I only use ATDD (Advage Total Daily Dose) 17 units

So using this theory alone, dillinger should be fat as an house and heading for trouble!

So it's all about balancing blood glucose control, and an diet that maintains you at an healthy weight and matches your activity levels etc.. Not so much about units of insulin

If you are keeping good glucose control, and are of normal weight then you're taking the right amount of insulin for you . As a young man and active you are at an age when you probably need to both eat more and consequently take more insulin than most of us on here.
You do need to be careful of what snacks you're eating. High density snacks like crisps/chocolate/cakes etc aren't healthy for anyone, diabetic or not and may lead to weight gain. If you gain too much weight, then you can become more insulin resistant and need more insulin to counteract this.

Insulin isn't bad in iteslf. It actually has far more functions than keeping your glucose in check. For example it is needed for muscle protein synthesis and to keep arterial walls flexible thus increasing blood flow. It also stops the breakdown of fats after eating (or injection) and aids in the storage of fat. There is no problem here, as long as you are only eating sufficient to cover your energy needs there should be excess to store. There's a pretty comprehensive list of functions in Wiki under the heading Physiological effects : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin

phoenix said:

If you are keeping good glucose control, and are of normal weight then you're taking the right amount of insulin for you .

Click to expand...

The above is all you need to know Dan!

Nigel

I'm 28, been type 1 for 20/21 years, I'm a grazer too, eat plenty, I'm pretty much bang in the middle for BMI, 11 stone, 5 foot 11, I take around 80 units of Insulin a day, not one complication, feel great.

My problem is weight increase, and much of that is because I'm now on a pump I snack more often and do more little boluses to compensate.

I haven't had an hba1c done for a while (last one was 7.4) so will be interesting to see what the next one is, but I need to lose weight, big time (no pun intended).

dansmith46 said:

I read recently about the man who just turned 90 with diabetes and he used insulin but in small quantities because he barely eats anything as his method to longevity of life.

Click to expand...

My goodness, that sounds miserable way to do it