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Lantus and diet only Type

F

FL280

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hi All,

I was diagnosed almost exactly 1 year ago, with a very high bg, 30mmol if I recall. I was and still am a very healthy early 30s male, with a healthy diet and plenty of excercise. It took me about a month on insulin (lantus and Humolog) to figure it out and get most of my tests below 10, another month after that I was almost always between 4.0 and 9.0. Its gotten slowly better, down to the point now where I'm quite disapointed to see over 7.0 on the meter. A1Cs all in the 5.3-5.9 range.

Fairly early on in the process I stopped eating simple carbs, as these were obiviously much harder to dose for. The last six months have been managed solely with Lantus and diet-meat, eggs, cheese, veggies, salad, nuts, -generaly the low carb high fat thing. And as far as I can tell my sugars and everything else are excellent. Blood tests for pretty much everything you could think of come back perfect. Doctor says dont change a thing, but assures me that my pancreas must still be working a bit.

I'm nervous about continuing without any rapid acting insulin because I have never heard of other type ones being able to do this. I really dont want any nasty surprises later on in life.

So...anyone else out there manage type 1 diabetes with only Lantus, diet, and excercise?
 
Could you be LADA? And still honeymooning?

I think @Ian DP is T1/LADA and not on any insulin at all.
 
What you've described has been raised by a few other people on the forum who have been going through the honeymoon period. Your pancreas is likely to still be functioning a little as you surmise. Unfortunately, as you are undergoing an auto-immune attack it is unlikely that it will continue to function enough to maintain your insulin output at a level you need.

The best thing to do is keep doing what you are doing and monitor your blood glucose levels. When they start to rise you will probably need to reintroduce Humalog.
 
Firstly well done for getting such a good grip on your diagnosis and control right from the start. That is half the battle won at this stage.

However unfortunately I don't think there are many people out there that can not use at least a small amount of bolus insulin. Obviously reducing your carbs and keeping active help keep your sugars low however I think in your case it is probably due to some pancreatic function happening. I have to bolus even when I eat totally carb and sugar free food. Protein will raise your glucose level as well, just not by as much. There is a well know diabetic saying; there's no such thing as a free meal

As long as your levels are good at the moment then you have nothing to worry about but I think that you will eventually have to start using bolus.

Let us know how you get on though and good luck
 


Hi! My son is 16 and it has been 5 months since his diagnosis with type 1. We are taking the same approach you are. He has been on lantus only - 1 unit a day - for about 3 months. The doc wanted to take him off all insulin, but I requested keeping him on a minimal dose, as I've read that it may shorten the honeymoon period to take him off all insulin. He also would be very difficult to reintroduce to injections, as he has Down Syndrome and has had an intense fear of needles historically. He is thin and also active, with a relatively athletic look, for a young man with DS.

We will get an A1c today. He has been edging up lately, with extreme highs yesterday, but he is also sick. We also do little added sugar, lots of veggies, meats, fats, some fruits. I wash potatoes and mix with cauliflower, and we love almond flour. (Probably similar to your approach. ) starting to go with more organics, as well.

We have also been told this success will be short lived, and it is unusual, but we hope it lasts a little longer.

By the way, our doc has not recommended lower carb, but it seemed like a better approach to me, as it is difficult to match insulin and carbs well, even though I was very careful when carb counting.

Hope we are both able to continue this regimen!
 
@FL280, if your Dr's say ''don't change a thing'' then don't, just be sure to keep checking your bg regularly so that you spot the signs when you start to come out of your Honeymoon Period. Good luck.
 
Im in the honeymoon phase and against the consultants advice i am still using novorapid for meals. At the moment i still have no requirement for lantus. Surely its easier to manage levels with novorapid rather than lantus where you have to eat at set times
 


Lantus is a basal (background) insulin @jamesfitz.
 
Yeah but if you take too much lantus you will hypo if you dont eat. With novorapid you establish how many carbs are in your meal then inject accordingly so the chances of hypos are slim.
 
jamesfitz said:
Yeah but if you take too much lantus you will hypo if you dont eat. With novorapid you establish how many carbs are in your meal then inject accordingly so the chances of hypos are slim.
Click to expand...

The chances of hypo's are reduced ifyou get the basal dose right through basal testing, you can still hypo from just using bolus injection as experience has taught us all.
 
Although I'm a type 3c, I experienced the same honeymoon period as LADA type 1s. I remained on just Humulin for several months before introducing Humulog. I think I've leant that 'one size doesn't fit all' in our diabetic world and the delayed introduction of Humulog certainly helped me. As @noblehead said, "The chances of hypo's are reduced ifyou get the basal dose right through basal testing, you can still hypo from just using bolus injection as experience has taught us all." Sue xxx
 
Wow. Thanks for all the constructive replies so quickly. An extended honeymoon period is my best guess as well.

Early in the diabetes education process I was handed a poster showing me how to correct for various foods. It showed how many blocks of carbs were in various foods, and there for how many units of rapid to take with each, depending on ones sensitivity to insulin of course. The light went on when I saw almost everything I needed rapid for was something I didn't really need to eat.
Seems like a pump might be a good option for me if this cntinues since it's pretty hard to correct for the slow rises my kind of meals do give with just one shot of rapid.

Reading these forums make me realize how lucky I am to have had this happen at a point in life where I have the emotional, mental and physical ability to manage it effectively.

Good luck all.
 
Got the a1c. 6.8. Doctor thought it was great, but I thought it was high - higher than I expected.
 
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