Loss of appetite even with LO readings

[Jason71]

Suffered with diabetes for 23 years.. over the past few months, I have lost the little control I had...

I can go for 2..3 days living off cups of tea then binge eat for one meal... Binge eating as in eating two portions of what I would consider my normal portion....

The problem is that I either have very high or very low blood sugars... to get them elevated especially in the morning is to have tea with 2..3 sugars and nit have any novarapid...
I take my lantus during the day rather than in the evening ti try and prevent Night time hypos...
The strange thing is that even with an LO reading I can 60% of the time function normally....
I know I need to eat regularly and this will sort the issue, but this is impossible.....
Is there owt one can take to kick start ones appetite...
I am underweight for my height ...

 

[Jaylee]

Hi @Jason71 ,

Welcome to the forum.

When did you last see your diabetic team?
I do Lantus myself, what I find is if the dosage is off I can get recurring lows if I’m just hitting it with short acting carbs like sugar?

When did you last do a basal test? Some info here.. https://www.mysugr.com/en/blog/basal-rate-testing/

Could it be that you might be consuming to treat the lows & ruining your appetite that way? I know if I’ve fixed a hypo. The last thing I wish to consume is more food. If it is bad timing prior to a meal.

Best wishes.

 

[EllieM]

Hi @Jason71 and welcome to the forums.

As @Jaylee said, I think it would be really good for you to talk to your diabetic team about this.

I am underweight for my height ...

My understanding of eating disorders (from a family member who had one ten years ago) is that it's pretty common for one's mental attitude towards food to be disordered ie you aren't hungry when you should be, and for sufferers' thoughts about food to be not entirely rational. So you can't really trust your appetite until you've got back to a normal weight and eating pattern. Having said that, we can't diagnose here and I'm not clear whether you have an eating disorder or whether your hypo treatment is messing with your appetite (or both or something else).

So my first thought here is ... have you talked to your diabetic clinic.?

Lantus can be taken at any time of day (I split mine because I find that I very occasionally have absorption issues and splitting it means I don't have to worry about lantus lows.) You sound like you may have severe hypo anxiety though?? Again, you need to talk to your clinic. (Cgms can help massively with this though hopefully you already have one)



Lots of virtual hugs.

 

[EllieM]

You sound like you may have severe hypo anxiety though?? A

Sorry @Jason71 if you are having LO readings then I shouldn't call it anxiety as you definitely don't want readings like that. Though am wondering if the LO reading is from a cgm or a glucometer. cgms aren't always accurate and I'd want to confirm a cgm LO with a glucometer? And I second @Jaylee's suggestion that you basal test, because if your basal is wrong then it's very hard to get anything else right.

 

[Jason71]

My diabetic team are frankly useless... they seem to use the carrot and stick system... you can only get help from us if you can maintain your levels... this has being for everything even trying to get a freestyle libre was an issue..

I am tired if jumping through hoops talking to people who though they know what duabetes is are not living with it..

I have wanted to know if there was a way i could find out how much insulin it takes to frop my readings a certain number of moles as we had a sort of sensitivity when i was once put on a pump... this i had to stop using as it broke in a car accident some ywars ago and could not be replaced...

I have no anxieties about LO readings usually...

My main issue is not having any appetite and thus no slow release cards in the system...

The team have flatly said tha.in relation to my under weight issues thar they only have help for people who are overweight...

I just wish there was a quick fix to re establish my appetite or a system that could tell me when I am leaving the green zone so I could remedy it....

 

[EllieM]

I have wanted to know if there was a way i could find out how much insulin it takes to frop my readings a certain number of moles as we had a sort of sensitivity when i was once put on a pump... this i had to stop using as it broke in a car accident some ywars ago and could not be replaced...

I'm sorry your team are being unhelpful.

You seem to be asking about a correction ratio (insulin to mmol/L)? My team helped me calculate both this and my insulin to carb ratio so I'm not sure why your team aren't doing this.

This link might be helpful but I stress it is a starting point only. (It's not accurate for me.)

https://www.mountsinai.on.ca/care/lscd/sweet-talk-1/what2019s-a-correction-factor-an-insulin-sensitivity-a-ratio

The team have flatly said tha.in relation to my under weight issues thar they only have help for people who are overweight...

You'd hope they would at least have some help for T1s suffering from diabulimia ? I can see why you aren't happy.

I just wish there was a quick fix to re establish my appetite or a system that could tell me when I am leaving the green zone so I could remedy it....

If by green zone you mean blood sugar green zone then your cgm should do that. I'm not clear from your post as to whether you have one. All UK T1s are supposed to now get them.

 

[mcarberry]

I’ve lost well over 2 stone I’ve no appetite at all I also have Gastroperises my long term insulin has went from 36/38 units down to 22/24 units should I be concerned about this

 

[Antje77]

I’ve lost well over 2 stone I’ve no appetite at all I also have Gastroperises my long term insulin has went from 36/38 units down to 22/24 units should I be concerned about this

Please speak to your specialist about this. Weight loss with gastroparesis can be hard to manage and is something needed to be adressed!
If your blood glucose is reasonable, I wouldn't worry about the reduction of basal, it may well be the weight loss simply means you need less now.

 

[shaunsilk]

I have had type one for 46 years, it started when I was 3. From what you describe minus the weight issue is how I was for a long time. I fixed my appetite by forcing myself to exercise and at first it was VERY difficult but it didn't take long before every morinig I would get home and would be STARVING to which instead of eating stuff that sent my bg through the roof I would eat .... STEAK and cheese and maybe 1 or two carbs of veg. Even now I mow that steak down. However, I'll back up a bit. Years prior to this as it's very recent, I would not eat for 3 days and it wouldn't worry me but then eat packets as in plural of biscuits and for a long time I lived on milk, milk drinks and malt for 3 years then moved to full milk coffees about 5 or 6 a day. So I didn't this for a long time as it slowly or not so slowly destroyed my body (as it does). So then I woke up 40 years later with retinopathy, gastroparesis for a life time. Neuropathy etc. But at some point YOU HAVE TO WANT TO LIVE. Fake it till you make it, even if it feels like your WALKING THROUGH DRYING CEMENT, if you get up and move even just a little, but do it every day. You can wait until it's on top of you or start now but absolutely it will work to move and exercise with increasing intensity, your body will SCREAM to eat and it becomes impossible to ignore, I know because days I take off I instantly can go back to not eating but on the mornings I go for walks or do push-ups etc incant ignore the hunger that develops. This is the best advice I can give you, and the type of food will be exactly what the body ordered plus it's practically carb free and contains all the nutrients you will need although you may need some multivitamins or injections depending on your current state. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or want to talk.