My insulin has stopped working and I am feeling beyond depressed.

[Catsymoo]

I don't understand what's happening. I've been on Humulin M3 since 2012. Everything has been under control for the most part. I'm also on Metformin and the mini pill. The last few weeks my insulin is not working, or barely. I normally take 30 units in the morning, and 10-12 at dinner. I've had 55 units today so far and my blood sugar is 12.4. It was 9.9 when I woke up. All I've eaten since last nights dinner is a pot of sugar free jelly and a single bite of a biscuit my boyfriend had. I can't take this any more. I'm starving and I'm having to live off of eggs and carb free foods. I'm gaining weight and I feel so down. I have an appointment with my endo tomorrow but in the mean time I just don't know what to eat or what to do.

I'm scared that I'm going to die young because my blood sugars keep going up to 15-19 for no reason. My weight is going up and up and up with the increasing dose and I don't eat bad foods. Why isn't my insulin working? I'm not sick, I don't have periods because of the pill. I'm a little stressed but I don't feel at the end of my tether kind of stressed. I barely sleep properly because I start work at 3am and find it easier to sleep when I get home in the morning.


Sorry for the rant, just nobody around me is diabetic and they don't understand. I just get comments like, "oh it's just the weather you're fine" etc.

 

[Natalie1974]

Ouch...sounds like you're having a bit of a bad time.
Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious but have you tried changing the cartridge? I'm assuming you're on MDI? There was someone on earlier this week had a similar problem, although I'm fairly sure she was a pump user. Have you noticed any changes in the insulin packaging or anything like that?

 

[RuthW]

If it is any comfort. I had this happen last week. Over a week, things got worse and worse. I tried everything, from stricter carb counting, to more exercise, to changing my set (on a pump), to changing my basal rate, to changing the actual vial of insulin I was using in case it was contaminated or degraded. This week everything is OK again. But i am still not clear what the effective factor was! It is difficult sometimes. I guess your consultant will help you to work through the various factors.

 

[tim2000s]

You might want to have a conversation with your consultant or DSN @Catsymoo. The NICE recommendations are now that T1s use MDI rather than twice daily injections - this may help both with control and with weight. The twice daily regime often requires you to eat to your insulin, whereas the MDI approach means that you can manage what you eat a whole lot more easily.

 

[Catsymoo]

I usually change my cartridge once a week anyways, since I'm on a pen not a pump, and it runs out about every 8 days. I've been rotating my injection sites, doing everything as before... yet this is happening. My insulin doesn't seem to be expired or anything. I want to go on MDI because I can't stand the midday hypos where I have to eat when I don't want/need to. I've gained so much weight since diagnosis, over 3 years I've gained about 2-3 stone. I don't eat a lot and I walk more than a lot of people my size. I'm now 14.5 stone (some of that is leg muscle, I only look about a size 14). I feel like a horrible blob and now high sugars to make it worse.

 

[RuthW]

Yes, you can develop antibodies to a particular insulin so it may be that your insulin regime cannot work for you at all anymore. If you are going to change to MDI or a pump, I am sure they will offer you a DAFNE course (if you are UK resident). And I recommend Scheiner's Think Like A Pancreas. Whatever course you take, that will help.

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. As a T1 you should already be on Basal/Bolus and not mixed insulin unless you have been given a good medical reason why not. Do ask the GP/DN to change you over as you would have better control anyway. Can you let us know some typical foods you have as something must be contributing to weight gain.

 

[LucySW]

Could you have an infection of some kind? The classic hidden infection site that can make blood sugars uncontrollable is the teeth and gums. Dr Bernstein goes on about this and it has given many people problems. Seriously - any gums that feel sore in cold water, or teeth that hurt when tapped?

Or anything else like that?

You poor thing.

MDI will be much better than fixed injections. In your shoes I would move to that asap, snd would also urgently low carb. If you need an idea of how to do that, look at the Diet Doctor site. Personally I follow the Bernstein 30 grams of carb a day regime. I would read his book, The Diabetes Solution. It doesn't suit everybody but suits some extremely well. You'll only find out by trying.

Low carbing will take the pressure off your blood sugars. Exercise - the mire, the better. As you lose weight you'll be able to do more.

The fact that you've put on all that weight suggests that you've been having to eat to cover your insulin and you've become quite insulin resistant. With less carb you'll need less insulin, and then you can work on becoming more insulin sensitive. What you describe isn't inevitable.

Courage.

 

[Catsymoo]

I don't eat a lot of carbs, especially not with meals. My problem is I work 4am-8am. I have my big dose when I come home, eat, and crash out. I usually wake up about 1:30pm with a hypo, and I'll have a bowl of cereal or something to correct it. This usually sends me too high before dinner time and I need a higher dose to bring it down, but then later on I have another hypo where the insulin is really slow.


Sorry, I know a lot of you recommend low carb but I'm not going down that road again. I'm going just below a normal person's carb intake. I ate barely any carbs when I was first diagnosed, and for a year I felt bad. Sure, I lost weight, but I got sick all the time, I had no energy unless I ate at least 100g of carbs. It's also really expensive to low carb, or it was back then.


As for food, my typical work days I wake up at 3am and have something small like one weetabix or a cereal bar. I come home at 8am and have either soup or wholegrain seeded bread sandwich. Afterwards I'll eat something sweet. Usually something healthy(ish). I drink water, herbal teas, coconut water and Pepsi max as it curbs sugar cravings. I do pick at chocolate sometimes, but I try to stick to dark and no more than 2 squares at a time. I rarely eat lunch as I'm usually sleeping unless you count the afternoon hypo correction as lunch. Dinner is usually soup, or whatever is being made but I'll have less of it. I try to eat a higher protein diet as it's nicer on my blood sugar and keeps me full. All in all I usually have about 1500 calories a day. My job requires 4 hours of solid walking and heavy lifting.

I've never had any problems with my blood sugar on this diet, my weight just seems to stay the same no matter how much hardcore dieting i do. Because I have to feed my insulin. I've quit drinking altogether and I used to drink hardcore in 2013. Spirits too. You'd think I would've lost weight lol... It's like I gained weight in 2013 and I just can't lose it.

 

[tigger]

Hi

I see you say you're on humulin and metformin. Why is that? My basic understanding of metformin is it's for insulin resistance but given how newly diagnosed you are that seems very odd. Obviously we all come from our own experiences but mine is 32 years type 1 only on insulin.

All insulins act differently and it may be worth trying another. I have used porcine insulin since diagnosis (apart from 3 bad years on the then new human insulin) and refuse to change again for fear of another bad experience. If it works don't mess with it, is my mantra. If what you're on currently isn't working for you and this is more than a temporary blip discuss changing insulins with your team. There are lots of people on here using different insulins and different ones suit different lifestyles. Until I very recently got a pump as a result of pregnancy I have stuck to 2-3 injections a day and it works for me. I may well go back to this once I've had the baby.

The only thing I'd suggest with your diet is after you work and eat something sweet make sure you're having something slow burning (e.g. oat based - porridge, smoothie with oats in) or a mix of protein and carbs too at the same time and see if that deals with the afternoon hypo.

I don't know how humulin works as porcine has short acting and long acting insulins. So my typical evening regime (which sounds more like you're day) was short acting for supper and then just before bed long acting to get me through the night. I had issues with dawn phenomenon but a lot of the time it was ok. I also am generally more insulin resistant in the morning (your afternoon) so would wait a while after injecting before eating. I find if I do exercise in between that helps both with levels before and after breakfast.

I hope that helps on some ideas.

Good luck in sorting this out. It's miserable when you can't get it right.

 

[Spacebadger]

This also happened to me recently... I don't quite understand it either... I had upped my units of insulin to 14-16 units... As was getting high readings and couldn't seem to keep it down, was eating less and less, and was still high. Then last week I did 14 units for a meal I had previously (and usually got results of 14mmol +) but I dropped to 2.8 very quickly.... And now I'm doing less insulin than I ever have...

I'm meeting the DSN on monday as it's left be a bit nervous and confused as to what's happening. As I've lost my hyop sensitivity and didn't notice I was low, but decided to check on the off chance! Scary