Type 1 Need help with insulin-diet-weight equation

Hello, my name is Royina, I’m 24 years old, and I’ve had T1D for 3 years now. For my first 1.5 years as a diabetic I lived in India, had a low carb,low fat, high fibre diet, and needed very small amounts of insulin (about 15-20 units total a day). Last Feb I moved to Australia and since then the amount of insulin I need to take keeps increasing. At first I thought it was the honeymoon period ending, or a need for protein blousing however my ICR keeps getting worse (it’s at 1:3 now). The total amount of insulin I need now is 70u.
During this same time, the number of calories I’ve been able to eat keeps reducing. I was on a steady diet of 1100 cals/ day but now I’m at about 600-700 cals/ day. This is largely because I have prolonged spikes after eating and I have to correct for a few hours before I come down, in which case I often tend to go too low, then rebound etc. Thus most of the time I’m eating to correct and I only eat a small breakfast and dinner now.
My exercise has stayed consistent- HIIT about 3-5 days a week. However my weight has increased from 50kgs to 54kgs. I’m unable to bring that down too.
I’m really worried about how my insulin requirements keep increasing about the amount of food I get to eat is decreasing. I’m concerned that I can’t eat more without risking putting on weight and becoming even more insulin resistant.
Has anyone had this problem before? What am I doing wrong?

ert said:

Unlike normal insulin, injected insulin has a fixed 4-hour curve, so you would have to wait for four hours to see if your blood sugars returned to where they were before eating to see if you needed a correction (note: corrections should be taken with your next meal, otherwise your insulin stacks which causes the danger of a hypo, which you are experiencing.) If you are eating normally, you should ignore the peak over the four hours.

I've had to intermittent fast to lose weight on insulin. I don't eat until 3 pm when I'm a lot less insulin resistant, which means I need less insulin over the whole day. Are you still on LCHF? I am, which means less insulin also.

I hope you find something that works for you.

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I am still on LCHF (36c; 35f; 11fibre). Though I’ve found I need to correct twice after the 4 hour curve.

Daibell said:

Hi. It sounds like you are really trying. First, carbs are almost always the problem for higher BS and weight. You should be having a higher level of fat to help keep you feeling full and not be tempted by the carbs. Roughly how many carbs do you have per day? What foods are you eating to give you that high fibre diet? I'm suspecting but may be wrong that you have gained a bit of insulin resistance needing more insulin to overcome it. I can only suggest lower carbs. BTW don't think calories but think carbs.

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I’m on 35 carbs, 35 fat, 11 fibre, and 94 protein. I have gained insulin resistance but I don’t know why!

Rokaab said:

Have you done any basal testing? Cos if that's wrong then maybe you're needing more bolus to cover the basal you're missing.

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I did! Over the last year, I’ve increased my Basal from 20u to 31u but it seems to keep increasing (as does my bolus)

MarkMunday said:

That sounds like inadequate basal insulin action. Do basal testing again. Volatile blood glucose and having to do lots of corrections could explain the weight gain. Closing the basal action gaps makes bolusing much easier and more predictable.

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I think perhaps I do need to increase my basal again. Is increasing insulin resistance normal? I feel like my condition keeps getting worse

MarkMunday said:

Declining insulin sensitivity as endogenous insulin production fades is normal. Using 70 units of insulin for a 54 kg body sounds like a lot, but until blood glucose is stabilised and corrections are no longer required, the actual insulin requirement is uncertain. My suggestion is to do the basal testing, fill the basal insulin gaps, get bolusing to where it needs to to be, and then consider the insulin requirement. The sequence is important. Trying to fix bolusing while basal is out of whack puts one on a hiding to nothing.

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Thank you Mark! I will try the basal testing and hopefully things get better.