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Pfizer Jab causing Insulin Resistance?

Allen50yearsT1

Member
Messages
23
Location
Surrey
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
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Adverts, EU, Brussel Sprouts, Ginge & Winge.
I had the Pfizer jab 8 weeks ago, I'm Type 1 for almost 50 years and well controlled. However since the jab I've developed Insulin Resistance, most infusions weren't lasting the normal 3 days, my blood sugars were constantly rising and not dropping at all after large correction bolus', changing the cannulas 5 -7 times a day just to get the BS to drop, but usually went back up again after a few hours. I've now reverted to manual injections of Lantus and novorapid, and if injecting more than 10 units I only put it up to 10u, then swap to somewhere on my body for the rest. I firmly believe Pfizer jab is responsible by making my antibodies more aggressive. Not sure where to go from here, if there is no cure for this IR, and retraining my body to accept lower doses of insulin doesn't appear to be effective. There am I now terminally ill?
 

Try to do some light jogging for about an hour, after taking an insulin shot. If you start feeling uncomfartable during the excersice, switch to walking. Then try again to switch to running after about10 mins. Your body will get into ‘active mode’. That should increase the effectiveness of the insulin. Try to do it in the morning, before eating anything. Your bg should drop after a while or when your done and remain lower for the rest of the day. At least it works for me (but i didnt have the vaccination yet)
 
Wow! This is something I hadn't thought about at all but I had my first Pfizer injection around 4-5 weeks ago & my insulin resistance has also become a nightmare. Correction doses seem to be non existent, didn't matter how much I took nothing would bring me back into range. Ive been needing to go for a walk every morning soon as I eat my breakfast so that I dont see big spikes. Normally I wouldn't see a spike above around 8-9mmol but every morning I'm shooting up to 11-12 and its staying there for hours. I honestly just thought my body was changing but now you've mentioned the vaccine its a coincidence.
 
So its not insulin resistance so much as 'antibodies' in reaction to perceived infection. Has anything else changed ie. are you less active in response to high sugars or eating differently?
I would ask a gp to look at your blood for signs of a prolonged reaction to infection e.g. raised white blood cell count, Crp as this must be worrying for you if you are used to good control. ALso if you genuinely believe this to be connected to your vaccine, it can be reported via the Yellow Card system via your GP.
Good luck and I hope things settle down.
 
Yeah, I've discussed my experiences in a couple of other threads but since having the Vaccine my Basal requirements have increased by 22% and my Bolus requirements initially increased by more than 100%. Whilst my Bolus is not that high now, it's still a lot higher than they were with no end in sight. I have no ketones. I have never had a response to any illness like this.

If you look at my Libreview. You can see my tight control jumping out the window the week I took the Vaccine and hasn't got back to normal yet, even with me monitoring more carefully and taking increased doses of insulin.

*Edited for clarity
 

@StewM, So that’s definitely two of us that have seen massive insulin resistance after the vaccine. 3 if you include the OP. With this in mind will you be getting your second dose? My insulin resistance change was just about manageable but I had to massively increase how active I was after each meal. I literally had to walk at least 30-45 minutes every time I ate to stop huge spikes. Like you it’s not as bad now but definitely not back to normal.

It’s making me massively change my mind about a second dose.
 
I'll have the second dose, yeah, for a number of reasons.

1) There seems to be a trend if you had a bad experience with the first dose then the second dose doesn't have the same effect and vice versa, unfortunately.
2) This is likely temporary and should return to normal at some point, forgoing a second dose would only bring that forward by a very small amount in the grand scheme of things.
3) If it's more long-lasting then the damage has already been done, and I'm stuck with it, so I might as well have the second dose now I'm committed.
 
I walk a lot, and do regular push ups (40+ a time) , quite fast, to raise my heart rate. I used to play walking football, but they ban any running now. I've cut down on carbs and had no carbs today at all, just some scrambled eggs at 3pm, despite injecting for 40gms carbs twice. I'm going for a walk shortly.
 
After my 1st jab all I suffered from was a dead arm for 2 days. My diabetes was fine. I had my 2nd jab less than a week ago and my blood sugars are really high. Taking bigger correction doses which aren't doing a thing. Increased my Lantus and that's making little difference. My control is fairly poor anyway but know it's really bad. Just started on gabapentin for my sore legs so the meds are making me feel rubbish to. Been trying hard recently to improve my control and feels like I have taken a few steps back.
 
Last edited:
Out of interest, I did a day-on-day comparison. Pre-Vaccine and Post-Vaccine, where I ate the same food, and a similar step count throughout the day.

Basal 22% Higher
Morning Bolus 25% Higher. This resulted in Faster Steeper Peak from Food.
Midday Bolus 10% Higher. This resulted in similar Blood Sugars.
Evening Bolus 10% Higher. This actually resulted in more stable action.

Where the X-Factor really seems to come in is 8pm to 8am (roughly). Some nights I need way more insulin, sometimes I need way less. Pre-Vaccine my requirements were pretty stable from night to night and I always saw consistent flat lines of 6mmol/l throughout the night. I've not seen such a flat line since taking the Vaccine. With my Blood Sugar either trending higher or lower throughout the night.
 
You can add me to the list, although I could have been having a problem before the vaccine I have had my second vaccine now and if anything it is even worse, I have an appointment with the hospital consultant on Wednesday, trying injections
for the next 24 hours it does seem too help a bit, I have started to feel very stressed at the moment as I when I mentioned it at the hospital two weeks ago all they said was increase bolus rates, no help as sometime after changing infusion sets I get normal results for a few hours also I find bolusing huge amounts of insulin to stop my bg,s going to high means between 6 to 10 hours later my bg,s drop like mad, let's hope if it is phizer it does not last for ever, still it will keep diabetic consultants on their toes as it is not something I can not continue with
 
Good day all. I was diagnosed T1D 6 months ago. But I was in honeymoon period as doctor said and was able to keep my BG level steady by just dieting and exercise, until the first dose of pfizer vaccine.

The day after the vaccine my fasting BG level, which was usually in the 6-7 mmol/L range, increased to 10-11 mmol/L.
No matter how much I exercise, the drop was temporary. After some time, it went back up.

I just wanted to share my experience with the vaccine.
 
You also have to factor in how you would react if you actually get the virus. Many have reported far worse insulin resistance which has lasted a number of weeks/months while being ill with Covid-19.

Hope you all get back to pre-vaccine routines quickly. I had the AZ vaccine and had awful side effects and required 4x my usual total daily insulin for about 1 week after the first dose. This was mostly by raising by basal, and I was able to keep my bolus ratios the same (other than the initial 24hrs responding to the sudden rise with corrections). Almost 1 week after my second dose now and not had any side effects or change to my insulin requirements. I appreciate this is a different vaccine, but hopefully those of you with issues will see them resolved soon.

Reading some of these posts it seems more of you with issues use pumps? I have no experience of pumps but wonder why this might be. Also, some of you say your bloods rise again after longer periods following your correction doses, which suggests this is thanks to your liver releasing glucose rather than carbs in your diet. I wonder if further increases in basal will help here? I was only confident in raising mine so much because I had the libre sensors and only did occaisional finger prick tests, completely understand it would be scary to do without your fingers ending up like pin cushions if you don't have a libre/dexcom!
 
When I had covid my insulin resistance was horrendous. It remained a problem for a few weeks after having covid. Rather have the vaccine over and over again with all the side effects than catch covid again.
 
Thanks for posting, reassuring to hear you have not had raised blood glucose after the second vaccine. I had the Pfizer end of Feb and was warned as I am prone to DKA that I might have a reaction and I did! I bought a Libre especially and would have found it hard to manage without it, I quickly needed triple Fiasp and double of my Levemir for about 10 days. Still not quite back to normal but going in the right direction. My nurse said a reaction to perceived infection and antibodies being produced. She also told me COVID really raises your blood sugar and so does the treatment if you are hospitalised so I imagine I would be much worse with high blood sugar and ketones if I caught the actual virus, so I will be having the second vaccine. Hoping it will be a bit easier though!
 
Reading all these comments makes me wonder about getting the 2nd vaccine, Its been 5-6 weeks since my first & my insulin resistance is still shocking compared to be before. Ive seen different views, some say the effects of the second aren't as bad as the first. Ive also seen others say if you had bad side effects from the first then the second is worse. If that's the case I wouldn't like to imagine what my insulin resistance will be like after the 2nd. Agree with me or not but im 26 year old, ive lived my life completely normal throughout all of these lockdowns & still attended the gym 6 days a week mixing with a bubble of 10-15 different people in the gym then a family/friend bubble of around 15 people. So ive probably mixed/socialised with a group of 30-40 people & neither me or any of them ive mixed with have had the virus. I read that im 60-80% covered from the first vaccine, I think ill take the risk & not bother with the second one. Diabetes is hard enough without your insulin resistance going on a rampage.

Please dont judge or slate me, if you want to get both your jabs then please do.
 
Well to late for me I have had my second vaccine only only four weeks between first and second jabs here, they are saying here a third jab will may be needed but I feel the damage has already been Done if it is the phizer jab time will tell, but that is what diabetic specialist are for I am sure they will sort it out,I wish you well if you stop at one jab
 
By the way, I don’t think it’s anything specific to the Pfizer vaccine. Myself and others have experienced the same on the AstraZeneca.
 
I'm the same, had second AZ 4 weeks ago and have had difficulties with similar raised blood sugars that everyone else in this thread has reported. The last few days seem a bit better though, am puzzled!
 
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