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SCARED OF INJECTING INSULIN = INJECTING FAT

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NICOLA68

Newbie
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Hello all, I am a newbie so I do hope you don't mind we posting so early.

I am a type one daibetic diagnosed approx 30 years ago. I am about 4 stone over weight.

For some reason I am scare of injeting insulon into my body because I understand it turns to fat.

If anyone to help I would be really greatful xx
 
Ok... how insulin works in the body is pretty complex but with my understanding i'll try and explain!

Insulin is a hormone which everyone produces naturally (unless you are a t1 diabetic) and it is responsible for the metabolisum of carbohydrate (sugars) and fats in the body (along with some other things as well such as how your blood vessels constrict and also it helps the brain to function properly). Insulin tells your liver and you muscles to take the carbohydrate from the blood stream and store it internally. Now your muscles and your liver can only store so much carbohydrate before they become full and therefore if you are eating more carbohydrate than you are using to power your body then these stores become full. The body therefore must do something with the excess carbohydrate and this is broken down and stored as fat.

Now it does get a little more complicated than this because insulin also tells your body not to release fat to be used as energy.. so the more insulin you take the less fat that become available to be burnt as energy..

So in conclusion.. if you eat a healthy diet and do not have an excess of carbohydrates then the excess carbohydrates won't be converted to fat... conversely you will also inject less insulin making sure that your body has access to more fat to burn as energy.. Injection of insulin only converts carbohydrate to fat when you are eating to much carbohydrate!

Now the million-dollar question is how much carbohydrate is to much? on average I believe the body can store around 250 - 350g of carbohydrate before it 'overflows' clearly however depending on your level of exercise you will be using a certain amount of that / day in general activity.. So it's a little hard to say you can eat X amount... A lot of individuals advocate a reduced carbohydrate diet to help control blood glucose and lose weight and certainly I have found this sort of diet to be a benefit to myself. You can find plenty of information on this forum reference low / reduced carbohydrate diets.
 
The main thing Nicola is as a type 1 diabetic you should not stop taking your insulin! Not taking your insulin is going to lead to some pretty dire consequences and you need to ensure that you maintain stable blood glucose control.

This site is full of a wealth of information and people willing to share their experiences so if you have any questions please feel free to ask.
 
They do say that insulin attracts fat but I am 8 stone 4 and inject a lot more insulin now than I did 6 years ago when I was 13 stone 8 lbs for a period of time after my pregnancies :?

I really feel it is all about what you put in your gob to how much you move at the end of the day :lol: It ain't rocket science :D

I have found personally that it does not go on your insulin levels, but that could just be me, who knows. I did find when I was fat and did a lot less I had much more stable control though :cry: But my overall health is so much better with regards to risks of heart attack ,stroke ect . That a little bit of a rollercoaster ride with my Diabetes is worth it...it's all about trade off's I suppose.

You will lose the weight if you make the effort and you may find your insulin levels go down...maybe like me they will go up but either way you will benefit your overall health, feel and look a lot better, so it's all good Hunny! so good luck.
 
Hi Nicola68
I am also T1 and have had diabetes for 36yrs old. I am on four injections a day and also metformin. The metformin is to try and give you a bit of help with the amount of insulin you take. I have not been a typical diabetic, ate and drank normal coke cola. Alcohol when i was younger, but i just want to say i also have several complication by thinking this will never happen to me. I have retinopathy, both eyes are completely lasered, Left eye has macular oedema and constant bleeds at the back of the eye, they are now thinking of taking the vitreous jelly out to try and prevent further problems ( but as we all now every one is different). I also have no lining to my kidneys, had to stop driving and also have under active thyroid. I became unwell at the beginning of this year and have lost 4 stone, but am feeling better now.
I think you should worry about the complication of not doing your injections and having high blood sugar.
I understand your scared of injecting and putting on weight but just monitor your sugars four times aday and watch what carbs you are eating, but remember we need some to keep us from hypo/hyper.
There is alot of info on this sight
Take good care of yourself
 
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