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Fenn

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,405
Type of diabetes
Type 1.5
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi, if I am insulin resistant which I assume I am, what would be the point in taking more insulin? So assuming I don’t take insulin, how do I get my numbers down? I have done very low carb and it worked very well, I have found a carb level I can live with long term but the numbers are crazy.

I don’t eat junk food, no sugary drinks or foods etc, I eat very low amounts of the main culprits bread, rice pasta etc etc, never have afters, I might eat a petrol station sandwich if I’m on the road all day but generally eat very well a moderately low carb, I’m back on the yogurt and berries for breakfast, I know all the foods I should and shouldn’t eat, I know all the ways to low carb bake, I’ve been there, done that and the t-shirt is baggy

I do not want to go 30g a day, did that for years, it worked but I’m sick of it so I have found a nice level I can live with, I am very well behaved, I take my pills, I don’t drink or smoke, I eat tons of the good stuff and almost none of the bad.

I get plenty of excercise but not the kind you get from the gym, I work long physical weeks at work, averaging 10-15k steps according to fitbit

So the crazy numbers are telling my dsn that I need insulin, obviously I don’t fancy that, especially as I’m probly insulin resistant and that would not make much sense

I seem to be on this track and want to get off please, the thought of really low carbing for life feels me with depression and can’t see it working anyway as I get bad numbers when fasting

I take x4 metformin, alogliptin and jardinace (I have 3 months before I-day so they are trying the jardinace)

I wake up in the high teens I can fast all day and get to the low teens, eat something like a sandwich and be in the 20s, it generally takes 5 hours to get back to low teens, I’ve gone from a1c’s 116 (5 years ago) to 36 (3 years ago) and now 82, it’s nuts considering what I eat, I am a little heavy but most people would not say I’m fat, just big built, I may be a stone too heavy but I’m wide and carry it well, the nurse said “your not fat” when I suggested that to be the problem

So finally after all that my question.... is insulin a bad idea for me? I’ve been told it’s inevitable but does it have to be?

Thankyou

Sorry, shouldn’t be posting at this late hour, will regret it in the morning
 
Do you think perhaps you could be confused about “the bad guy” ? It’s not insulin but the high blood sugars that are going to cause problems. You’ve certainly done everything you can to lower them and it isn’t going so well. Using insulin may sound may seem like a big step but it will let you eat a diet that you are happy with and have good readings. Try to change your perception of it. Imagine if you lived in a county where it wasn’t available or too expensive. What would happen to you now that you’ve exhausted sustainable diets and oral medication and yet your blood sugars are still damagingly high? Now come back to reality and think “thank goodness for insulin”. I understand the fears involved but Insulin really will help you have a diet you enjoy and relieve the stress about high sugar levels. I hope this helps. Best wishes, Leeanne
 
Are you absolutely sure that you're insulin resistant rather than just having some sort of delayed onset T1? (ie LADA)
If you've got LADA then you absolutely need insulin and it will help you enormously....
 
Reduce your portion sizes?

I need a substantial amount of insulin for my big body to work normally and to be able to function.
I'm awaiting bariatric surgery so I'm told I will need far less insulin after op. The gut/intestines hold the key to absorption so help your gut and it will help you.
Keep tweeking to get what's best for you.
We all have different needs.
 
Thankyou for your responses, I don’t know how to “quote” sorry, I’m not afraid of taking insulin, I don’t mind needles, if it would work I would happily take it, although assuming I am insulin resistant, I believe I already have too much insulin floating around in there? So would it make sense? All I do know is I have to get the numbers down or suffer the inevitable consequences

I have had a GAD test, the nurse said it would take 3 weeks to come back, this was 4 weeks ago and haven’t heard anything so assume it came back negative, I have had a letter asking for more blood tests but they surely would let me know if the gad was positive?

I eat half of “normal” people, at work my colleagues comment on how little a eat, at home I eat half meals, I asked for a thyroid blood test as I am surrounded by under active thyroids, mum, sister, daughter etc, but it came back as normal, I suspected it as I eat so little
 
Saxagliptin since November although she recently changed it to alogliptin
 
Hi Fenn, sorry for your predicament, starting on Insulin is a big step. I don’t have any experience of taking insulin but hopefully you’ll get some more advice today. I did however want to say that you need to chase up your GAD test result, I wouldn’t assume that no news is good news. There have been many reports on here of people not being informed of abnormal results. I hope you find some solutions soon.
 
If you are insulin resistant then adding more insulin would be crazy. High insulin levels are more harmful than high glucose levels. Can you get the doc to check your insulin levels and also your insulin resistance? If he/she won't do it you can arrange for these to be done privately. I think @bulkbiker has done so? If I am tagging the wrong person maybe someone else knows the right one!
 
Thankyou, good advice, I will call on Monday, but I am expecting a negative as I made massive improvements after diagnosis with weight loss and low carbing so I’m pretty sure I’m type 2, it’s just becoming progressively worse, I know what eating certain meals does to me after years of testing, it’s just not doing what it should any more
 
Thankyou, I have been trying to read up on insulin resistance but seems like not the easiest thing to get an answer on, I have decided I must be insulin resistant as my extra weight is only around my belly and everything points towards that being a sign of it, does that make sense? Lol

It being crazy is what worries me, I will try to get them to test me for it before they give me insulin
 
Oh and btw to “quote” someone else’s post in your reply, just click on the ‘reply’ button bottom left of the post you are replying to. You can quote more than one post in your reply, just click the reply button on each post you want to quote.
 
Yes that's usually a sign of IR. I would definitely get tested though as you won't know whether being on insulin is right or wrong for you until you do. You may be worrying about nothing. Your beta cells could have just given up now and insulin could in fact be the right way for you to go. I hope you can get this sorted soon.
 


Ahha! Thankyou
 

If you are just seeing your GP then it is extremely unlikely that you will get a fasting insulin test. I was recently at the PHC conference where there were more than 50 GP's in the room and none had ever got the test done through the NHS. I had my fasting insulin tested via medichecks who will also do an insulin resistance test.
https://www.medichecks.com/diabetes-tests/insulin-resistance-test
If you are having bloods drawn at the GP then get the test kit beforehand and ask the phlebotomist to fill the medicheck vials too.
Otherwise you can arrange a private blood letting at a private hospital for an extra £25 I think.

At least you will be better informed about what is going on.
 


Thankyou, I am not seeing my GP, the normal nurse (who is lovely) and I saw a dsn who visits our surgery, I believe the nurse got me an appointment with her to start me on insulin but she said to try the jardinace first, she said she is reluctant to start me on insulin because it’s very expensive, at the time I was relieved but that does seem a crazy reason not to do it lol.
 
bulkbiker said:
Were you just on metformin beforehand?
Click to expand...

Yes I’ve been on 2g a day metformin for over five years, then in November the gliptin, four weeks on jardinace
 
With blood sugar levels as high as you have I think there may well be something else going on.. I think a nurse is probably not the best person to be speaking to. In your shoes I'd be pushing for a consult with a diabetes specialist before going onto insulin.
 
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