Type 1 Someone help please

[Mia91]

Hello
I got diagnosed recently and I'm a bit confused.
What is basal bolus that everyone keeps going on about?
Also I'm considering a pump, the part that I don't understand is how is it possible for the pump to deliver insulin 24 hours a day without stopping surely you would get hypo's throughout the whole day, or is it the background insulin that is being delivered?
Another thing which is worrying me is ever since i got diagnosed I have put almost 2 stones on. I'm 5'10 and weight around 68 kg, I used to be around 57 I have never weight this much throughout my whole life, does insulin make you put weight on.

Ps. Sorry for all the question, just looking for answers.

 

[Mia91]

I'm type 1 btw

 

[dancer]

If you don't know what basal/ bolus is, I presume you are on one insulin which is a mixture of quick and long acting insulin. If this is the case you have probably been told to eat a certain amount of carbohydrate at each meal which is probably why you have put on weight.

The basal/bolus regime involves the use of a long acting insulin (background insulin) once or twice a day, and a quick acting insulin at each meal or snack.
According to NICE guidelines, you should be on a basal bolus regime which will give you the freedom to eat as much or as little carbohydrate as you want.

Are you attending a hospital diabetic clinic? You could ask ask them about changing to a basal/bolus regime and point out you are heavier than you've ever been before. If you attend your GP's clinic you should ask to be referred to a hospital.

I wouldn't worry about the pump for now. It is great but you won't be referred for one until you have tried MDI (multiple daily injections) which is the basal/bolus regime.

The pump uses quick acting insulin as both basal and bolus. It enables us to programme in different basal rates for different times of the day. A bolus is given by entering how many grammes of carbohydrate you are going to eat. The pump works out how many units of insulin should be given, but this can be changed if necessary.

Don't worry about asking questions. There's always someone here who will try to help.

 

[Shar67]

Hi Matt basal is the back ground insulin usuallly taken at bed time, bolus is the insulin you take before food,
I believe the pump constantly measures blood sugar and releases insulin as needed, some gps will not give pumps as they are expensive.

If you inject too much blouse insulin the one before a meal the excess insulin is stored as fat, so you can but on weight. If you don't take enough you can develop diabetic neuropathy,.

It would be good for you to have a look around the site but also there is some courses you can go on that will help you, speak to your diabetes nurse or doctor they should know about them?

 

[TorqPenderloin]

Think of insulin kind of like a floodgate, and think of energy (carbs, protein, and fat) as the water.

Without any insulin, the floodgate stays closed and energy cant get from your blood to your muscles. That's why your blood sugars gets so elevated....it has nowhere to go.

When the floodgate opens (insulin is present) the "water" can rush out.

Insulin by itself cannot make you gain weight (it doesn't matter if the floodgate is open if the river is dry). However, it can ABSOLUTELY cause you to gain weight when combined with unused energy (carbs in this case). If you just ate a bunch of carbs, the insulin will cause your body to use that energy and store anything unused as fat.

Forgive me if the analogy is poor as it's my first time using it. I'm glad you asked this question because I'm currently tweaking how much and when I take my nasal/bolus insulin (on a high level). My primary goal is gaining muscle (which insulin as also very good for), but minimizing fat storage.

Unfortunately, as type 1 diabetics, we can't eat whatever we want and simply correct with insulin. In fact, I've noticed that I burn fewer calories than I did before I was diagnosed with type 1 earlier this year. With artificial insulin, our bodies are a bit more efficient compared to non-diabetics (as silly as that may sound).

 

[RuthW]

If you inject too much bolus insulin the one before a meal the excess insulin is stored as fat, so you can put on weight.

Insulin is not and cannot be stored as fat.

If you inject too much insulin, you will have a hypo. If you eat too much, you get fat. Same as normal folks.

If you don't inject enough insulin, you get a high blood sugar, and that causes damage to your body over time.

 

[RuthW]

Mia, if your diabetes has been undiagnosed for a while, you will have had a high blood sugar for quite some time. When you have a high blood sugar, your body tries to get rid of the excess by peeing it out. So you effectively pee out calories. However, it's not the ideal weight loss technique because the high blood sugar is simultaneously damaging your vital organs. Once you start on insulin, you stop peeing out the excess sugar, your body holds it and uses it, and can turn it into both muscle and fat. Undiagnosed or poorly controlled diabetics do lose muscle as well as fat, and even bone mass. As you get your diabetes under control, you should end up both healthier and stronger. Depending on whether you exercise or not, you may end up heavier but slimmer, given that muscle is more dense than fat.

 

[Shar67]

Sorry but my DN and dietician insist if you for example you eat 30g of carbs but inject 4 units of insulin instead of 3 the extra unit will not make you hypo but will aid storage of fat, and the fat will be around middle of body, hence the reason to try and keep insulin in line with carbs

 

[Shar67]

This was in the daily fail today
There is a part in article about body storing fat
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...veals-10-surprising-ways-shed-pounds-fit.html

 

[dancer]

Sorry but my DN and dietician insist if you for example you eat 30g of carbs but inject 4 units of insulin instead of 3 the extra unit will not make you hypo but will aid storage of fat, and the fat will be around middle of body, hence the reason to try and keep insulin in line with carbs

Have you tried this? If too much insulin is injected, you will go hypo - unless you have some other problem.

 

[tim2000s]

Sorry but my DN and dietician insist if you for example you eat 30g of carbs but inject 4 units of insulin instead of 3 the extra unit will not make you hypo but will aid storage of fat, and the fat will be around middle of body, hence the reason to try and keep insulin in line with carbs

Seriously? Have they ever tried injecting more insulin than needed for a meal? Too much insulin will always make you go hypo. That doesn't mean it won't cause you to store fat as well though...

 

[Shar67]

I don't have a functioning pancreas at all, 1 unit will not make you go hypo, we are talking about eating and taking insulin, I'm sure injecting can never replace the body's own ability to produce what it needs, you can get fat or thin, like diabetes anorexia which is also used by some people to keep weight down, and diabetics that get fat and cannot shift the weight, these are all real things, maybe you should be reading up on how different diabetes types and illness can affect a person's weight, I'm sure you'll be surprised.
My type can go hypo or hyper without having reason, I could eat a meal of potatoes, rice and bread you would expect blood sugar to be high with lots of carbs but sometimes it just drops like a stone and I could eat the same trying to bring it up and it won't change then up it comes to normal. Don't get hypers often.

 

[noblehead]

@Mia91, insulin pumps deliver your basal (background) insulin in very small increments throughout the day which can be adjusted to your bodies needs, here's a brief explanation about insulin pumps:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/insulin/Insulin-pumps.html

Also the following explains what a basal/bolus insulin regime is:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/insulin/basal-bolus.html

 

[TorqPenderloin]

I don't have a functioning pancreas at all, 1 unit will not make you go hypo

For you that may be true. However, you’re a type 3c which is completely different from this discussion about type 1 (referenced in the thread title).
1 unit of insulin the right circumstances could ABSOLUTELY cause a hypo. There’s a reason Humapens (Humalog) inject in .5unit increments. People like me are extremely sensitive to insulin (and still in the honeymoon phase). To put it in perspective, my carb ratio is in the 30-35g range and 1 unit of insulin will drop my glucose 100 mg/dl (~5.56mmol/l).
Just because it may not cause a hypo in YOU doesn’t mean that’s also true of others. I’ve never taken more than 2.5 units of bolus insulin at once and 4 units (without a HUGE meal) could be life threatening.

maybe you should be reading up on how different diabetes types and illness can affect a person's weight, I'm sure you'll be surprised.

If you inject too much blouse insulin the one before a meal the excess insulin is stored as fat, so you can but on weight

*comment removed by moderator - impoliteness towards another poster*

The statement “excess insulin is stored as fat” is incorrect. That’s fact rather than opinion. That’s easily proved through the laws of conversation of energy (energy cannot be created or destroyed).
In order for your statement to be true, insulin would have to contain energy (calories). We know this not to be true and the energy (calories) must come from somewhere else (carbs in this case).
Conclusion: excess insulin cannot be stored as fat. However, excess energy (carbs) can absolutely be stored as fat when accompanied by insulin.
My comments are intended to be very blunt and direct. Let’s not forget that we’re discussing a very sensitive subject here. Even slight insulin over-calculations could have incredibly serious and life-threatening consequences.

 

[Shar67]

For you that may be true. However, you’re a type 3c which is completely different from this discussion about type 1 (referenced in the thread title).
1 unit of insulin the right circumstances could ABSOLUTELY cause a hypo. There’s a reason Humapens (Humalog) inject in .5unit increments. People like me are extremely sensitive to insulin (and still in the honeymoon phase). To put it in perspective, my carb ratio is in the 30-35g range and 1 unit of insulin will drop my glucose 100 mg/dl (~5.56mmol/l).
Just because it may not cause a hypo in YOU doesn’t mean that’s also true of others. I’ve never taken more than 2.5 units of bolus insulin at once and 4 units (without a HUGE meal) could be life threatening.


.......
The statement “excess insulin is stored as fat” is incorrect. That’s fact rather than opinion. That’s easily proved through the laws of conversation of energy (energy cannot be created or destroyed).
In order for your statement to be true, insulin would have to contain energy (calories). We know this not to be true and the energy (calories) must come from somewhere else (carbs in this case).
Conclusion: excess insulin cannot be stored as fat. However, excess energy (carbs) can absolutely be stored as fat when accompanied by insulin.
My comments are intended to be very blunt and direct. Let’s not forget that we’re discussing a very sensitive subject here. Even slight insulin over-calculations could have incredibly serious and life-threatening consequences.

I can only go by what I was told by DN and consultant and also what I have read on here,

*comment edited by moderator for impoliteness towards another poster*

Did I tell op to inject more insulin than needed - no
Did I tell op to inject less insulin than needed - no
Did I tell op to speak to their DN & doctor - yes
Did I tell them to read about it on this site - yes

So if you want to play keyboard warrior pm me.

 

[azure]

Please can we get back to helping the OP with their queries. Posts will be deleted if posters persist in derailing the thread by arguing.

 

[RuthW]

I don't have a functioning pancreas at all, 1 unit will not make you go hypo, we are talking about eating and taking insulin, I'm sure injecting can never replace the body's own ability to produce what it needs, you can get fat or thin, like diabetes anorexia which is also used by some people to keep weight down, and diabetics that get fat and cannot shift the weight, these are all real things, maybe you should be reading up on how different diabetes types and illness can affect a person's weight, I'm sure you'll be surprised.
My type can go hypo or hyper without having reason, I could eat a meal of potatoes, rice and bread you would expect blood sugar to be high with lots of carbs but sometimes it just drops like a stone and I could eat the same trying to bring it up and it won't change then up it comes to normal. Don't get hypers often.

One unit without the corresponding carbs will most definitely make me go hypo.

Eating too many carbs and the corresponding insulin definitely makes me fat, equally.

Your own pattern sounds like a combination of insulin resistance and typical "stacking". I suspect you may have misunderstood your consultant and DN.

 

[Shar67]

Well conversation went something like this, you must count the carbs in your meal and use the correct unit of insulin if you take too much insulin in will make you fat. Don't think there was anything in that conversation that I could interpret different.

 

[tim2000s]

Well conversation went something like this, you must count the carbs in your meal and use the correct unit of insulin if you take too much insulin in will make you fat. Don't think there was anything in that conversation that I could interpret different.

Lol. Half truths and misdirection: "you must count the carbs in your meal and use the correct unit of insulin" - Yes, true.

"if you take too much insulin in will make you fat" - Yes, kind of, but you should have been given the whole context. It will make you go hypo and cause you to eat extra food, which is what will make you fat.

 

[Elena1234]

Insulin is not and cannot be stored as fat.

If you inject too much insulin, you will have a hypo. If you eat too much, you get fat. Same as normal folks.

If you don't inject enough insulin, you get a high blood sugar, and that causes damage to your body over time.

Apparently though insulin has weight gaining properties my daughters diabetic doctor told us.