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Starting insulin to gain weight?

R

Rick1318

Active Member
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My a1c was 13 6 weeks ago but by going very low carb, I'm able to get my sugars down to 5-7 throughout the day now with the 7 being the morning fasting. While these numbers are good, I'm losing weight which is something I can't afford. I've lost 7 lbs since starting LCHF but I need to gain 25lbs. Should I start using insulin and upping carbs? I'm trying to increase fats but not sure if it's working. Also I'm feeling really tired and lightheaded during the day.
 
You could try reading Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution to see what foods to eat and how to slow down weightloss.
I really need to keep to certain foods to lose weight, even eating the same amount of carbs, so by studying the foods on the carb ladder you might be able to discover which types of food have the most impact on your weight and eat those in preference to those which cause weightloss.
The book was, of course, writen with a view to helping peoeple to lose weight, but looked at in the right way there should be the information you need in there too.
 
If you are controlling your glucose levels and losing weight, this is not normal. Not sure how long you have had the diabetes? What is your body mass index? Any diarrhoea to suggest malabosrption of food eg from coeleiac disease or exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (both more common in diabetes)? Does the hot weather upset you to suggest overactive thyroid? Any other symptoms? Might be worth seeing your GP to at least get the thyroid checked and some routine bloods. I guess that you are getting enough calories in your diet from the fat? From your comments, ist sounds like you are an underweight type 2 diabetic person - it is unusual for someone just with T2DM to be underweight. One needs to keep an open mind and wonder if this really is type 2 (which it probably is if glucose levels have dropped so well on diet) and what else is going on. Best wishes
 

I know I've said this before but I'd want Type 1 ruled out if it was me.

Have you seen a consultant to discuss your weight loss? Was it them that suggested insulin?
 

Rick - Are you actually eating enough? How quickly are you losing weight? Is it a little every week, or plummeting?

Could you perhaps give us a view of what you actually eat on a day to day basis, including the amounts of each. My view of a steak could be very different to someone else's.

There as skinny T2s and I am one of those. 160cm and 48kg. So we do exist out there.

I have mentioned in another thread of yours that I too find it challenging to gain weight, and to regain a couple of kilos, post-surgery, a couple of years ago took me a couple of months of literally daily effort.

I would however echo others' suggestions that it would seem useful to have a wider range of tests run, just to ensure there is not another root cause to your conundrum.

@SimonCrox , I don't know what sort of diabetes you have yourself, but for T2s, it is perfectly possible to control blood sugars and lose weight. It is not uncommon for T2s, once they have controlled their bloods and find themselves very trim to have problems maintaining their weight. Quite often it takes several weeks, if not a couple of months to work out the person balance points to neither lose nor gain.
 
For how many years you are diabetics? Its alarming if you are loosing weight, and not getting enough calories. My best regards.
 
Have you had type 1 ruled out with a cpeptide and gad test? From the fact that you have taken control of your blood sugar with diet, it seems type 1 is unlikely. If you are considering commencing insulin a cpeptide test to see if your endogenous insulin production is low would be sensible. If you have normal, or elevated, insulin levels starting on insulin would be unwise at best.

Insulin doesn't cause weight gain. Starting insulin will help someone who has lost weight due to undiagnosed diabetes regain the weight lost. Insulin doesn't cause weight gain, what you put in your mouth causes weight gain. If you're not putting the right things in your mouth (ie creating a calorie surplus), insulin or not, you aren't going to gain weight.
 
T1's are likely to go high if they are not taking insulin... and not able to lower bloods so I am assuming you are a confirmed T2??

In which case you are needing more calorific value in your food. Not necessarily from carbs.. try to add in plenty of nuts....

The primal pantry snack bars are only plain food snacks, fewish carbs but are tasty and easy to add in.

It depends as well in how low carb you are. It may well be that you do need a few more carbs but would need meds to help further.

I know people say low carb and no need to count calories.... but seriously, are you getting good all round nutrition and calories for your activities?

Also weightloss is not necessarily linked just to diabetes... there can be other reasons...

I would look at your daily nutrition. Log it exactly..are you balanced?? Are you getting enough of everything for your daily activities.

One size doesnt fit all... it maybe that you are say on 30g per day but only having minimal calories... and are a marathon runner!!
We dont know your activities, food intake etc, so you need to sit down and analyse it..more for overall calories, vitamins and minerals.. ignoring the eat well plate recommendations of fat/carbs etc

If you are, you possibly need to see your health team.. thyroid probs can cause weightloss as well as weight gain. Other probs can also cause weightloss.
Whens the last you had all your thyroid etc checked?
 
As others have said, eating extra carbohydrates and then flushing them through to the fat cells is a simplistic approach which may not be wise.

Are you lacking fat (say less than 10% body fat) or are you losing muscle?

Weight loss in undiagnosed diabetics is often due to the body consuming muscle because glucose is there but unusable. This shouldn't be the case for you.

Are you eating enough protein? Very low protein can cause your body to recycle muscle.

Are you exercising enough to maintain your current muscle mass?

It would, of course, be helpful to know your height and weight and how you arrived at the figure of 25 lbs weight gain needs.

Light headedness can be "carb flu" as your body adapts to burning fats. This can take a few weeks.
 
Hey thanks guys. So to address some of the comments, I'm currently 5'10 and 140lbs. My goal is 160-165. I saw a gradual decline of weight through 6 weeks, although there seemed to be a sharp drop when I came down with a nasty flu for the past 3 weeks. I imagine during that time, my calorie intake was insufficient. As an example:
Breakfast: One egg, one bacon, glass of almond milk
Lunch: piece of salmon and some broccoli
Dinner: chicken breast with spinach and tofu and cauliflower
I don't think this is close to the 3000 calories I need in order to start putting on weight considering I'm also active in going to the gym.
As of now, my insulin resistance seems to have improved due to getting my BGs down (my BG will head towards 5 when I'm not eating where as before it would not go below 7) and therefore I'm increasing my carbs slightly with some yogurt and fruit to see how that fares. Also added in protein shakes cheese and lots of almonds. Hopefully that will help.
As for possibility of type 1, I've considered it and let my doc know. He seems confident I'm type 2 based on the results of my dieting and exercise.
 

Unless you are confirmed as T1 or LADA no GP will prescribe insulin to you at this stage of your condition. It is not in the NHS guidelines/protocol.

To gain weight it is either extra carbs (unwise), extra protein and/or extra fat. Try 2 eggs and 2 bacon for breakfast or add a 97% meat sausage with mushrooms and a tomato, try olive oil or real mayo on your salmon and salads, knobs of butter on your veggies, full fat yogurt or double cream with a few berries, seeds sprinkled on food, coffee with cream. Cheese and some nuts are very calorific. The list goes on.

Insufficient calories could be the reason for your tiredness and lightheaded moments.
 
You arent eating enough!!
Your added in items seem a good choice. Can you eat walnuts. They got good nutrition as well...
 

Your BMI is 20, which is a perfectly healthy BMI. What's the reason you need to gain a stone and a half? You'd still be a healthy BMI if you did, just curious.

The example diet you have given gives you a daily calorie intake of 633. Bearing in mind the recommendations are for a man to eat 2500 calories per day to maintain their weight and 2000 calories per day in order to lose 1lb a week, it doesn't take a genius to work out why someone only eating 633 calories a day is losing weight. Eat more. About 4 times more.

It might help you to put your food intake into something like myfitnesspal to track your calories.
 

Rick1318 - We really are all incredibly different. Some folks would thrive on the levels of food you are eating, but I wouldn't. I consume mounds of food and certainly more than my OH.

I don't routinely count calories, and rarely count carbs any more, having got used to things, but when I was trying to stabilise my weight (as opposed to losing), my calorie intake varied 2000-2500 calories a day. I am 160cm and 48kg.

When I was trying to gain weight I deliberately didn't count calories because the numbers might have scared me a bit.

Good luck with it all.
 
Yeah it makes sense I guess. Before I found out I was diabetic I was eating trucks of rice and drinking soda everyday. While trying to get my BG down I hadn't noticed how much calories I cut out. Now the challenge becomes finding foods that are high in calories and low in carbs. I despise avocados but I'll force myself to eat them I guess
 
I agree that you don't seem to be eating nearly enough!

Have a look at the recipes here, for an idea of what people are eating on very low carb weight loss plan
The breakfasts here are twice the size of yours.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/get-started
- when my husband eats these meals, and these menus he loses weight steadily
For him to gain weight on this food he would need to increase the protein significantly, increase the fat even more, and maybe introduce a few carbs as well.
 
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