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Weight gain on a pump - Oh no!

pegletbee

Active Member
Messages
28
Type of diabetes
LADA
Have had diabetes - retrospectively diagnosed as LADA - so Type 1 - for nearly ten years. After going on a low-carb regime shortly after diagnosis my weight dropped to a sylph-like 52 kilos, which I was pretty happy with, and stayed stable for over 5 years. My BG was never very stable though. The weight started to rise slowly about three years ago, which I put down to hitting the menopause, and by June of this year it was up to about 55 - 56. That's when I started on my pump therapy. Now my BG control is much better but none of my trousers fit! I was at the hospital for regular check last week and weighed in at 59 kilos. My specialist (female, fifties and generally pretty good) observed that this always happens when people get their BG under control. Well thanks for the warning - it certainly wasn't what I expected. She also observed that 59 kilos wasn't bad. I replied that it was for me, and introduced her to Gerald - which is what I have christened my impressive spare tyre. She further observed that I will find it very difficult to lose 'at my age'. Oh help!
Any observations, similar experiences or words of wisdom and advice out there?
Alternatively can we start a swap shop for outgrown trousers. I've got a wardrobe full of perfectly serviceable size 10 and 12s to offer.
 
Don't I wish I weighed 59 Kg :lol:
However, I am battling with my weight at the moment and I'm 62. My current strategy is an Atkins "Fat fast". I suits my T2 mainly diet control perfectly.Not been on it long enough to report results yet.
However I did lose 17 kg and kept it off for 2 years, before I stalled. Low carb was the method.
On a pump, you need to adjust insulin to match carbs. Weight gain is usually caused by matching carbs to insulin. It'a not a factor of control. I Always had good control, but I used to rely on Gliclazide to provide it. Now I don't; although I still take 2 x 500 mg Metformin per day. This won't help a T1
 
I too have this problem though I wasn't skinny when I started on the Pump. I had an eating disorder connected to diabetes and went on the pump to try to control both my BG's and my eating disorder. But now i have put on a ton of weight and I am so unhappy with it. So any advice on how to lose weight whilst keeping good BG's would be fab!
 
Ladies!
A a risk of being jumped on by someone, I can recommend a LOW carb eating plan for weight loss combined with reduced calories too.
For me, who am weight loss resistant, that means virtually No visible carbs. and very little food at all. I also go to the gym and walk a LOT. Keeping a diary helps.
It's HARD to begin with, but eventually one gets used to it.
Essentially, most of us eat too much for a modern mechanised lifestyle. As Stephen Fry said in one of his American programmes, Hamburgers and Frankfurters became the most popular foods in the USA, because they were eaten by people who were working physically hard all the daylight hours.
My T1 husband has gained masses of weight since his BGs have been under better control. As I see it, the answer is to cut the food back, especially the carbs and cut the insulin to match. Needs a lot of testing.AND motivation.
I can see why so many teenagers skip their insulin, to keep thin. ( THEY DO so at considerable risk to their health, but then teenagers are immortal 8)
 
I find this interesting as I have had the opposire problem, weight loss of over half a stone since going on the pump. Somebody thought this could be because of a reduced intake of insulin which makes sense to me, have you been eating more than usual or are you now taking more insulin than you were on mdi?
 
I also managed to lose weight after going on an insulin pump. I tend to think that this is due to me taking less insulin and not "feeding the insulin" in order to keep BGs at a resonable level. I have become almost obsessed with testing my BG and adjusting my insulin levels accordingly now that I have the power to adjust my insulin dose in a far more scientific and controlled way than was possible using Levemir and Humalog.

Alan
 
I put on a bit of weight at the start, but I reckon this was more to do with kicking the filthy smoking habit into touch the year before. Still weigh "only" 84 kg (6'3") so this really isn't an issue for me and never has been, but saying that is never a great way to make friends (!), as I know some have terrible problems with weight control. I put it down to speed of metabolism, and there's not much you can do about that?
 
I am a Type I diabetic and also have experienced massive weight gain since starting on the pump 16 years ago. Since going on the pump my requirement for insulin seems to be rising along with my weight. I am currenly on over a hundred units of insulin per day where as on manually delivered insulin I was on about 40. My doctor tells me the more insulin I take the harder it is to loose weight.
 
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