I’ve been a diabetic for a year now and my insulin dosage has been slowly rising the whole time along with my weight, although I’ve reduced my carb intake to about 50g a day. And I don’t know if I’m gaining weight because I have to raise my insulin dosage (honeymoon ending?) or if I have to raise my insulin dosage because I’m gaining weight (too many carbs, not enough activity?). This is really frustrating. I’m currently on 28u Lantus and a 3:1 or 2:1 ratio for Apidra. I don’t work out, but I’m fairly active and walk a lot.
What were your experiences with insulin/carb ratios when your honeymoon period ended?
My insulin to carb ratio more than doubled when my honeymoon ended.
I used to take 1 unit for every 30g during the honeymoon.
Now I take 1 unit for every 13g.
The weight gain and insulin issues are tough ones… I hope that you will get more advice on this. Could you increase your activity level? That might help reduce the amount of insulin that you need to take.
Are you taking one unit of insulin for every 2 grams of carb? It could be that you also have insulin resistance and could benefit from combining insulin with oral medications (which type 2’s often use) or Symlin. You should ask your doctor about those options. Symlin also helps with weight loss.
Thanks for your answer,
yes it’s currently 1unit for every 2 or 3g of carbs and that has me a bit concerned. I’ll ask my endo what she thinks about oral medications, but I don’t think Symlin is available over here yet. For now getting my ■■■ off the couch more seems to be the way to go. I’ve already started taking my bike to work, now that the weather has improved.
I was on a fixed insulin regimen for the first 5 years I’ve had diabetes. My most recent jump was 12 to 20 units of Humulin N and from 6 to 8 units of Humalog (a little drastic, I thought). I just got on a pump last week, and though I’m just on a practice run sort of thing, my ic ratio is set at 1 unit per 12 g based on the regimen I had and my current bg’s (which are very high). I think my insulin regimen stopped being effective after about a year or two, as well.
I’ve always gained weight when I’ve raised insulin levels and my blood sugars have stabilized, exercise helps a lot. My doc told me that insulin shouldn’t really effect my weight if I get everything under control, but thats if I keep a good diet and all that. I feel like I’m going to be tempted to be more free with carbs when I have the pump to balance everything off, and gain weight anyways. Its horrible, but I’ve been anxious about getting my blood sugars under control because I know I’m going to gain weight. Its a horrible, horrible mindset. Exercise and a great diet seems to be the solution, you should try upping the activity and see what happens.
The honeymoon period is a tricky thing. I hope everything transitions smoothly for you and all works out well.
