I keep blaming it on strict diet and exercise, but sometimes i wonder how i am doing so well on such little insulin… 17 units a day to be exact. mind you i do have my occasional highs from stress, a bad food etc… i’ve had type one since 2001 but my a1c has never went above 5.8 and i find it strange that even though the doctors said my honeymoon period was over years ago… i don’t find i require much more insulin even as i get older… in the last year in a half i’ve probably increased it to a unit but no more… anyways any of type ones out there in a similar situation on very little insulin?
Not I,
Ask your doc to do a C Peptide test to see how much insulin your body is still producing. I would say you are dong very well, no need to argue with good results.
Rick Phillips
Dear Jill.
Don’t tempt the God’s and enjoy the disease. Believe me it gets a lot worst for some people, like when no amount of insulin does anymore. You must have a still intact or nearly so pancreas and no or next to no insulin resistance. The best of both worlds.
you are blessed
Since going off Effexor (anxiety/depression meds) I have lost 20 lbs and my insulin dosage has decreased bigtime. My basal from 1-4pm is 00.00. I never ever ever had a 00.00 basal and my insulin requirements are about 15-20 units less from a year ago. The only thing that has not changed is the amount of insulin I need for carbs, my ratio is huge, I need 1 unit to cover 5 carbs. (1:5), but…
I was much happier on the effexor, but I was fat and needed a ton more insulin.
There is no rhyme or reason to this disease, but I am grateful that my insulin requirements are a lot yes.
Also Effexor causes carb cravings, so I am now eating a lot less.
Jill. is this considered low : less than 23 units daily , pumping ?? ; prior to pumping about 28 u , due to highs due to lows …living with diabetes for over 26 years , my age almost 69 . A1C 7.0 , oh I wish you had started this discussion about end April , when I am due for my A1C, ha, ha …AND I THINK IT WILL BE LOWER …I started to us my serter for my silhouettes , prior I did this manually …my observation , there can be lots of reasons why A1C great or less great …I am only giving a little " respect " to my A1C result …the way I see my daily results of finger pokes is more important to me …Obviously I am not honeymooning ,but be mooning with my Honey ;-). I am a bit larger than you …137 pounds and exercise daily , incl prepping for 1/2 M’s …hope I answered your question
Hey Jill,
I’m in the exact same boat. I use around 8 units basal and usually 15-17 units TTD (on low carb days it might just be 10). I have often wondered the same thing. I have had a recent c-peptide and it was clinically undetectable, so I have been told the honeymoon is definitely over. My A1c is also 5.8 as well (although that has NEVER matched my meter average).
I have to attribute it to size and activity. I’ve even asked my endo, and his response is just that I’m very insulin sensitive. It’s good to see that I’m not the only one out there like this!
23 units for a body weight of 137 lb is about par for a diabetic with a dead pancreas and no insulin resistance.
Effexor sounds really toxic for diabetics. Possibly for normal humans also. Even worst I think I need 1 unit per 2 carbs. Have to cut them out totally. Strange that the loss of 20 lb did not improve the carbs ratio somewhat.
I’m in this same bracket. 11 to 15 units of novolog a day and one dose of Levemir 16 units my last A1C was in Feb and was 5.5
Wow remarquable how different the disease is from person to person. Is there any down side to being insulin sensitive, do you go easily low ? In my case lows are not any issue injecting any amount of insulin or doing any amount of exercise up to 2000 calories of expenditure after that I have no idea what would happen.
Using little insulin is a God send since it is a make fat drug. This is ironic for insulin resistant diabetics since weight gain makes things worst. The cure is the downfall.
Just in case… I meant 15-17 units total daily dose. ( Apparently I can’t abbreviate)
I went low very easily while on shots! One unit would make a huge difference where I would have to choose to have a high, or go low later. Now with the pump, I don’t have that problem because I can give my doses in fractions of a unit or turn my basal down to work out. It’s such a blessing!
The cure is not the downfall, and technically everyone is insulin dependent! If you weren’t injecting it, you would be naturally producing it. Anyone can gain weight, it’s the balance that is so tricky. Also, weight gain is a small price to pay to live, or to not lose a limb or your eyesight. IMHO.
You are right in very insulin resistant people the balance between insulin needs and insulin injections becomes very dificult if not impossible. any large excess will lead to massive weight gain. Maybe you should come an bite me so I could become insulin sensitive again.
For this gal there is a down side to being insulin sensitive : lows if more than 1 u or part there of delivered tooooo much ; highs when less than 1 u is NOT delivered . My basal delivery at 4 am .30 u , prior .55 u , at 5 am .55u …I suppose NO hormones at work 
…overall for me a good reason to be a pumper .I am certain I am not alone .
Jill,
That’s fantastic! Kudos for doing so well thanks to exercise & diet. I take about 24 (basal & bolus combined), but I’m a small person. During my honeymoon period, it was about 12-14 basal/bolus total.
Hello Jill, I thought because I usually don’t need any insulin at noon, that was good. It all depends on what excercise and what I eat, I do though have a tendancy to go low quite easy. I take about14-18 units of novo, then 10 lantus at night. This could be lower if I had more discipline, unfortunately though I’m fond of the aul bread. I cannot say that my hba was good, but I wasn’t taking care of myself then.
I am 5 years into this and I suspect I am past the honeymoon stage. My daily insulin intake for the past month on the pump has ranged from 13 to 30, depending on carb intake and hormonal swings. I am around 137 lbs. I strive for low carb and exercise regularly. However, my A1c’s have been in the high 6’s…I am hoping that I will see better #'s being on the pump. I think that I am not only pretty insulin sensitive, but carb sensitive as well…a half an apple can put me over 200.
Jill:
Ive been T1 for 24 years. Always had low dosages 12-20 units total. Im in my late 30s now, had 2 kids and have slowly moved up to 22 units a day. The main issue I found over the years is that don’t let drs force you into a normal range, when you have to change your insulin. When I switched from 2 doses a day to mutliple doses, the regimen had so much insulin I went into a coma. When I switched to a pump, the regimen had me low all day long. Yes it is ok to have carb ratios of 1 unit of insulin to 30g of carbs. The is no one size fits all for this disease. Great job on your A1Cs. Keep it up and keep taking care of yourself.
I’m type 1 since 1967 and I’m living with 8 units of Lantus /day and 13 units of Apidra ( 4 at breakfast, 4 at lunch, 5 at dinner). And I’m waiting for my next A1c in June. I ate too much carbs but I’m in a country where there is no carbs counting. Now I try to use low carbs. But in my life I never used more than 25 units /day.