Just started levemir and ravenously hungry

New member here. I just started levemir about 10 days ago. My diabetes has not been under control…at all for the past 3 years. Since starting levemir, I am ravenously hungry all the time. Sometimes I am so hungry, I feel absolutely crazy. I am truly HANGRY. I changed internists and see her again tomorrow. I am not understanding what the problem is and I just want to understand…Why am I sooo hungry?

Specifics: I have been on glimeperide for 4 years, Initially my A1Cs were 6.4-6.5. Since I got really sick 3 years ago (septic shock), was on life support and almost died, my A1C has been @ 11.5. I have tried Metformin 3 separate times but get so sick I can’t leave the house. My sugars were in the 400s a year ago, my MD refused to start insulin repeatedly so I bought regular insulin from Walmart and started dosing myself pre meals as needed to keep sugars under 300. I was never super hungry, even with blood sugars at 280. Now, since I started Levemir 10 units at bedtime, I am crazy hungry. All I want to do is eat. And my morning BG is still 240-280. My midday low is 150s-180s.
I also have lots of food allergies, food restrictions and foods that I hate/will not eat that make a diet difficult. I have seen 2 nutritionists as well. I drink over a gallon of water daily to help prevent sepsis. Thoughts and ideas are welcome.

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What are the favorite foods that you can and like to eat?

Unfortunately, carbs are what I love and can eat without issue. I’m Italian. It’s in my nature. I do eat chicken, beef, pork, some fish. I can eat corn, carrots, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower. I do like some cheeses. I can eat nuts too.

Problems: I am allergic to all fruit. Some are worse than others. Anaphylaxis to melon. My tongue swells to all others. I love fruit and do eat some in small amounts. I also have anaphylaxis with mushrooms and asparagus. I cannot eat cucumber, raw tomato, raw celery, raw onion. I hate eggs, milk, cottage cheese, I only eat 1 brand of yogurt. I don’t like cabbage in any form. I don’t like beets or turnip either. I probably have additional food issues because I experience GI upset A LOT. But, I have to eat something. I also have high cholesterol and a bunch of years ago I tried a high protein low carb diet that landed me in a hospital bed with acute kidney failure. I was around 30 at the time.

I do not eat a lot of processed foods. I do not eat frozen foods or canned foods. I cook my food from scratch. I do not eat out. But, despite all that, my allergies get worse every year. Actually, my immune system itself gets worse every year. whew, I’m a mess.

Well, welcome to the forum - There are a lot of folks here that will give you suggestions based on their experiences and you can try those that you think may best fit your situations.

I was on Levemir as basal insulin until about 1 year ago and it also caused me a lot of hunger. I was thinking a Low Carb Hi Fat diet if you also need to lose weight to get under control as the fat would suppress your appetite. There are a couple of clinics that have just started in the past few years to treat Type 2 diabetes with great success using a ketogenic diet. Not necessarily a long term diet, but a diet to get weight and Blood Glucose and A1C under control.

If this may interest you, look at Virtahealth.com and HealClinics.com

With the number of issues you have, it does not look like DIY (do it yourself) treatment is a medically safe option so best to find a clinic that specializes in your particular issues and that can work with you to solve them,

I am sure, one little step at a time that you can get yourself under control. We are all here to help any way we can.

Welcome aboard

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Thanks for the welcome.

Hi @SusanS and welcome to the group. With regard to hunger, because of the carbs in green leafy vegetables, a nice large salad with lettuce, green beans, snow peas and maybe some capsicum (sweet pepper) for colour. Tomatoes are a fruit so that is possibly why you have problems with them. Check out some salad recipes, there are lots that are not just lettuce, tomato and cucumber. You can also add goats cheese or any cubed cheese of choice to salads.

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It may just be that your blood sugars have been consistently high for so long, that when they are running a bit lower on a basal insulin your body thinks you are low. I doubt it has anything to do with Levemir specifically. I think if you keep your numbers lower and power through it you will feel better in time. Keep in mind Levemir doesn’t last 24 hours for many people, and can be used as a twice/day insulin to get 24-hour coverage.

Welcome to our community @SusanS!

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Maybe. I am not even getting my numbers down with levemir. I am just hungry. I was wide awake at 2am because my stomach was growling so much. No, I did not get anything to eat but it did make sleeping very difficult. I kept waking up hungry. My BG this am was 280. I saw the doctor today and she told me to double the levemir at bedtime. I’m dreading it.