So I have read that getting lows can cause weight gain because it forces us to eat sugary foods and drink things like juice that are super high in sugars. My step sister just said that in her class she was told diabetics can have weight fluctuations because our bodies are not used to us eating sugar so when we do it effects us differently. I have noticed myself that although I have been working out a lot and eating well, I don't seem to be losing any weight. I have been going low pretty somewhat regularly and was wondering if that might be why?
Maybe you need to adjust/ reduce your basal and or bolus dosing?
Have you done basal testing?
How low is low?
You certainly don't look like you need to lose weight from your pictures :-). I don't think that eating an extra 50-60 calories per day in glucose tabs is going to have a profound effect on your weight. It might mean an extra 4-5 pounds. If your A1c is still above 8, I'd not worry about weight loss and put the effort in bringing down my blood sugar. Running lower and steadier can have the effect of reducing lows as you break out of the spike, correct, crash, snack cycle.
Good luck,
Maurie
I haven't. That might be the problem, for me low is about 60s-50s, although I have hit super low 30s before but that isn't normal for me
Thanks Maurie! Yeah my A1C is at about 8, so I've been trying to keep it stabilized at lower 100s and I think you're right that not correcting for spikes will definitely help with crashes! I usually go low after over correcting.
Taking too much insulin requires that you eat wanted food to bring bg up which certainly results in weight gain. In fact, eating sugary foods is the best way to bring bg up quickly in this case without having excess calories.
So the link is not "hypo requires sugary foods" because if you raised bg with donuts or chocolate bars, not only would your bg rise out of the hypo more slowly, you would also be eating excess calories that didn't need to be eaten to raise bg.
Both T1's and T2's often have issues with glucagon and amylin that are related to satiety, gastric emptying, and glycogenesis that are all tied in with weight regulation long-term. Symlin is a commercially sold version of amylin, and there are also stuidies being done with C-peptide replacement.
Ironically as control improves, it is actually harder to maintain weight. If someone is frequently having high bg and spilling glucose in the urine, this is glucose being dumped that does not get metabolized or stored.I've found that when I have increased my work outs and/or level of activity, I use the "skinny jeans" measurement system. A pound of fat looks like a paperback copy of Gone With the Wind, a pound of lean muscle mass resembles a small stapler (the 5 inch long size stapler). Get the picture? If your jeans fit looser you're gaining more muscle mass and that means the eight isn't coming off so quickly. And as mentioned before, your choice of fast acting carbs also makes a difference. Chocolate and other fat carbs may taste yummy, they aren't all that effective getting your bg here you ant it.
I think I tend to run my insulin "hot" so that I don't run up very much but I sort of look at this the other way, if I can iron out more lows, I will drop a couple of pounds. My weight seems to hover pretty close to 185-190 lbs but when it's higher, I sometimes see what may be a correlation between running low, or overestimating carbs in food, along with zippier ratios. It may not be exactly scientific but it sort of accounts for what might be considered psychological elements in eating.
In an optimized approach, where only the right amount of glucose is used to treat the hypo and the hypos are minor, I agree with you completely.
But it is surprisingly easy to get on the "rollercoaster" where a minor or major hypo results in eating half the stuff in the fridge requiring more insulin to take care of the rebound high which can result in another hypo!
How long have you had diabetes? Unfortunately, one of the constants about diabetes is that it isn't constant. Our needs change - they can change for seasons, age, any number of things. I also think it is harder for PWD's (of any type) to lose eight because as hard as e try to Think Like a Pancreas (borrowing from Scheiner), we can't do it as well as a functioning pancreas. When I was finally correctly Dx'd (originally diagnosed with type 2 cuz I was 30 years old) I weighed about 105 lbs. I'm 5'6". IN the hospital they wouldn't release me until I weighed 140 lbs. My working weight was 115. It took me forever to get the weight off - a matter of a couple years in fact. Trying to match our basal requirements and meal boluses (an aside, is the plural of bolus boli?)while working to lose eight with diet and exercise - we can get a lot of lows. Keep trying, it will happen.