Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 A couple of questions for any insulin users. Do you have to keep increasing your dosage to keep your BS normal? I keep having to increase the amount to get the same results. Could that be a disadvantage of starting insulin too soon? You keep needing more and more? Does insulin make you constipated? Ever since I started Humulin and increased my Lantus I feel fat and constipated. I can't decide what's worse. High numbers with closer to normal weight and no constipation or lower numbers but being constipated and gaining around 3 pounds a week. Kat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Kat, I was in that situation, but eventually the BS levels out then starts going down. I have never experienced constipation from insulin, but I have from other medications. Insulin however can make you gain weight (I hate that) and make it hard to lose, but right now it is more important to get those BS down. Marla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Kat, I was in that situation, but eventually the BS levels out then starts going down. I have never experienced constipation from insulin, but I have from other medications. Insulin however can make you gain weight (I hate that) and make it hard to lose, but right now it is more important to get those BS down. Marla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 It does not make you eat more. Like some medications like I believe glyberide is one it just makes you gain. I also take depo pravera shots for edometreosis and these shots you can average about 20 lbs a year. I am not sure what the weight gain is in insulin, but I was told by my diabetic counceller that happens. My doctor has been reducing my insulin. (already down on my lantus by 22 units). Marla -- Re: Insulin questions Why exactly does insulin make you gain weight? Is it because you can eat more? What is the usual weight gain? (10 pounds, 50 pounds . . ?) Sandy Re: Insulin questions Kat, Insulin however can make you gain weight (I hate that) and make it hard to lose, but right now it is more important to get those BS down. Marla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 > > A couple of questions for any insulin users. Do you have to keep > increasing your dosage to keep your BS normal? I keep having to > increase the amount to get the same results. Could that be a > disadvantage of starting insulin too soon? You keep needing more and > more? They normally start you on a lower dose and ask you to increase it til you get to a target number. For instance for me I only take Lantus and was started at 10 units per night and was told to increase 5 units every week til I get to fasting of 100. Once you hit your target you shouldn't have to keep increasing it unless you have something change, like I have done occasionally is think I was okay and ate more things than I normally would have or tried something I knew wouldn't work. Then you have to try to get back to where you were. Even on insulin it's best to be consistent with foods. Stress or illness can change it but like last week I had a flu shot and my BG went up to 177 which normally wouldn't be higher than 120 after meals. I did not increase my insulin at that point and waited a day to see what would happen otherwise I didn't want to be on this merry go round of guessing how much I need. Now in your case you have two kinds of insulin so probably need to ask your diabetic educator or dr how to handle this. It could be you are not at your target number yet or have changed how you ate. If you change how you eat then numbers will change as well. What you could get by with on insulin before now increases. But I don't think that's how it should be on a regular basis. It probably depends on how often this has happened and how high you went and what else is going on. Starting insulin " too soon " wouldn't make that happen that you keep needing more, if anything it would keep you not needing more for longer. As far as being constipated, that would depend on how high of doses you are on. I haven't noticed that but I am on small doses. Check your diet and see if anything there is bothering you. You might have to change something with your diet and increase exercise to compensate. Lower numbers is definitely better health wise. You can also work to get the extra weight and do something about the constipation. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Snndy, From what I know insulin would make one gain weight due to having extra insulin floating around in the body. There's the stuff injected and what the body makes. Whatever the body doesn't use and is leftover is turned into fat. One of the keys is to make sure we get enough exercise so that will change the insulin resistance and the body uses the insulin and not storing it as fat. If it won't use it all we keep having to have more and more insulin injected. I think I have heard that this happens more on larger doses. I am on 15 units Lantus only and have not had any weight gain. If, however, we use insulin as a tool in order to eat whatever we want we can gain weight from too many calories or fat intake as well. I have a friend whose husband has been diabetic for years and he has decided he would eat whatever he wanted and will get a giant bag of candy, figure the carb amounts, and the inject to cover it and eat the whole bag. In your case I'm sure you would if you went on insulin be super active and watch what you ate etc. The ones I feel for are the senior citizens in nursing homes who only lie in bed and take insulin shots. No activity and it's easy for the extra weight to come on. A lot of times they don't have a choice if what they eat either. As long as you are active and watch what you eat there shouldn't be a problem for insulin users. I know there are lots of special circumstances though where no one size fits all. If one has other endocrinologial problems it will complicate it too. In other words there are lots of variables and even different insulins with different problems. For me as a Lantus user so far so good. > > Why exactly does insulin make you gain weight? Is it because you can eat more? What is the usual weight gain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Hi , Thank you - I needed that. I'm a worry wart - I have a month to wait for test results if my doc agrees to give me the LADA test so I am of course getting curious about insulin use and really don't want to gain weight. I could stand 10 or 15 pounds of course since I'm so thin and really lost too much weight but don't want to gain 30 pounds either!. . . . . . I am really careful what I eat and I do exercise a lot so that is good to know that most likely, I wouldn't have the weight gain. I'm sorta hoping I don't need it just yet - it seems so complicated having to add up all the carbs - do you have to do it for every single carb you eat to know how much insulin to use? Seems like it would be harder to keep numbers consistent. Sandy Re: Insulin questions Snndy, From what I know insulin would make one gain weight due to having extra insulin floating around in the body. (snip) In your case I'm sure you would if you went on insulin be super active and watch what you ate etc. As long as you are active and watch what you eat there shouldn't be a problem for insulin users. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Hi , Thank you - I needed that. I'm a worry wart - I have a month to wait for test results if my doc agrees to give me the LADA test so I am of course getting curious about insulin use and really don't want to gain weight. I could stand 10 or 15 pounds of course since I'm so thin and really lost too much weight but don't want to gain 30 pounds either!. . . . . . I am really careful what I eat and I do exercise a lot so that is good to know that most likely, I wouldn't have the weight gain. I'm sorta hoping I don't need it just yet - it seems so complicated having to add up all the carbs - do you have to do it for every single carb you eat to know how much insulin to use? Seems like it would be harder to keep numbers consistent. Sandy Re: Insulin questions Snndy, From what I know insulin would make one gain weight due to having extra insulin floating around in the body. (snip) In your case I'm sure you would if you went on insulin be super active and watch what you ate etc. As long as you are active and watch what you eat there shouldn't be a problem for insulin users. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 In a message dated 1/9/2006 12:05:36 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, sunni12_one@... writes: Special K has a high protein variety that is high is protein and fiber and low in carbs (for cereal that is) It is filling and tastes Hi Sunny I eat the Special K especially in the summer. I also add some of it to my yogurt when I want something crunchy. The yogurt I eat is the Kroger brand carb master. I was eating the Blue Bunny low carb brand, but our local Walmarts no longer carry it. My prayer is that Kroger does not stop carrying their brand. hugs Eunice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 I used to eat sugar free yogart all the time. The last few months (about the same time I started insulin) it has upset my stomach. Is this just a coincidence or has it happened to anyone else? I miss my cherry vanilla flavored yogart. I also noticed low carb milk is easier for me to digest then regular 1% milk. I love cereal and ice cream. I am very greatful someone came up with lower carb types as I don't think I could eliminate them completely. Some grocery stores will special order an item for you. I think Krogers used to do that, but it has been 7-8 years since I've lived in Krogers part of the country, so I'm not sure if they still will. -sunny --- ERWachter@... wrote: > > In a message dated 1/9/2006 12:05:36 A.M. Eastern > Standard Time, > sunni12_one@... writes: > > Special K has a high protein > variety that is high is protein and fiber and low > in > carbs (for cereal that is) It is filling and tastes > > > > Hi Sunny > I eat the Special K especially in the summer. I > also add some of it to my > yogurt when I want something crunchy. The yogurt I > eat is the Kroger brand > carb master. I was eating the Blue Bunny low carb > brand, but our local > Walmarts no longer carry it. My prayer is that > Kroger does not stop carrying their > brand. > > hugs > Eunice > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been > removed] > > __________________________________________ Yahoo! DSL – Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl.yahoo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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