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Insulin needs plummeting!
- Thread starter everydayupsanddowns
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Makes complete sense to me.Ah, I love it when we chat about seasonal dose changes. My first endo, bless her hateful little socks, told me (and I quote) “That makes no sense!” when I told her I had more hypos in hot weather. 😎I love this forum.
How is that possible? I thought Type 1s need insulin even if not eating. Please explain.
Robin
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Some people with Type 1 still produce a bit of insulin. Not enough to do anything with, but enough to see them through the night when the liver is at its lowest ebb in terms of output of glucose. There was a study done, in America I think, where they tested the c peptide of people who had had Type 1, and most were producing a wee bit, even if head been diabetic for donkeys years.
I have very low basal needs compared with some, 5 units of Levemir in the morning, and 3 at night, and if I’m particularly active, or the weather's hot, I need even less.
Case in point, reverting back to @everydayupsanddowns 's original thread. I arrived in Budapest this afternoon to a sunny 28 degrees, and went for a long walk. 2.9 and a load of jelly babies later….Note to self, reduce basal tonight, particularly if you’re going to have a glass of wine with dinner.
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The Joslin Institute in Boston has a ‘medallists’ programme with folks who have been living with T1 for 50, 60, 70 years etc.
As I remember it a number of them still have a degree of cpeptide (so they are still making small amounts of insulin), and also have GAD antibodies, suggesting that in some versions of T1 there is an ongoing generation and destruction of beta cells, even over decades 😱
One avenue of research is ‘switching off’ the autoimmune attack - which may allow some to regain some beta cell function I think?
As I remember it a number of them still have a degree of cpeptide (so they are still making small amounts of insulin), and also have GAD antibodies, suggesting that in some versions of T1 there is an ongoing generation and destruction of beta cells, even over decades 😱
One avenue of research is ‘switching off’ the autoimmune attack - which may allow some to regain some beta cell function I think?
I feel like my basal is such a poxy amount - 4 units of lantus a day, that’s it!
Robin
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It’s often quoted on this forum, 'You need what you need'!
rebrascora
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Alan (@Northerner) still needs insulin, but just not basal insulin. I believe he uses NovoRapid for meals.
There was a lady on my DAFNE course who had been diabetic for 50 years and she just needed 2 units of Lantus a
day and not much more than 3 units of quick acting insulin and she was having problems with extremely severe nocturnal hypos sometimes involving paramedics and readings in the mid teens in the morning on a regular basis. Thankfully she is now on a pump.
As @Robin says, we are all different and "you need what you need".
Or that your body just needs more insulin.
Things like your weight, how much exercise you do, how stressed you are, .... seem to affect our insulin needs.
22 units of basal is not a high (nor low) dose so you mayu see it increase further.
But as the other say, don't worry about it compared to others or think about how knackered your pancres is - just take as much as you need.
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