Needing more and more insulin for the same exact meal.

[Robin]

I’m exactly the same weight I was 18 years ago, then, a few months after I first started insulin (having put back the excess stone I'd lost when I really didn’t need to, prior to diagnosis).

 

[rebrascora]

It would be a grave mistake to take less insulin whilst watching your BG levels climb higher and higher and end up with DKA.

I still maintain that insulin does not make you fat it just enables you to store fat from too much surplus food. It is the food which is the issue, the insulin just enables it IF you eat too much.

 

[Wendal]

Evening although I firmly fall on the side that amount of insulin you take does not affect weight gain in itself I consider it a bit irrelevant in that you should take in the insulin you require.As I think Inka said it is just replacing what your body would naturally produce.
It is up to each of us to decide the balance between diet,exercise and medication ( insulin) to manage our diabetes and suggest we do that in line with our wishes and willingness.
Personally I try and take as few medicines as possible but always take anything my medical advisor recommends as I have trust in them but also know enough to challenge them if required.
I look upon insulin as different and am quite happy to take as much as required but again I prefer to take as little as possible just as I find it easier to manage my diabetes by fine tuning with exercise/ diet if necessary.
BW

 

[CliffH]

Someone needs to tell diabetes.org.uk that it's a myth.

Weight loss and diabetes

There are a lot of different ways to lose weight but there’s no one-size-fits-all diet. We’ve put together this weight loss guide to help you get started and stay motivated.

www.diabetes.org.uk

I wonder if they are referring to T1s who undergo rapid weight loss before diagnosis, but start to put it back on when they start insulin - which is completely to be expected as the insulin will be storing glucose/fat and helping to rebuild muscle mass and hence weight will go up (To healthy levels).

That's certainly what happened to me.

 

[beating_my_betes]

I believe there is no evidence for this theory, though, and the last thing I read there was evidence against it.

As far as I'm aware, Gary Taubes has spent millions of dollars of others' money trying (and failing) to prove this theory to be correct. And yet, despite this, it hasn't stopped many others from spreading the same ideas.

It seems to be a classic case of there being known mechanisms that would seem to work in the theory's favour, when viewed in an isolated/reductionist sense, but that fail when considering the overall picture.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Can I ask everyone please to be kind to each other.

From my perspective (and personal experience)

• There is a mechanism that enables weight gain when insulin is taken (in the presence of excess energy)
• This weight gain is particularly likely when insulin therapy is started in T1s, who have been losing weight due to absolute insulin deficency (because it allows the body to absorb food energy that was previously stuck in the bloodstream causing havoc)
• Insulin in and of itself in my experience is not a cause of ongoing weight gain, unless there is an excess of food energy consumed
• Extra weight can lead to insulin resistance and larger doses
• Very low carb diets in T1 can lead to insulin resistance and larger doses (we have T1 members who have seen and resolved this in themselves)
• It is a complex and multifactorial question
• Insulin can enable access to food energy that facilitates weight being gained, but that weight gain is not inevitable if diet/energy balance is kept in check
• Artificially reducing insulin doses in order to reduce weight in T1 is a gravely serious eating disorder, with potentially fatal consequences, and those commenting must be very careful in phrasing replies not to give the impression that taking insulin inevitably causes excess weight to be gained