Wegovy and Type 1

R

Rinks

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
hello!
I was wondering if anyone with type1 has had experience of using wegovy please?
I've been type1 for over 30 years. However, I seem to have developed insulin resistance which has led to a lot of weight gain (I have a fairly sensible low carb diet and am pretty active). I've been given Metformin lately to help with insulin absorption. But I was wondering if I should consider Wegovy too as my BMI has gone up to over 30 when it's always been less than 25.
Any suggestions/advice greatly appreciated!
Thanks. Rinks
 
Hi,
I asked my consultant about this and she said that T1 diabetics in England can’t use it as there have been no trials. It’s very frustrating as I also have insulin resistance and don’t tolerate metformin very well. I looked online but no pharmacy will prescribe it due to the risk of hypos.
 
Here in Oz, my T1 niece has been prescribed it for weight loss & I guess probably obesity-related insulin resistance.
 
Sorry to hear about your weight gain @Rinks

I don’t think Wegovy is widely used in T1 at the moment in the UK, but you could always ask, as “off label” use may be deemed appropriate in your case.

Alternatively we’ve had some discussions here recently about low carb diets being associated with insulin resistance in some people with T1. Perhaps, counterintuitively, increasing your carb intake might actually mean your doses reduce?

I think @Inka and @Tdm found that low carb diets resulted in insulin resistance for them.
 
Thanks all.
@Beckyb300 glad to hear you've faced this too! One of the diabetic nurses I'd seen about a year ago had said I should benefit from it, but then backtracked later saying there was a shortage! The consultant didnt give me a straight answer and put me on metformin instead. Metformin has worked to make my insulin more effective, but I cant increase the dose as it makes me queasy. And it hasnt helped with weight loss.
@eddyedson I think it's given in the US as well (and in Oz it seems).
I have an appointment coming up in a couple of weeks (seeing a consultant is like gold dust isnt it?) so will ask again.
@everydayupsanddowns I do eat loads of veg, and sometimes I will eat carbs too! So I'm not slavish with the low carb thing. But my levels do spike with carbs and it takes a lot of insulin to correct it and I find it easier keeping it stable on low carb generally.
 
Eddy Edson said:
I don't understand why it wouldn't be available for T1's meeting the general requirements: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta875/chapter/1-Recommendations

(Wegovy is the weight-loss-specific branding for semaglutide, as against Ozempic for T2D treatment.).

I'm probably missing something.
Click to expand...
Thanks Eddy. Yes I've seen this too. I'm a journalist and have done a fair bit of medical reporting as part of my job, so I do like to do my research before jumping into things!
I'm South Asian (so threshold is lower). Have other medical conditions (cholesterol and pressure), have aches and pains from weight gain (which I didnt before). I have a reasonably healthy lifestyle. I swim, play tennis, walk, go the gym. I'm very cautious by nature and keep an eye on my libre all the time (the lower limit is set to 5) so I can always 'catch' a hypo. My husband is a doctor so I'll even be under medical observation at home🙂 I would have thought I'd be a prime candidate for it. Neither of us want to do anything without the approval of hospital care and we wouldnt dream of going outside it.
I dont want to look like Taylor Swift! I just want to lose weight and be healthy. And get that HB1Ac down too.
 
Rinks said:
Thanks all.
@Beckyb300 glad to hear you've faced this too! One of the diabetic nurses I'd seen about a year ago had said I should benefit from it, but then backtracked later saying there was a shortage! The consultant didnt give me a straight answer and put me on metformin instead. Metformin has worked to make my insulin more effective, but I cant increase the dose as it makes me queasy. And it hasnt helped with weight loss.
@eddyedson I think it's given in the US as well (and in Oz it seems).
I have an appointment coming up in a couple of weeks (seeing a consultant is like gold dust isnt it?) so will ask again.
@everydayupsanddowns I do eat loads of veg, and sometimes I will eat carbs too! So I'm not slavish with the low carb thing. But my levels do spike with carbs and it takes a lot of insulin to correct it and I find it easier keeping it stable on low carb generally.
Click to expand...

Too few carbs cause insulin resistance. This could mean that say you took 5 units of insulin for a sandwich prior to starting a very low carb diet, after a while on a very low carb diet, that exact same sandwich would need 10 units (for example). You don’t have to eat loads of carbs but it’s sensible to eat enough carbs to stop this additional insulin resistance - because it’s a pain and hard to deal with.

How many carbs? Enough for you. This will vary depending on your metabolism, age, sex, etc, but I’d gradually increase your carbs in each meal.

Reducing fat also helps insulin resistance - particularly reducing animal fats. A very low fat plant based diet can increase insulin sensitivity hugely.
 
Esting higher carb can reduce low carb insulin resistance v quickly...like, in a week.
I didn't think i had an issue with my low carb until i was ill and turned to high carb comfort food i'd been missing ( bread, mainly) in order to actually get some food in me. my ratio went from about 3 to 1 unit to a more normal 10 to one unit...and i could eat nice stuff again. And my control didn't get worse, either...still have a none diabetic a1c
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top