rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Your understanding of the situation is confused I believe because your diagnosis is still uncertain although I am pretty sure you are Type 1 by the sound of things.
Type 2 is partly about insulin resistance, so yes the body does need increasing amounts of insulin (either home produced or injected) to overcome that, but it does usually decrease again or at least stabilize once dietary measures are undertaken, be they weight loss or low carb measures. To give you some perspective Type 2 diabetics using insulin who have significant insulin resistance might need 80 or more units of basal insulin at a time plus 30+ units of bolus insulin each meal, so well over 100 units a day.
Type 1 diabetics do not generally have insulin resistance. It is simply that their body is no longer able to produce enough insulin to survive. The medical profession start you off on low doses and gradually increase it to bring your levels down slowly and steadily but it is likely to be less than 20 units of basal and 4-5 units of bolus per meal. If they started you on what may be the correct dose straight away, you could well hypo a lot, so it is important to start low and gradually increase it until your insulin dose balances what you need to bring your levels down slowly, so yes there is a period of increasing doses over the first few months or even years, particularly during the honeymoon period when your own pancreas is still producing a bit of insulin.
There is a saying here on the forum that "You need as much insulin as you need" and we are all individual and it changes over time, sometimes you will need more and sometimes less and you will gradually learn to recognize when you need to adjust it both up and down, but at just 3 months in, it is still very early days for you and you are worrying about running when you are only just learning to walk.
You seem to be worried that your levels spike after meals, but this is totally normal. What may be causing you concern is that your levels spike higher than perhaps a Type 2 diabetic who is diet controlled is aiming for, but Type 1 diabetics can't really achieve that level of control because the insulins we use are not as fast acting as natural insulin. I was spiking up to 15 and above quite regularly in my first 6 months... most mornings in fact until I realised that I needed to inject my insulin a lot sooner before eating breakfast than the 20 mins that was suggested. Now 3.5 years down the line, I rarely go over 10 because I have learned how long my insulin needs to work before I eat and how much insulin I need for particular foods, but it does still happen. Today I over indulged and hit 15 but I brought it down again fairly quickly and considering what I ate, I accept that it was a treat and an occasional spike that high won't do me any real harm and I don't think I could have managed it much better. You have to find a balance between eating well and accepting that you can't have perfect BG levels.
What sort of levels are you spiking up to that are worrying you? If you eat more normally (ie what you would like to eat) and spike higher, then your nurse will help you to adjust your doses to cover that. If you starve yourself to keep your levels within an unrealistic target, then the nurse is unlikely to realize that there is a problem. The first thing I was told when I was started on insulin was to eat normally. It threw me because I had eaten very high carb pre diagnosis and then very low carb when they initially thought I was Type 2. I didn't want to go back to eating high carb foods so I kept my carb intake low and learned how to manage it, but it sounds like you really want to go back to your old way of eating, so just "do it" and when your levels go high, the nurse will help to adjust your insulin and the timing to manage it. Your body managed all this before your beta cells got killed off, so you are just doing what your pancreas was doing before. I am sure you didn't worry about how much insulin your pancreas was producing then, but you are just replacing that now, so the amount isn't important, as long as it roughly balances what you eat and if it doesn't then you learn to adjust it until it mostly does.
What is the point of living if you are miserable and you are starving yourself? Food is an important part of everyday life and enjoyment. You just need to learn to balance your insulin to what you want to eat, but it takes time and trial and error to do that, so start experimenting and learning. If you have a curry with 2 chupattis every day for a week, by the end of the week (or a fortnight) you will be learning how to reduce the spike and how much insulin you need for it, so start experimenting tomorrow and let us know how you get on and if you need help with particular problems, just shout up. Starving yourself teaches you nothing.
