weight gain is really getting me down

[miss_ok_ish]

Hey everyone,

I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding what’s happening and just wanted to know if this has happened to other people.

So at the age of 28 I got diagnosed with Type 1 only a few weeks ago, after 3 months of trying to find out weather it was type 1.5 or 1. Just before been diagnosed I lost some weight. (34lb/2st in 6 months)
I have always been quite small around about 120lb/7ish.st. I gained weight in the yr before I got diagnosed to about 159lb/9st, which I was obviously quite unhappy about. But I didn’t do any exercise or change the way I ate, so that was my own fault.

So then I lost all that weight because of the diabetes and went back down to 120lb, but I didn’t know it was the diabetes then. So now I’m on the insulin and in the last 2month I have crept back up to 142lb/8.4st and it still looks like it rising. I have changed my diet completely, eating less, fewer cals and fats, I ride a bike to work and back everyday and take a dance class once a week and soon to join a gym.

I saw the dietician when I got the full diagnosis and she told me that my body was probably levelling out because of the fast weight loss, and not to be so hard on myself with what I’m eating, but I gained this weight back in 2 months! As I said before on finding out about the diabetes I changed what I ate completely and eat nothing what I did before which is totally depressing for starters.

I’m just soooo done with eating carrots sticks, brown bread, fruit and drinking water! Argh! sooo angry I have had to change my way of eating anyway. I just don’t understand why the weight is still rising after eating like a rabbit for 2 months. I know its only been 2 months, but finding out about the diabetes, and knowing its all because of it. I’m freaking out.

I’m lucky I have a boyfriend that tells me he loves me and the way I look, and also adapted to a different way of eating because he wants to help me. But as massive foodies before, enjoying meals out and cooking at home of an evening with my boyfriend, having friends round etc. It’s starting to scare me that I could gain more weight and even end up weighing more then I did before! Its crazy!

Any advice would be great, tips and trick etc.

Many thanks

Kt x

__________________
Suspicions 03/05/07 (Type 1 or 1.5??)
Diagnosed Type 1 - 26/07/07

Novomix 30 (Phased out)
NovoRapid
Lantus

A1C:
03/05/07 - 17
26/ 07/07 - 8

[Scratch]

Ask about getting your thyroid checked maybe? I'm not familiar with all the symptoms of hypothyroid, but I believe weight gain is among them.

[Geoff]

Hi Kt, Like your dietician said, it is normal for you to regain some weight for the first couple of months post diagnosis. Insulin is a growth hormone. At your age it is not going to make you any taller, but it does stimulate your appetite, so you will start to grow in other areas. Your last HbA1c shows that you are yet to become more stable.

As for food, you can eat what you like as a type 1 diabetic, as long as you match the correct amount of NovaRapid insulin to the carb component of your food. Have you been taught how to count carbs to match your insulin? As is the case with many newly diagnosed here in the UK, they start you on quite a high amount of carbs per day, to which you have to take a lot of units of insulin to cover it. The more insulin you take, the more you need to eat, the more weight you put on.

How much insulin do you take per day? total NovaRapid, total Lantus?

[johgn]

The first thing you need to do is make sure your insulin intake is right, if you're taking too much you'll end up gaining weight. Once you get that right, barring any other complications like the thyroid, there is no reason why diabetes would prevent you from losing weight, especially if you are committed to eating right and exercising.

[miss_ok_ish]

The first thing you need to do is make sure your insulin intake is right, if you're taking too much you'll end up gaining weight. Once you get that right, barring any other complications like the thyroid, there is no reason why diabetes would prevent you from losing weight, especially if you are committed to eating right and exercising.
Hi again,

My HbA1c is quite high still as i'm still learning and tend to get a bit freaked out i'm going to hypo all over the place so treat any lows with probably too much juice and glucose tablets.

I’ve only just started the NovoRapid and Lantus, its only been 2 weeks, i'm still trying to understand labels on food and stuff and get it wrong lot.
My record of numbers aren't very consistent either since the change in insulin so i can't really tell if the amount of NovoRapid is correct for the amount of food, as sometimes i can be high before my next meal so i take abit more for the last meal when I eat that next meal. Not sure if that’s the right way to combat that.

But i guess if i was to eat a bowl of pasta i would take about 6or 2 bits of wholemeal toast would be 3, so a whole day I think on average between 15-20units a day depending on how many times I eat or how much, with the Lantus i take 14units at night, had some funny morning numbers the last few days, some high like today (9) and some too low (3).

I guess it will take time to learn how much to take. I know its 10grams of carbs to 1unit of insulin, I’m trying my best. I need to probably be more strict about planning meals, but the doctor said they’d put me on NovoRapid so to make it easier and flexible when I eat, its just confusing.

It’s quite annoying as the Novomix i heard wasn't great but i got the guessing amounts down pretty well and my numbers were steadily getting better, now i feel i'm back at square one, but this time i'm more angry i can't get it right. its more maths involved, and i'm **** at maths haha

But the exercising is freaking me out to, every time I go riding or dancing, I buy a bag of popcorn and some juice and promptly pig out before during and after in fear I’m going to hypo. But you don’t loss weight that way I guess. But if I have to get my numbers between 4-7 if I work out with those numbers I will hypo for sure, how do you get the balance right? I mean if you eat a bowl of pasta before hand, your numbers will be fine but you won’t loss weight, don’t eat enough you have a hypo. When does the fat have time to burn. Yikes. Maybe I’m thinking about it too much haha

What would be a typical days of eating for you?


Thanks for listening

Kt

[Geoff]

Hi Kt, the first thing that you have to get right with insulin usage is getting your basal (Lantus) set up right. This has nothing to do with what you eat throughout the day, but it provides your background insulin. This is needed to keep in simple terms, your blood glucose stable. If you eat nothing all day ( you would not feel too good)and this was set up correctly, in theory your bg reading would stay around the same level, not to high, not to low.

At diagnoses the hospital staff would work out roughly what you require by your weight in KG's, and would use a guide dosage of around 0.2-0.5 units of Lantus/Kg's So your dosage of 14 units was not far off the mark at diagnoses. But now it may need adjusting. To get a rough guide of how far you are off the mark, you should have at least eight hours without eating. So if you take your Lantus at night, just before bed, do not eat for eight hours, test your blood before breakfast and if you are taking the right amount of Lantus, your bg reading should be between 5.5-6.0mmol/lt

Give it a go over the next two day's and let us know your results, then we may be able to help you fine tune you dosage.

[Jan B]

Kt,

I wish you weren't having such a wild ride. As a new diabetic (and as an old one), Balance & Moderation are a couple big keys in life. Don't kick yourself so hard and don't eat like crazy because you are scared of lows. Whatever you do, don't give up -- you will find that balance. It's more important to be healthy than skinny. It is true that taking too much insulin will help you gain weight.

You are getting a lot of information now. Make sure you just pay attention to the people who know (Geoff & the others who responded & good medical people) & keep it as simple as possible. There is a ton of bad information out there -- people who knew a diabetic who . . . . etc. Ignorant people are light years behind in what a diabetic can and cannot do!

Don't feel alone either. Very good idea to get your thyroid checked too. All the correction would be is a little daily pill and it's critical if you need it.

Cheers

[Who?]

The first thing you need to do is make sure your insulin intake is right, if you're taking too much you'll end up gaining weight. Once you get that right, barring any other complications like the thyroid, there is no reason why diabetes would prevent you from losing weight, especially if you are committed to eating right and exercising.

I agree.

Take insulin to match your food intake, don't eat to your insulin injections. You should try eating less and injecting less.

Obviously, you have to be very careful and do it under medical supervision, but that should help.

[Cyborg]

Congrats on the a1c improvement!

Weight loss is difficult while on insulin. It is known as the "Fat Drug"...

[Mich]

Hi Kt,

I just had to weigh in on this one. For me, after 48 years with diabetes, I have found the following to be true, some of which have already been mentioned:

**You must have your basal set up correctly. You should be able to go all day without eating and maintain a fairly level blood sugar. This can be achieved with a number of basal strategies--(pump, lantus, et.) My pump works well for 24 hours, Lantus didn't quite go for 24 hours for me and it was necessary to split the dose.

**Weight gain is based on the amunt of insulin you take. You must find the balance of just enough food intake, exercise, and insulin to balance out without gaining weight. For me when not doing a lot of exercise, this amounts to about a piece of toast, a couple ounces of protein and a small salad of low-carb veggies per day. If I want to eat more without taking more insulin, I have to exercise to burn the carbs. Sad but true for
me.:( In my teens and twenties, I could eat a lot more without gaining weight or taking more insulin, but each decade reduced the amount I could eat. I suspect I have grown lazier, but I would like to say that experience has taught me to use economy of movement :) .

**If you are injecting, and are still intimidated by the act of giving yourself an injection, get an automatic injector for your syringe. It makes it quick and efficient and will lead you your growing more nonchalant about injecting, so that you are more liable to correct when necessary. This is especially good for newly diagnosed children who do not have a pump.

I'm wishing you luck in finding your balance soon. I know you will.

Mich

[miss_ok_ish]

Hi all,

Great, thanks everyone for all the info on this, I was totally getting carried away with all these questions in my head when really I should be just taking a step back and sorting the issue of getting my numbers sorted. argh... and breathe ha-ha

It’s so easy to just take too much on and try and sort everything out at once, but you end up not sorting anything out. I guess the weight is the physical thing that I see and maybe not the most important for now. I feel like I’m treating a phantom disease, it has so pain, nothing I can see other then a load of numbers, I keep saying if I don't feel anything why do I have to do it... man it sucks. Some days you think it’s going to be easy and then you have a day and your like argh grrr this suck big time.

I think I’m just in too bigger rush to get it sorted so then I can get back to being normal.. but in truth that’s not really going to happen is it. Like waiting to finish a test, just get it out the way and then you can forget about it. But as soon as I get myself sorted it’s still going to take effort to maintain. It’s quite overwhelming sometimes. Wow.

Right moans over, the first thing I’m going to do is check my night time dosage is correct, So should I take my night time with my evening meal or take it without food when I go to bed, for best results? At the mo I have been taking it when I go to bed without food, which is about 3hrs after I my dinner (eg eat at 9 bed at 12). And I think I should be stricter with my testing, before and after meals etc, I’ve been a bit slack. See how that goes and then reassess.

Cheers everyone, will be speaking soon I hope.

Kt xx :)

[cheryl]

You are on the right track, get that basal insulin figured out first then work on your novorapid, what I would do is match the carbs with your meals start off with like 10 carbs per one unit of insulin, see what you are 2 and four hours later.....while figuring out carb ratio's stick with a low fat lower protien diet so this doesn't play havok on your blood sugars hours later and you are there scratiching your head but why?

I did things one way my whole life and had to retrain myself last year, and it was hard and fustrating and drove me crazy.....

Advice on exercising, I used to like to exercise in the morning like about an hour after i ate....and if I was under 120 I drank some gatorade, and checked it every 30 minutes....I know it is a pain, but you don't want to go low, but you don't want to eat or drink something if you don't have too.....and always drank about 20 carbs worth of stuff, if i was under 120 and after exercise if I was still under 120 I ate a snack, unless I was too low then I had to drink the juice or soda or something to that affect....

Good luck.....I know but once you get it, it becomes easier...

Cheryl

[johgn]

It will also be easier to eat similar type meals until you get the insulin right. I have 3 or 4 base meals that I really know how to take insulin for (although my breakfast is merely coffee, an apple and a banana), you don't have to eat this every meal but it makes it easier.

It's going to take months and months of slowly getting better but the fact that you're here is good.

[soso]

I have also gained a little weight since starting insulin, despite ll my efforts to be careful.. What I have been doing, that seems to have really helped is having at least 1 meal a day, which is very low carb and only needs a small bolus.. then the other meals I try to eat very well, but from the low end of the glycemic index and eat about half the meat portions I really want...saw a couple of pounds off within a week or so, so it seems to work... also as others have said, have been weighing my carbs to be sure to avoid any lows where I end up feeding the insulin...a big factor for me I think...
As to exercise.. lows when hiking are my biggest problem, what I have started to do is take a small orange or mandarin along and eat a few links at a time about every 10-15 mins and even on steep hill climbs I am OK when I reach the top...it is a pain in the arse, but it works and is only 100 calories ish..good food for me too and I like it...

Even though I have a little roll of flab now, I look tons better and I have put some muscle on again too... maybe my clothes don't look as good, but I am def healthier...
Give it time, you will get it all ironed out with a little trial and error.. I like to ask, would my life be any better if I weighed 10 lbs less right now?
Best wishes
ss

[Geoff]

"the first thing I’m going to do is check my night time dosage is correct, So should I take my night time with my evening meal or take it without food when I go to bed, for best results?"

Hi Kt, Remember the lantus insulin (your night time dosage)has nothing to do with what you eat. It is only to set your base point, your foundation to keep your blood glucose stable through out the day. That is why it is referred to as "your basal dosage" your base dose. So when you take it at night as one dosage, as apposed to splitting it into a night, and day dosage, it is best to take it around the same time every night. So take your NovaRapid as per normal with your last main meal, you say usually at 9:00pm, then just before you go to bed at midnight, take your Lantus. But to see if you have the right dosage next morning, you need at least eight hours since you last had something to eat. so do not eat before 7:00am the next morning, take a blood test first, and if you are near the right dosage your blood should be in the good zone, +- 5.3-6.0mmol/lt.

Give it a go and let us know the result.

[Ailsa]

It will also be easier to eat similar type meals until you get the insulin right. I have 3 or 4 base meals that I really know how to take insulin for (although my breakfast is merely coffee, an apple and a banana), you don't have to eat this every meal but it makes it easier.

I agree with this. If I'm checking my dose I eat the same thing for breakfast each day, the same thing for lunch etc for a few days untill I get it sorted.
I also try to eat lowish carbs.

Also if you exercise at the same time of day it helps. I go for an hours walk before breakfast at present. As I haven't taken any novorapid at that time my BG varies only slightly. I will have a small snack if my test is under 6. If it's 6-7 I might eat 2 dried apricots. It seems to work for me.

It does take patience but you'll get there.

[miss_ok_ish]

Hey everyone,

OK I have worked hard and for the last week-ish, I have tested my night time dosage. It seems to be the right dose at 14, I have been to bed with numbers at 5 -5.5 and woke up pretty much exactly the same. I was quite impressed actually.

I have also joined a website: Weight Loss Resources (http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/),
which I have found quite handy, I have been able to enter what I’ve been eating and what exercise I’ve been doing, and it gives me a calorie, fat etc count. Then tallies it up at the end of the week to tell you how many cals you have eaten.

So I’m trying to aim for about 1200cals a day, plus with my cycling to and from work, plus I have fitted in a lunch time ride of an hour, I have managed to calculate I am burning around 500cals, so I have been able to eat a few more cals, and in the last 5 days I have managed to get rid of about 2000cals, which I hear if you burn/get rid of 500cals a day that’s around 3500 a week, which is a pound?? Have I worked that out right? I’ve tried to cut down a lot on the carbs so I don’t have to take so much insulin, which is harder then I though.

So typical day would be,

Breakfast: low fat cottage cheese and 2 dark rye ryvita, or low fat yoghurt and a nectarine or banana (I know banana’s are quite carb, may need to change that one)
Breakfast = 2units ish

Lunch: Salad leaves, 1 tomato, cucumber, 50g low fat feta (love cheese, finding it hard to cut cheese down, low fat hard cheese is gross, that’s why I go for feta), 85g plain chicken, or prawns or tuna, teaspoon of virgin olive oil and balsamic, if not salad a 400g tin of chicken soup or tomato.
Lunch = 4units ish

Around about 4 -5pm this is the time I am most hungry and find it hard not to eat crisps or spread loads of butter on the rest of my ryvita. Haha, so I try eat a piece of fruit, and hold out till I get home.I must admit snacking is tricky for me, never know what to eat without having to take a shot. Cucumber doesn’t do it for me.
snack =1 unit

Then dinner is pasta with another salad or bulgar wheat with onion, sweetcorn and courgettes or homemade bean cakes (Low GI), all come with granary bread or pitta. Dinner is probably the most calorific meal.
Dinner= 6units ish

I do feel everyday and most of the day i could just eat and eat and eat. i suppose it will get easier as the routine continues. i hope!

So is there something i could change or add? Does this all sound ok?

Boring I might add, I am in dire need to eat bacon sanies for breakie, macaroni cheese for lunch and pizza and chips for dinner! And snack on full fat coke, salt and vinegar crisps and haribo throughout the day! Joke!

Again thanks for listening, any tips and tricks would be greatly received.

Have a great weekend

Kt x :)

[gambi]

Someone may have already adressed this but I will say it again. Doctor's will not tell you the real reason why you gain weight on insulin. What happens is when your pancreas stops producing insulin it also stops producing another hormore amlyn. When you add back the insuling via injection without amlyn you store fat. Insulin makes you store fat. Soooo that is why there is yet another injection you can take with is Symlin which replaces amlyn and helps reduce the fat storing. Most people loose weight on Symlin or stop gaining.

You may also want to try Levemir instead of Lantus as studies have shown mush less weight gain.

My CDE also suggests that hypos cause weight gain. Most likely due to extra food consumption. Also the highs and lows can really wreck havock on your metbolism.

I would suggest glucose tabs instead of eating before exercise less calories and no fat and they are very effective.

I exercise twice so I usually back down my fast acting insuling by 1unit if I know I am going for a four mile run - otherwise I might get into trouble.

I'm not expert by any means ony been diabetic about 6 months but I read read read and email my CDE all the time