Insulin and appetite

[jazzbo]

Good morning! I'm a T2 who recently started Humalog 75/25, 10 units, at dinner. I'm also taking 1,000 metformin with breakfast (same amount I took before, just a different time of day). My number are improving dramatically. However, I have noticed a marked decrease in my appetite. Has anyone else experienced this?

[ant hill]

I have had a day that I was not hungry and my BG's are very good and also have had bad high BG's and allways picking at food. Sounds that you have good control. ;)

[fgummett]

I find it easier to control my appetite when I have good control but too much insulin and I feel hungry :(

[sprzepiora]

Before being diagnosed I had ballooned to 275, this was because my body was craving nourishment, but then I lost 40 pounds within about a month and a half because of DKA.

Currently I do not get hungry unless I go low, but that mindset is still there. I will look at my plate and say to myself there is no way this is enough food :) It turns out it usually is enough.

[slipperyelm]

I think you do want to hear from people who understand Type 2 treated with insulin, as I think Type 2s can have hunger issues different than Type 1s and perhaps not related to insulin use. (But sorry, I don't think I can offer any insight.)

[fgummett]

Good morning! I'm a T2 who recently started Humalog 75/25, 10 units, at dinner. I'm also taking 1,000 metformin with breakfast (same amount I took before, just a different time of day). My number are improving dramatically. However, I have noticed a marked decrease in my appetite. Has anyone else experienced this?How have you BS levels been? I assume that you were started on Insulin as you had poor control with just the Metformin... if that is the case then coming into better control (I find) does certainly reduce my hunger.

I believe we get into a vicious cycle with Type 2 where the disordered BS control increases our appetite (plenty of sugar but can't get into the cells so the body cries out for food)... this leads to weight gain which increases abdominal fat which increases insulin resistance and also increases our appetite plus a higher risk of poor sleep (OSA) which again increases our appetite and leads to fatigue which makes it harder to lead an active life... and so on and so on :(

I was started on Insulin within my first year of Dx and it has given me much better control. Now that I am finally getting treatment for Sleep Apnea (OSA) I am starting to have more energy each day and have recently been able to reduce my daily insulin from around 100u a day down to 90u (in only the first week and a half of CPAP treatment)

[slipperyelm]

fgummet, what does the OSA abbreviation stand for. O___ Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea seems to be one of those "chicken and egg" conditions. It can both cause and be caused by the same factors. So breaking its grip can really help other conditions. Good luck with that.

Jazzbo, is your decrease in appetite a helpful decrease or a problematic decrease?

[princesslinda]

OSA = Obstructive Sleep Apena

[fgummett]

fgummet, what does the OSA abbreviation stand for. O___ Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea seems to be one of those "chicken and egg" conditions. It can both cause and be caused by the same factors. So breaking its grip can really help other conditions. Good luck with that.Many Thanks... I am certainly looking forward to improvement of my D, my weight, my Blood Pressure and energy level.

OSA = Obstructive Sleep Apnea... the airway relaxes and becomes obstructed during sleep. This was happening to me around 58 times every hour. You may not wake completely but you snore/gasp for air... ending up with a very disturbed night and feeling tired all day.

CPAP = Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine... is a snorkel-type mask hooked to machine that pumps positive pressure air into the nose and/or mouth to keep the airway open all night... surprisingly easy to get used to :)

[jazzbo]

Thanks, everyone. Perhaps because my BS is getting under good control I'm not so hungry. I've only had 1 BS over 200 since I started the insulin. My fasting AM numbers are slowly coming down (105 this morning - yeah!) and my post meals have been great.

The lack of appetite may not be problematic (I'm 5'6", 135 pounds) but I guess I was a little worried that if I don't eat enough carbs at dinner because I'm not hungry, I may go low overnight. Maybe all this is just the newness of insulin and I'm a bit unsure of what's going on.
Thanks again for responding. This forum is really great! I've gotten so much "real" information from all you folks.
Best wishes for your good health. And Frank, I hope the sleep apnea problem gets better.

[fgummett]

Thanks Jazzbo and I hope the insulin is new start for you also :)

[slipperyelm]

Okay, I now I see what you mean. You definitely need to keep your car intake and insulin injections matched. I have to admit, I would probably be fearful going to sleep at night when I first started insulin. I'm sure I'd be scared of a hypo while sleeping. But I guess most everyone gets it figured out.

Maybe your last meal of the day cold just always be a very low carb meal anyway, so that you use very little insulin for it and therefore have little reason to fear you'd go low....Oh, I looked again and see you are just taking a standard dose at dinner time. You could probably change that to use insulin match your meal, if you want.

[BrianSCohen]

Jazzbo,

I am a type 2 and don't use insulin, but I believe that insulin actually suppresses hunger in the brain. If you have had impaired insulin production, your brain may be quite surprised at the unanticipated jump in your insulin levels.