[vbutcher]

I just started taking lantus every morning. I have noticed my stomach being a little flabby and definitely some weight gain. Is it the insulin and does other people have the same issue? I don't want to become a fat blob....

[Emm]

How were your blood sugars before you started the Lantus? You may have been high enough to be 'wasting' the glucose you get from food - which leads to weight loss. You also may have experienced a stronger appetite (either from high numbers and no insulin, or using an insulin that gave you too many ups & downs) and got accustomed to eating a little more. So for the last (however long) your body hasn't properly been using all the food you've eaten, but now with Lantus on board you can. Keeping your numbers in range often means gaining a little weight - but it's just because your body is working properly.

On the other hand, a lot of people are saying that some insulins actually encourage weight gain regardless of the above. I'm really not sure myself, but I do know that I have a lot of trouble losing weight now!

Insulin is a fat storage hormone as well as a glucose regulating hormone, so it makes sense that we'd have issues with weight when we're taking insulin. However I suspect that most of it boils down to Energy in less Energy out (what we eat minus what we use up in exercise).

How is the Lantus working for you? What were you using before you started it?

[vbutcher]

I was using metformin, actos, januvia and glyburide and it just wasn't working out for me. The lantus has brought my numbers down tremendously. I was spiking up to 500 and now it's running below 110.... feel much better.

[grace girl]

If you were running that high then you weren't processing the food you were eating...and when first starting insulin after being like that it's normal to gain weight. Just make sure that you're not over-eating and it will level off.

[Lizzie G]

Hi there....

I was diagnosed about 8 months ago and had a similar experience. Looking back I know the reason I gained weight was 3-fold; so here goes!:

1) my body was used to a massive amount of wastage, peeing out my food etc etc and was extremely dehydrated. Suddenly being given the elixer of life my body started to repair itself which includes hydrating and building my fat stores again. natural.

2) i was so used to being able to eat what i wanted and not gain weight that i probably gained a pound or two taking time to adjust to not being able to be greedy.

3) this is the key really. insulin IS an anabolite (ie makes your cells take up glucose and either store/eventually convert to fat), so if the background level is not correct you will feel hungry, snack to get your sugars right etc. Basically, i believe it is quite common for people to take too much basal. at the beginning it seems good as you go down overnight and so on and psychologically you feel you are in better control, but make sure you get it right. i used to be on 18 units, now i am on 10, a huge difference, im now not as hungry, rarely have to 'feed' my insulin and have successfully lost about 10 pounds (weight loss impossible if taking more insulin than you need).

So, in summary i would say a) expect to gain a little weight on initial diagnosis whilst you adjust and get your levels right, b) dont worry about it! c)try to eat sensibly and d)once it all settles down and only then, work on losing any excess weight slowly and sensibly....it will all be fine honestly!

Hope this helps a bit....

[lottadata]

Lantus does seem to pack weight on people. I experienced this and so did a friend who is a strict low carber.

Switching to Levemir will help. My friend lost weight after the switch. I'm having much less hunger on Levemir, too.

The research backs this up. For Type 1s Levemir eliminates weight gain compared to Lantus for Type 2s who use larger doses the weight gain is much smaller on Levemir.

The research is sponsored by the company that makes Levemir, but anecdotal evidence around the web does seem to support it.

If you switch, you should expect to use 2 shots a day not one, as in small doses it lasts about 12 hours.

I find that it is MUCH more powerful than Lantus in the tiny doses I use for MODY. Dramatically so, but it is giving me spectacular fasting blood sugars for the first time in my entire life I'm mostly in the 80s. That is with a low carb diet, however.

[Lizzie G]

Originally Posted by lottadata

Lantus does seem to pack weight on people. I experienced this and so did a friend who is a strict low carber.

Switching to Levemir will help. My friend lost weight after the switch. I'm having much less hunger on Levemir, too.

The research backs this up. For Type 1s Levemir eliminates weight gain compared to Lantus for Type 2s who use larger doses the weight gain is much smaller on Levemir.

The research is sponsored by the company that makes Levemir, but anecdotal evidence around the web does seem to support it.

If you switch, you should expect to use 2 shots a day not one, as in small doses it lasts about 12 hours.

I find that it is MUCH more powerful than Lantus in the tiny doses I use for MODY. Dramatically so, but it is giving me spectacular fasting blood sugars for the first time in my entire life I'm mostly in the 80s. That is with a low carb diet, however.

Hi there - is levemir a 12 hour insulin? it might the answer to my prayers - i need twice as much basal insulin during the night as in the day and at the moment i cope with this by waking myself up to use fast acting - not ideal! its ages before i have an endo appointment (i was going to ask about adding NPH at night) but if levemir is 12h i can probably get that sorted now through nurses....

[lottadata]

Levemir is a 12 hour insulin when used in the doses used by people with Type 1 or MODY.

It fades on me at almost exactly 12 hours and I'll see my fasting bg start to climb if I am late injecting.

[Alice]

I believe the "weight" studies of Levemir were conducted in comparison to NPH...not Lantus. I could be wrong, they were done some time ago...but I'm recalling that it was a little misleading when the reps were selling against Lantus.

[lottadata]

Alice,

You're right.

The Lantus/Levemir head-to-head studies didn't show a dramatic difference the way the NPH study did.

But it's worth noting that the protocols for those Lantus/Levemir studies were all with people eating the extremely high carb diets and then using very high doses of insulin and achieving mediocre A1cs. When you are running high blood sugars and using huge doses of insulin you will gain weight. (Or at least, I will gain weight! That's been proven. <G>)

When people go for much tighter control and use less insulin the weight advantage may show up. I have heard from people who reported that happening when they switched.

It may simply be that because Leveimr is shorter acting it is possible to tailor the dose better and when you do that and keep blood sugars flatter, you end up not as hungry.

It's certainly worth a try if a person is gaining on Lantus.
I am really happy with Levemir and I gained a LOT of weight last winter when I started Lantus. Before that I'd been using R which was slow enough to lower my fasting bg too. When I switched to Lantus/Novolog even though my total daily dose was the same I managed to gain 5 lbs in little more than 6 weeks. I had not gained weight in several years before that.

[Lizzie G]

Originally Posted by lottadata

Alice,

You're right.

The Lantus/Levemir head-to-head studies didn't show a dramatic difference the way the NPH study did.

But it's worth noting that the protocols for those Lantus/Levemir studies were all with people eating the extremely high carb diets and then using very high doses of insulin and achieving mediocre A1cs. When you are running high blood sugars and using huge doses of insulin you will gain weight. (Or at least, I will gain weight! That's been proven. <G>)

When people go for much tighter control and use less insulin the weight advantage may show up. I have heard from people who reported that happening when they switched.

It may simply be that because Leveimr is shorter acting it is possible to tailor the dose better and when you do that and keep blood sugars flatter, you end up not as hungry.

It's certainly worth a try if a person is gaining on Lantus.
I am really happy with Levemir and I gained a LOT of weight last winter when I started Lantus. Before that I'd been using R which was slow enough to lower my fasting bg too. When I switched to Lantus/Novolog even though my total daily dose was the same I managed to gain 5 lbs in little more than 6 weeks. I had not gained weight in several years before that.

interesting stuff. my TDD is pretty low (18 units max) due to training, pretty low carb and generally losing weight. of course all these factors have increased my daytime insulin sensitivity hugely which is whats caused the disparity in my basal needs.....for example...during the day 1/2 unit of novo can bring me down 2mmol (36 in US terms) whereas at night 1 unit can do NOTHING!

[vbutcher]

So, after reading all this, I think I either need to lower my lantus dosage or take the other insulin. I like feeling better, but can't stand to gain weight.....

[Lizzie G]

Originally Posted by vbutcher

So, after reading all this, I think I either need to lower my lantus dosage or take the other insulin. I like feeling better, but can't stand to gain weight.....

How are you getting on now?

[HelenM]

Its a bit different but in the 2 months since coming off MDI (lantus/novorapid) and using apidra in a pump, my basal has dropped from 16-18u to an average of 10.7u. (boluses are a little less but not so much). I've also lost a little weight.It had been creeping up slowly.
Perhaps dropping the lantus was a factor.

[sprzepiora]

I am just curious, but why would a T1 take these: metformin, actos, januvia and glyburide.