Diabetes 1: insulin needs way down
Posted , 4 users are following.
I'm 63, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 15 years ago. I'd got to a fairly high dose of insulin, about 40 units of Novorapid at each meal and 24 units of Lanctus each day.
Earlier this year I suffered a severe back spasm and started doing exercises to help. These had the unexpected effect that I needed lower doses of insulin and with my GP's advice (she's a diabetes specialist) I eventually went down to 20 Novorapid per meal. This went on for some months.
At the end of July I was rushed to hospital with chest pains, which turned out to be pneumonia with diabetes-related complications. While in hospital I initially continued my previous insulin doses but found I was getting hypos and had to reduce my Novorapid doses to 10 and then even lower. This was in a period after I'd had surgery, was on multiple painkillers, and found even minor exertions tiring because I got out of breath.
Now I'm out of hospital and my surgical wounds have healed although I'm still feeling some chest pains which I'm told are normal after-effects. I'm down to one painkiller, Cocodamol. I haven't yet resumed my back exercises but am getting out a bit more than I used to as I'm visiting my wife in hospital.
What puzzles me is that I'm still only needing insulin doses of around 10 Novorapid with each meal, and my control seems to remain good - I've had an annual review since my hospital stay which confirms this. My weight is down by 10 lb or so, my waistline is an inch narrower, but I'm probably still overweight.
Any ideas what could have caused the drop? Anyone else had similar experiences after illness or surgery?
1 like, 3 replies
clivealive MadLogician
Posted
I can't help you re the insulin levels but I'm sorry to read that you are having to visit your wife in hospital instead.
I hope you get your answers here and you wife back home soon.
Nyxks MadLogician
Posted
been diabetic T1 for almost 20 years of my life and i'm now back down to my 1:5 carb to insulin ratio that I started out at oh so many years ago .... I was at 1:30 for a time, but my Lantus is still high, i'm on 80 units of it at night (or split every 12 hours depending on what I'm doing).
Spindles MadLogician
Posted
You've more or less given the answer in your question! You say that you have lost some weight and are taking more exercise which all helps to reduce your suga levels and therefore the dose of insulin. I'm 70 and was diagnosed with Type 2 twenty-one years ago but as I have never been overweight I think I'm probaby a late onset Type 1. I am on three shots of Novorapid and one of Lantus a day and my doses are very small, usually 3 units (yes THREE UNITS), no more than 4 with each meal and 18 units of Lantus. I am very sensitive to insulin so have a pen that gives half doses. The advice I was given was to work out how many carbs I ate at each meal and dose myself according to that but I questioned this with a diabetes nurse. I said that if my sugar level was high before a meal, say 15 or as low as 3, and ate exactly the same food at both meals and gave myself a dose of 3 units, it wouldn't make much difference to the 15 but might be too much if I was 3 so surely you have to take into account your pre-meal levels she agreed but it's still the advice to dose according to what you've eaten.
You are allowed to put your insulin doses up and down according to the meal, how much exercise you have done, whether you're stressed, hot, cold or ill etc. I have heard of people who stick rigidly to the dose that they were told to give themselves when they were first diagnosed as they think that it's down to the doctor or diabetes nurse to treat them but it's all down to ourselves how we treat it. Some of the advice I have been given by diabetes nurses would have killed me if I had done what was suggesed, so I don't have much faith sometimes.
Think yourself lucky that you've reduced your insulin from 40 units a meal to 10 units and even that may be too high so just reduce it for a few days, check your sugar levels and see if you can reduce your insulin even more as lowering the insulin must mean that your blood sugar levels are good. As long as you are having normal sugar levels you will be doing well. The advice seems to be to keep sugar levels down, as high ones can cause lots of problems but whenever I've been to see the nurse she has been far more concerned with my hypos than my hypers which is another thing I find hard to underestand. Keep up the good work!