Hi.
I excercise almost every day and usually walk 2-3 miles a day on the tredmill. I've been slimming down but my stomach still looks the same plus is always puffy.. and I feel like its from my insulin. I do my lantus usually in my butt cheeks, but I do my Humalog in my stomach almost everytime. Could it be making it harder for me to loose that tummy weight? Or is it adding fat?
I swear insulin has made me gain weight ! =[
heyy!
I know what your talking about with your stomach. I'm a very thin girl, but on my stomach, where i usually give my insulin, it looks like I have these little tiny pockets of fat. When I saw my doctor and told her about it, she told me that is was lipohypertrophy. when you give insulin in the same spot too many times in a row, the spot hardens up, but within 5 - 20 mins, it goes mushy. And then that turns into a bunch of skin tissue, that looks like fat. It'll be there for a really long time, but it's suppose to go away eventually.
And i don't think insulin can make you gain weight, but I know that when your blood sugars are high a lot, your body doesn't use carbohydrates properly, and converts it into fat. So high bg's make people gain weight, but i don't think insulin does. idkk. maybe I'm wrong. haha
I have that problem too. But, the stupid steroids I'm on aren't helping in the weight area either...
Monica,
You're right about the high blood sugar thing. I knew I read something about this before, but I couldn't remember the details, so I found a study that discussed it. Here's what I found out...
When your blood sugar is high and you take a large dose of insulin, this is considered "hyperinsulinemia." Insulin is known to cause something called lipogenesis, which is the process of simple sugars and carbs being converted to fat. So, if you have high blood sugar and take a huge dose of insulin, lipogenesis will happen more than if you just took a normal-sized dose of insulin. So, it seems that a large amount of that blood glucose will be converted to fat (awesome...) I remember reading somewhere that during this whole process, fat cells are forced into the abdomen, but I couldn't find any info to confirm that detail. The T1's in the study were also found to have larger BMI's and significantly higher waist to hip ratios, even in the non-overweight T1's tested. This tendency of T1's to have disproportionate abdominal fat can also cause insulin resistance in some people who have had it for years.
So, I guess if there's any way to put a positive spin on this info, it's that preventing highs and bolusing for food is much healthier than getting high and then correcting for it (but we all knew that anyway...) ;)
Molly
i found that switching where i inject helped a LOT when i was trying to lose weight, as i've always have a big tummy. for most of my 16years injecting, i've used my tummy as it was the least painful. once i started taking shots in my thighs and arms(tho they hurt haha) my stomach went down quite a bit. not drinking diet pop as often also helped! haha
Hey, I had the exact same problem, but don't worry...it can go away! ...For me, my diabetes team suggested not doing any needles in the parts of my stomach that was getting lumpy for 1 year. I started using my thighs and side stomach a lot more and i actually really like these sites...I started this in september of 2009, and i've already noticed a HUGE difference....hang in there, it'll go away! maybe ask your team for some tips too!
Ugh, diabetes makes everything so much harder, its so annoying. And I haven't even had it for a year yet =/
When you inject it into your side stomach and thighs does the fat start to build up there also??
By the way, thank you guys so much !
I can only imagine it will happen anywhere that your inject in too often. Ughh, diabetes is too difficultt.
I'm [quote user="Molly"]
Monica,
You're right about the high blood sugar thing. I knew I read something about this before, but I couldn't remember the details, so I found a study that discussed it. Here's what I found out...
When your blood sugar is high and you take a large dose of insulin, this is considered "hyperinsulinemia." Insulin is known to cause something called lipogenesis, which is the process of simple sugars and carbs being converted to fat. So, if you have high blood sugar and take a huge dose of insulin, lipogenesis will happen more than if you just took a normal-sized dose of insulin. So, it seems that a large amount of that blood glucose will be converted to fat (awesome...) I remember reading somewhere that during this whole process, fat cells are forced into the abdomen, but I couldn't find any info to confirm that detail. The T1's in the study were also found to have larger BMI's and significantly higher waist to hip ratios, even in the non-overweight T1's tested. This tendency of T1's to have disproportionate abdominal fat can also cause insulin resistance in some people who have had it for years.
So, I guess if there's any way to put a positive spin on this info, it's that preventing highs and bolusing for food is much healthier than getting high and then correcting for it (but we all knew that anyway...) ;)
Molly
[/quote]
I'm confusedd?! i've only had diabetes 11 months, so i'm relatively new too diabetes. I am very thin (my doctor told me I had to gain 27 lbs. to maintain a healthy weight) for my age and height. and I like it that way. Does your post mean that eventually over time I will gain weight due to my diabetes? Because if so, I gotta prepare myself.
sorry if that sounded a little bratty. I REALLY didn't mean it to sound like that, I just want to know, and I'm not really great at wording. hahah. sorry
Monica,
I think from the T1's I know in person (don't actually know what you Juvenators look like, lol), we are more likely be slightly overweight. But, at the same time, it doesn't have to happen to everybody. But, I think it's definitely important to try to keep with good habits to prevent it b/c of the increased risk of weight gain.
[quote user="Monica"]
I'm confusedd?! i've only had diabetes 11 months, so i'm relatively new too diabetes. I am very thin (my doctor told me I had to gain 27 lbs. to maintain a healthy weight) for my age and height. and I like it that way. Does your post mean that eventually over time I will gain weight due to my diabetes? Because if so, I gotta prepare myself.
sorry if that sounded a little bratty. I REALLY didn't mean it to sound like that, I just want to know, and I'm not really great at wording. hahah. sorry
[/quote]
Monica,
I don't think it's anything you should really worry about. I'm sorry...I didn't mean to stress you out or worry you with my post, I was just trying to figure out if there was some sort of scientific explanation for the whole thing. I've met plenty of Type 1's who are a healthy weight. I think if anything, the article really just reaffirmed for me how important it is to take insulin when I eat and not forget and have to correct a high later on. :)
Molly
I was told that it's actually scar tissue that builds up when you inject the same area too often. Right now, for example, Brandan's right arm has that "lumpy" texture under the skin and I'm told that when that happens I can't use the area for AT LEAST 30 days because the insulin doesn't absorb like it should. Anybody else heard this?
[quote user="Trish"]I was told that it's actually scar tissue that builds up when you inject the same area too often. Right now, for example, Brandan's right arm has that "lumpy" texture under the skin and I'm told that when that happens I can't use the area for AT LEAST 30 days because the insulin doesn't absorb like it should. Anybody else heard this? [/quote]
I've heard most of it :o) I was never told a time period though.
So, is it better to have a pump, or omni pod? Maybe it makes weight gain less? Or at least the injection site wouldn't be so fatty?
I'm totally just geussing by the way..
I just don't want to get any more fat on my stomach !
its not fat, its scar tissue from injecting into the same site too many times...you just have to learn to rotate sites more often, and if scar tissue (the lumpy stuff) starts to build up then stay away from that site for a long time...
As for my thighs and side stomach, no scarring yet as i just started using them regularly in september...im going to to keep a close eye on them though and try to move my injection sites around as much as possible.
when i was little my doctor always would say: Stop injecting in your arms so much your going to get football arms! In the end rotate rotate rotate your injections!! Its also a lot to do with genetics like anything else.. I dont inject my stomach and I never have.. maybe 5 times my whole life and i have a flat stomach. I do mostly my arms and butt.. my arms seem normal but I have a big butt so maybe thats why! i think its just genetic tho lol
oh one more thing.. I skimmed through other peoples answers quickly.. I def do not think we are usually or have a higher risk of being overweight.. I have known a couple other T1's and they are actually skinny... dont get scarred that your destined to be overweight if your T1 its not true! If you want to look good you will, even if u have to work a little harder :)
o my god thank you for posting that! i was getting sooo freaked out that i was gonna be overweight because of diabetes. haha
[quote user="Sarah"]
Monica,
I think from the T1's I know in person (don't actually know what you Juvenators look like, lol), we are more likely be slightly overweight. But, at the same time, it doesn't have to happen to everybody. But, I think it's definitely important to try to keep with good habits to prevent it b/c of the increased risk of weight gain.
[/quote]
Monica, i disagree with Sarah's comment about type1's being slightly overwieght. I am a member of triabetes.org and have been playing soccer, volleyball and doing triathlons my whole life, and during this i got type1...type1 has not slowed me down.... I have a ton of type1's friends from around the country who are also into exercise and keeping thier bodies in a good physical shape for the rest of thier lives, and they are not overwieght....there are some type1 athletes that are overweight, but it is not because they have diabetes...
I was always slender before I had my son but after him I had the mid section jellyroll and it stayed around even when I lost some of the weight. Finally I started to watch my sodium intake really carefully. The pudge went down quickly and I managed to loose a few more pounds over the holidays. Hope this helps.