Insulin and Weight Gain Tips

Posted on April 19, 2008

Insulin and Weight Gain Tips

Ask Your Doctor Or Pharmacist About Medication InteractionsIf you are taking insulin, be sure to talk to your doctor about any and all other medications that you take. Some medications can have a negative reaction with the insulin that could be dangerous. When you see any doctor, speak up and tell him or her that you take insulin so they don’t prescribe you a medication that would interact badly with the insulin. In rare cases, people with diabetes do experience allergic reactions to insulin. If you have breathing or swallowing problems after an insulin injection, you may be having a life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. Call 911 and get to an emergency room immediately if this occurs. To avoid receiving a medication that could interact badly with insulin and to expedite help if you have an allergic reaction, wear a diabetes identification necklace or bracelet so if you are unconscious or unable to speak, medical personnel know that you are an insulin user.

Avoid Gaining Weight From Insulin TherapyWeight gain is a common side effect of insulin therapy for several reasons. The most widely accepted reason is that insulin therapy improves your body’s ability to store sugar. When your blood glucose levels get too high (which is why you need insulin therapy), your kidneys try to pick up the slack by excreting more glucose through the urine, thus eliminating sugar and calories before they can be used by the body or stored as fat. Insulin therapy remedies high blood glucose levels, but it means that not only is the body able to use the glucose, but it will store the excess sugar as fat if you don’t burn the extra calories through exercise, or eat fewer calories by following a diet plan. Simply decreasing your insulin dosage without dietary modifications is not a safe weight control strategy and can put you at risk for diabetes-related complications, so don’t try it. Your best bet is to exercise and eat healthy to avoid the possible weight gain as a result of your insulin therapy.

Avoid Insulin Injection IrritationYou may notice redness and swelling at the spot where you inject insulin. Especially if you are new to insulin injections, this is often due to extra alcohol getting into the tissue from when you clean the skin with alcohol prior to an injection. To avoid this minor irritation, let the area dry after swabbing with alcohol before you inject your insulin.

To minimize the pain of insulin injections, keep these tips in mind:

Be sure that your insulin is at room temperature.

-Relax the muscles in the area of injection, whether it is your abdomen, arm, or leg.

-Penetrate the skin quickly with the needle.

-Don’t change the direction of the needle while injecting; hold it steady.

If you experience skin irritation related to your insulin injections that lasts for more than a week and causes discomfort, see your doctor.

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Be Prepared For Diabetes Emergencies

People with diabetes can have potentially life-threatening complications if their blood sugar is too high or too low.

In cases of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) the level of glucose in the blood drops below 70 mg/dl. This condition is most common in people with type 1 diabetes but it can also occur in anyone who takes oral medications that enhance insulin activity.

Symptoms of low blood sugar include weakness, hunger, dizziness, sweatiness, and shaking. If you experience any of these symptoms, eat or drink something that will raise your blood sugar quickly, such as regular soda, fruit juice, or hard candy. If the blood sugar in someone with diabetes falls dangerously low, the person can slip into a diabetic coma. This is a life-threatening condition and the person should be taken to a hospital immediately.

If you or someone you know has insulin-dependent diabetes make sure you have a glucagon kit and that family members or friends who live nearby know how to give an injection of glucagons in an emergency. Glugacon works with insulin to release sugar into the blood.

By contrast, high blood sugar (diabetic hyperosmolar syndrome) is most common in people with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, or people who don’t know that they have type 2 diabetes. In this condition, the blood actually becomes thick and syrupy. Symptoms include excessive thirst, excessive urination, leg cramps, weakness, and coma. This condition can be fatal if not treated by a doctor as soon as possible.

How To Inject Insulin

The type of insulin therapy and the amount of insulin you need depends on which type of diabetes you have, what type of lifestyle you lead, and how much your blood sugar fluctuates during the day. If you need insulin therapy, you can use a syringe, pen, or insulin pump to dose the correct amount.

Although a new, inhaled form of insulin may be used to replace short-acting injected insulin, it is not meant to replace long-acting insulin. You may end up with a combination of pens, syringes, and maybe a pump, depending on your preference and lifestyle. A syringe is the most common method, and you can inject any area of the body where there is a layer of fatty tissue.

It’s OK to be nervous about giving yourself injections, but it is not difficult, and you will get used to it. Most people inject the abdomen because it is easy to reach and the insulin is quickly absorbed through the fatty tissue into the bloodstream. But allow a 2-inch circle around your navel to be free of injections; insulin doesn’t absorb well close to the belly button.

Don’t inject the exact same place each time. Your doctor or diabetes educator can explain how to rotate injection sites. If you have trouble injecting your abdomen, you can inject insulin in the backs of your upper arms, or your thighs or buttocks.

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Most Artificial Sweeteners Won’t Impact Blood Glucose Levels

Calorie-free artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, xylitol, and saccharin are as safe for people with diabetes as for anyone else (except for people with phenylketonuria, who should not consume aspartame). Calorie-free sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin won’t impact your blood glucose level and won’t add calories, so foods made with these products are good choices for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

But the sugar alcohols such as xylitol, sorbitol, and mannitol do have some calories and will have a slight impact on your blood glucose level although they won’t raise it as much as other carbohydrates.

To figure out how to count carbohydrates in foods made with sugar alcohols instead of sugar, subtract half of the sugar alcohol grams from the total carbohydrate and count the remaining grams of carbs. For example, if a snack bar contains 15 grams of total carbohydrate and 6 grams of sugar alcohol, take half the sugar alcohol grams (3) and subtract it from the total (15) and you get 12. So count that snack bar as 12 grams of carbohydrate.

Stop Insulin Problems Before They StartInsulin is a perishable substance. Using insulin that is out-of-date or contaminated with bacteria can cause an infection at the spot where you inject it, or it can cause high blood sugar, which is what you’re trying to prevent. To keep your insulin safe, remember these tips: -Buy your insulin from the same place. This helps to ensure that the type and concentration will be consistent. -Store your insulin in the refrigerator until you open it. But let insulin get to room temperature before you inject it because it is more painful to inject a cold substance. -Don’t keep an opened bottle of insulin for more than a month. Once opened, a bottle of insulin may be stored at room temperature for up to a month, but then throw it out, even if you haven’t used all of it. -Avoid storing insulin at extreme hot and cold temperatures. Don’t freeze insulin, and keep it away from high temperatures and direct sun. -Toss contaminated insulin. If you have a batch of insulin that appears to be discolored or contains solid particles, throw it out.

Understand Insulin For Optimal Diabetes Management

Insulin’s job in the body is to keep the level of sugar in the bloodstream in a healthy range to provide energy to your body and brain. When you eat, your digestive system breaks food down into simple sugars, which enter the bloodstream as glucose. The pancreas produces insulin, which allows the glucose to travel through the body. If your pancreas produces little or no insulin, you have type 1 diabetes. If your body has become resistant to the action of insulin, or if your body is not producing enough insulin, you have type 2 diabetes.

Impaired insulin activity allows the level of glucose in the blood to rise because the glucose can’t be processed. High blood glucose levels can cause a variety of serious problems if the condition is left untreated over time. Serious side effects of high glucose include blindness, nerve damage, and kidney damage.

If you have type 1 diabetes, you will need to take insulin to replace what your body doesn’t make. If you have type 2 diabetes, you may or may not need insulin. If your doctor says you need insulin, take the recommendation seriously. Although insulin therapy can be challenging, it is worthwhile in order to prevent complications.

Use Intensive Therapy To Reduce Complications

If you have diabetes, you and your doctor may decide to design an aggressive management plan that is designed to keep your blood sugar levels at or near those of people without diabetes.

This means that you will try to meet the following criteria:

-Blood sugar before meals at 90 to 130 mg/dL

-Blood sugar less than 2 hours after meals: Less than 180 mg/dL

-Hemoglobin A1C less than 7 percent.

Studies have shown that this aggressive form of insulin therapy can reduce the risk of long term complications including kidney disease, eye disease, and nerve damage. But wait, there’s more; an aggressive insulin control plan takes work, but chances are good that if you can stick with it you will feel better and have more energy.

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Weight Loss Promotes Healthy Blood Glucose

If you are overweight or obese and you have diabetes, even a modest weight loss will help your health in two ways.

First, reducing your weight lowers insulin resistance, which lets your body’s natural insulin (in people with type 2 diabetes) do a better job at keeping your blood glucose levels in the healthy range.

Second, losing weight if you are overweight or obese will improve your blood pressure and reduce the amount of excess fat in your blood. This will help reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease, which is significantly more likely if you have diabetes.

If you’re not sure where to start, see a registered dietician. He or she can recommend some ways to change your diet and help you lose weight, whether it means changing your grocery shopping strategy or signing up for a meal delivery service.