Lantus and weight gain
Common Questions and Answers about Lantus and weight gain
lantus
After giving birth, the gestational diabetes took a respite for 6 months and then my sugars shot up and I lost 30 pounds hoping to avoid insulin but I ended up on insulin anyway. I kept off those 30 pounds and was at an average weight until I started Lantus and now I gained back all that weight.
While doctors will tell you it's not the insulin as they don't want you to stop taking it, I do believe some insulins (like any medication) have side effects.
My 16 year old daugher has been diabetic for 4 years now. She used to be on Lantus but it caused a lot of lows and weight gain. We always thought that she needed to take the long acting insulin 2 times a day rather than 1 and when we saw her endocrinologist about a year ago, they changed her to Levimere insulin. You take this insulin morning and night. It has been a life saver for her in that she feels her lows quicker and her reactions aren't as pronounced.
The new insulin Lantus and Novolog does seem to allow me to gain weight more easily but I was able a while back to take off some 25 pounds by staying away from FAT and Lower my Carbs. When sugar went low used quick acting sugar like glucose gel or Coke stayed away from cookies candy bars ect to get it up. Excercise helped not pound wise but did loose inches. Best thing was to eat close to Zero Fat and Low Carbs.
m not a medical professional, just the parent of a kid with diabetes. So have you already switched to Lantus and are seeing the gain? That isn't clear, but I presume that's the case.
Yes, switching insulins can cause weight gain, as the body reacts differently to different insulins. Insulins can stimulate the body into causing fat production, and when the body has to learn to deal with a new insulin, it may very well react that way.
I read some articles about this just yesterday and was surprised, for I take Lantus and have noticed no weight gain at all. So this could be a factor.
However, a change in metabolism in middle age probably is the real culprit, along with possibly a slower metabolism because you are not eating. Exercise should help both problems. Start walking! Park your car further from the door, take stairs instead of elevators, etc. Or use your lunch hour to do some mild exercise right in your office.
Just remember that the more insulin you shoot, the more weight you gain. Try cutting back on your carbs and that will cut down on your Lantus and that will cut down on your weight.
Remember that human insulin, like Lantus, is not like switching from tylenol to advil. There are more significant signs your body will give you. It's like it's telling you that it noticed you have made a very serious change.
The mood swings are common in female diabetics.
Some people think that insulin makes people gain weight, but that is not true. CALORIES are the problem. Before the diabetic person is put on insulin, the calories you ate did not properly metabolize, and now they do. The other issue is that high blood sugar levels create a situation whereby the person may start to burn off some of his or her own body fat because the body is not able to use the carbohydrates eaten for energy... the fat cells in our bodies are our emergency energy source.
It could just be that your body is learning to adjust to the lantus, and the sweating will go away when you get used to it. Your weight gain could be because of the same thing, your body reacts differently to different types of insulin, and now your body is trying to figure out how to deal with lantus.
Hi, I have recently started using Lantus Solostar and have gained weight. I eat very sensibly and very rarely do I have carbs (mostly salads). I use Novorapid as my quick acting and have low doses of that (10, 6, 8) and 16 Lantus. I have been type 1 diabteic for 26 years (since I was 5) and have not had problems with my weight but in the last 6 weeks have gained 5.1kg I am very active and am finding this hard to deal with.
I assume you get regularly tested for thyroid to make sure that isn't the cause of your weight gain and you don't need an adjustment in thyroid meds. Insulin doesn't make people gain weight, though sometimes people lose weight when initially diagnosed with very high numbers and when their blood sugar gets under control they continue eating the same way and gain weight. Another cause of weight gain in Type 1's is insulin resistance.
If you use insulin to eat what you want and use insulin to cover over eating you will gain weight.
JDRF benefit, where we volunteered, and we took part in several pump discussions-- the pros and cons. She is staying on Lantus and Novolog for now partly out of vanity (teenage girl in a bikini, plus she's on a swim team) but also out of fear that she'll gain a lot of weight-- some people have told us that once it's so easy to eat at will (instead of giving yourself a shot), they gain a lot of weight.
only can run for 2 miles. I weigh 104 lbs 5 ft. and do not want to gain weight since I work hard at keeping my body fit. I weight train 4 times week.
These lows have only happened recently--do no want to lower lantus dose at night because I strive to keep between 90 - 100 in morning 140 1 1/2 hours after meals.
I was on Byetta for 1
She has been taking Lantus at night and she dreads taking it because it causes her to scream from the burning in her arm. She uses the smallest needles available for the pen. Her diet is very limited and on a daily basis she usually eats about 2 bowls of cucumbers with vinegar and a bit of olive oil and some type of protein, such as chicken or salmon. Her sugar is never consistant. Sometimes her sugar level reads 430, 525, 290 and so on through out the day and sometimes hits way low around 50.
Being more concerned about keeping my glucose readings down than weight loss, I rigidly kept and keep my carb intake limit to the 60 limit. The weight just fell off. Now my BMI is less than 25 (163 lbs) and my last a1c was 5.3%. Due to my arthritis, exercise was vitually impossible but I do the grocery shopping and still get to the office most days. It worked for me.
I was going mental about my diabetes and weight gain. I have gained 25 lbs since being on Lantus and humalog. I am about to throw both those bottles in the trash. I am frustrated with my physicians standard answer of this weight gain issue "Oh it is something you have to live with to manage good control of your BS" Well she doesn't live this life and I wish that she would have told me to blog or discuss this weight gain and type 1 diabetes issues with others. I felt alone.
s daughter she is on Lantus and Humalog, but I believe that an antidpressent or similar med. may have caused some weight gain and kept her from losing even when desperately trying to. I believe her other doc either cut back on that particular med or took her off of it.
I agree with and relate to our perceptions of ourselevs are sometimes off.
and weights well over 230 pounds only takes 34 units of lantus at night and up to 16 units of humalog if he eats pizza. I have told him that the lantus dose is governed by weight and since I weigh 220 and take 33 units a day, he isn't taking nearly enough. I think he is compensating with the humalog, which runs a higher risk that he will and does have insulin reactions. I also started out taking lantus at night.
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