2 Month Diaversary....weight gain!

swanvon

Hello everyone,

I was diagnosed with Type 1 at age 25 just two months ago. I'm on MDI with Lantus and Humalog....my TDD is low at under 20 units most days. My question is about weight gain. I've been working out EVERYDAY, a lot...timing meals with workouts to avoid having to eat extra carbs during exercise, eating within my target calorie range, yet gaining a LOT of weight. Granted I had lost about 10 pounds the week or so leading up to my diagnosis...but I'm up almost 20 pounds now. Advice? Did others have this experience when first diagnosed? If so, how did you deal with it?

Any advice helps, thanks (Also I should note since about week 4 I've been in pretty great control...usually within my 80-120 target. and I'm testing a LOT still to figure out patterns, etc.)

2hobbit1

Hello and welcome to the club! Not one anyone of chose to join but s@#t happens and life goes on.

Good to hear that you are testing a lot and have your number under good control. Have you read Think like a Pancreas or Using Insulin yet? They have a wealth of information about your new life and the adjustments you are making.

In the lead up to your dx your body was not able to use the energy in the foods you were eating and a lot of those calories just spilled out in your pee. You ate but we're still starving. Also since your BG was high you were becoming dehydrated as your body tried to compensate. If you were in DKA at diagnosis this can be very pronounced.

When they rehydrate you and replace the potassium you were losing you regain the water weight you lost. You also more than likely lost some muscle mass in the weeks to months before diagnosis.
Since you had been wasting calories if you continue to consume the same number of calories as before dx you will put on some weight as you rebuild.
With MDI and basal insulin you will be able to use or store all the calories you are consuming. One thing that is very important to maintaining a stable weight is to be sure that your basal dose is correct and that you can go for 8-10 hours with just your basal insulin and no food and not go low or go high. Your number should not change more than 30 points up or 15 points down during that time frame. Both of the books recommended show you how to do basal testing. It is important to get this right cause coordinating then your insulin to carb ratio and correction factor will be wrong as well. It is important to know how to do this as things will change with time, exercise,illnesses etc and you will be doing this periodically as life happens. No ones T1 is ever the same as the next T1 and what you do will evolve over time.

Once you get your doses of Long and short acting insulin right then you can start on the exercise equation. A good books to read are Your diabetes science experiment and the Diabetic athlete Handbook. You will have to workout when you eat and dose in relation to when you workout. Also the type of workout will effect what you need to do to stay in a safe range.

So short answer your questions is yes happens all the time. Using just enough insulin to cover what you eat rather than eating to your insulin Will help you get on top.

Also whose calorie and carb recommendations are you using? Many people.find that they do better with less carbs per meal as in 30 or less. It lowers your insulin dose which leads to less fat storage. Good fats and protein are a necessary part of your diet and can be increased with out effecting your long term health.

ar1984

I'm 29 yo - was diagnosed at 15. Prior to my diagnosis, I lost about 15-20 pounds. I wasn't one to regularly weigh myself, so it's an estimate. It took me a couple months to get things under control (I never really had the 'honeymoon' phase that a lot of docs talk about - your body still produces some insulin as your immune system continues to kill off your beta cells). Once things were more or less under control, I found that I gained probably double what I initially lost. It was probably 6 months or so before I was back to my healthy - pre-symptoms weight. I was probably suffering from the disease for 5 or 6 months before I was actually diagnosed - I had to fight for testing and diagnosis.

When I started my weight loss journey, I tried just cutting calories and saw an improvement. However, when I started decreasing my carbs, I saw a huge improvement in weight loss and consistency in the weight coming off. My morning bgls are always the highest, so I try to eat low carb for breakfast - protein and healthy fats only.

I too time my meals with my workouts. I try to eat within 30 minutes of a vigorous workout to avoid the low that would be inevitable. I find I can save a lot of insulin (which in turn saves me money because I don't currently have health insurance). I try to hit my protein targets to keep feeling full and help with consistency in bgls.

My advice is patience; allow your body to adjust to all of the changes. Your body is still probably getting used to the changing hormone balances. It might take a few months to see the scale move. It might help to focus more on how you are feeling and how your clothes are fitting. If you are still seeing large gains, you could talk to your doctor about testing your thyroid.