[JudithAnnGrace]

I've been trying so hard to lose weight. 1st they put me on Levemir and I was tired but handling it but I think I gained belly fat. Now they switched me to Humulin N Pen and it feels like I've eaten a turkey dinner all of the time and all kinds of clothes aren't fitting. I'm so tired from the fat. Why do they make a medicine which makes diabetics gain weight. It's ludicris. It completely defeats the battle. I don't know what to do. My system has slowed down and it feels like I have to go to the bathroom all of the time. But nobody cares. All they say is "calories in calories" out -- well, what are you doing chemically to my body????? I'm so frustrated. I was trying so hard to lose weight and instead of going down my stomach has probably doubled in size, I'm just beside myself.

 

[foxl]

Judith Ann, the insulin is doing what it is supposed to do -- ushering glucose into your body's cells. How much glucose depends on what your are eating.

If you eat a lot of carbs, the insulin will usher a LOT of it into your cells.

 

[Madea]

I've been trying so hard to lose weight. 1st they put me on Levemir and I was tired but handling it but I think I gained belly fat. Now they switched me to Humulin N Pen and it feels like I've eaten a turkey dinner all of the time and all kinds of clothes aren't fitting. I'm so tired from the fat. Why do they make a medicine which makes diabetics gain weight. It's ludicris. It completely defeats the battle. I don't know what to do. My system has slowed down and it feels like I have to go to the bathroom all of the time. But nobody cares. All they say is "calories in calories" out -- well, what are you doing chemically to my body????? I'm so frustrated. I was trying so hard to lose weight and instead of going down my stomach has probably doubled in size, I'm just beside myself.

Awww, sorry to hear that Judith. I've been there, done that, and am in the process of conquering it.
You are soooo right about it being ludicris that these dang meds make you gain weight. My Doc had me on Levemir. I gained 20 pounds from that stuff. She kept harping at me to lose the weight and I would need it anymore. It wasn't doing anything for my bg's either.
She then switched me to Victoza injection pen. It's fairly new here in the US. FDA only aproved it a year and a half ago. My doc & the pharmacist BOTH told me I would see significant weight lose on that as well as my bg's being lower....WRONG! I lost maybe 2 pounds and no change in my bg's.

I found this website AND I am now seeing an Endochrinologist. From the website I found that I am Carb Sensitive. The dietician told me only what she knows and that is 60 carbs a day or whatever. That happens to be too much for me. My new Endo has me ONLY on 1000mg of Metformin 2x/day. Since I joined here I have lost 5 pounds already AND for the first time in a loooong time my bg's after a meal today was 130! For me that is good.

You do need some carbs, but not processed carbs. But between the carbs and the Levemir and the Humulin, you will gain weight in your belly.
Walking and doing an exercise called "The Plank" help get rid of it, but being on certain meds kind of defeats the purpose.

How long have you been on the medications?

 

[JudithAnnGrace]

Awww, sorry to hear that Judith. I've been there, done that, and am in the process of conquering it.
You are soooo right about it being ludicris that these dang meds make you gain weight. My Doc had me on Levemir. I gained 20 pounds from that stuff. She kept harping at me to lose the weight and I would need it anymore. It wasn't doing anything for my bg's either.
She then switched me to Victoza injection pen. It's fairly new here in the US. FDA only aproved it a year and a half ago. My doc & the pharmacist BOTH told me I would see significant weight lose on that as well as my bg's being lower....WRONG! I lost maybe 2 pounds and no change in my bg's.

I found this website AND I am now seeing an Endochrinologist. From the website I found that I am Carb Sensitive. The dietician told me only what she knows and that is 60 carbs a day or whatever. That happens to be too much for me. My new Endo has me ONLY on 1000mg of Metformin 2x/day. Since I joined here I have lost 5 pounds already AND for the first time in a loooong time my bg's after a meal today was 130! For me that is good.

You do need some carbs, but not processed carbs. But between the carbs and the Levemir and the Humulin, you will gain weight in your belly.
Walking and doing an exercise called "The Plank" help get rid of it, but being on certain meds kind of defeats the purpose.

How long have you been on the medications?

Would say I would have to be off of Levemire / Byetta / Humulin or else kiss a decent tummy goodbye?

I started Byetta in November and then in December got so constipated I ended up in Urgent Care so out went the Byetta. I was doing Byetta and Levemir for a time so we kept the Levemir. I did notice some weight gain and I was often quite tired o Levemir but it was tolerable but it might have been the culprit for the weight gain. My insurance doesn't cover Levemir, so even though my Endocronologist knew I was sensitive to everything he switched me instead of writing a letter. I went on Humulin N Pen and I've really noticed the bloating up of my stomach and it hurts. It feels like something is in there wanting to come out and it doesn't. (sorry for the description but it's driving me nuts). I started Humulin on June 3 and I have this stomach stuff and got a UTI. I've also cried almost every day. I guess you would say I am "insulin sensitive."
I think I do have to watch the carbs. My mom is the worst to live with. In the same time period she lost 20 pounds and I gained 5 but since I'm only 4'6 -- 5 pounds is significant especially when you worked so hard to get them off. It's probably more than 5 but I haven't stepped on the scale. Last January I wanted to lose 16 pounds by this week and instead I've gained and even my face looks puffy and sick. I'm devasted. I've started back walking, I've always rode a stationary bike for 30 minutes, I'm not a couch potato but I think I better become more Yule Gibbons but it's really hard in this household.
Thanks for your nice note. I may have to switch doctors again to someone who doesn't just look at you and say, "calories in and calories out." 3 fingers to the wind buddie!
Tell me how to do "THE PLANK" but I can kind of see it -- lay on your back and lift your legs up together????
I'm so ready to go to get rid of this fat and get healthy but I'm so tired on this blasted stuff.

 

[onlymep]

I can empathise with you there Judith I have a balloon stomach that annoys me to no end too. My stomach is loaded with gas though and I sometimes wonder if I could get a needle long enough to inject where I may be able to pop it. lol. (wishful thinking). To date specialists/docs haven't figured out how to get the gas out of my system or what exactly I have going on really. I think I now have a general idea after one of my tests that seemed to indicate that I have a muscle/nerve problem at the top of my stomach of some sort but I can't figure out where the excessive gas comes in to it. I haven't actually gained any weight since being on insulin thankfully, but then I haven't really lost any either. I could do with losing 15 kgs I reckon (I think that's about 30 lbs?). I've not been exercising lately though due to my health... just walking down a long street and I've got bad stomach pain by the time I've finished and even more gas where I swear I'm going to burst. Like you I just wish I could get this thing all sorted and get my stomach down so I can buy clothes that fit better. I went to buy a jacket recently and I had to buy a bigger size because of my stomach. My family and friends reckon if it wasn't for my stomach I'd look average in size... but instead I half feel like a fat person... or even pregnant is more like it... I could pass as 5 months preggers sometimes on my really bad days. But my stomach doesn't really go down and that's the frustrating bit. Feeling your pain... hang in there

 

[JudithAnnGrace]

I can empathise with you there Judith I have a balloon stomach that annoys me to no end too. My stomach is loaded with gas though and I sometimes wonder if I could get a needle long enough to inject where I may be able to pop it. lol. (wishful thinking). To date specialists/docs haven't figured out how to get the gas out of my system or what exactly I have going on really. I think I now have a general idea after one of my tests that seemed to indicate that I have a muscle/nerve problem at the top of my stomach of some sort but I can't figure out where the excessive gas comes in to it. I haven't actually gained any weight since being on insulin thankfully, but then I haven't really lost any either. I could do with losing 15 kgs I reckon (I think that's about 30 lbs?). I've not been exercising lately though due to my health... just walking down a long street and I've got bad stomach pain by the time I've finished and even more gas where I swear I'm going to burst. Like you I just wish I could get this thing all sorted and get my stomach down so I can buy clothes that fit better. I went to buy a jacket recently and I had to buy a bigger size because of my stomach. My family and friends reckon if it wasn't for my stomach I'd look average in size... but instead I half feel like a fat person... or even pregnant is more like it... I could pass as 5 months preggers sometimes on my really bad days. But my stomach doesn't really go down and that's the frustrating bit. Feeling your pain... hang in there

Oh Gosh! How despicable! I was going to mention and I couldn't remember if I mentioned that it wasn't just that it was big and fat, because sometimes you don't notice that but that there is pain and my innards seem to stop -- just stop and then it hurts. When I did my stationary bike the other night my legs going up and down and hitting my tummy hurt! That's despicable! And today, it hurt all day until I ate more for dinner and than walked. Some times I can concentrate all day on it and then I feel so selfish and self-focused so I try to do something else. It's very noticeable on this Humulin stuff. I don't know, I need to find another plan and I hope you do too!
Do you eat broccolli? Beans? you know those are gas producers. My dad has a lot of gas -- we wanted to contain it so he could run the lawn mower. I bought the Suzanne Somers book, but I don't buy the groceries and don't have a job so it's harder to buy the organic stuff which is supposed to help us.
You know, why don't endocronologists know more about hormones and nutrition? Why don't they tell you these things? My pharmacist seems to tell me more then the doctor?
Well, good night here in Minnesota and I think good day there in Australia.

 

[onlymep]

Do you eat broccolli? Beans? you know those are gas producers.

I eat those foods occasionally. I love broccoli, but I don't eat it everyday. I went on a low FODMAP diet earlier this year which was to eliminate fructose and lactose from the diet. Surprisingly fructose is found in some form or another in a whole range of foods, including a lot of vegetables, all legumes, and some grains like wheat. I was on the diet for a month and it made me even worse... I was in so much pain and burping chronically. I'm pretty bad usually anyhow, but was even worse on this diet and got to the point where I was extremely irritable and ready to snap or do something.... just beside myself really. Hopefully I'll get a solution soon as it's impacting on a lot of things... quality of life is not what it used to be. Being a lady I also feel so unladylike with this thing... I've even become nervous about meeting new people and feel I have to explain myself all the time (burping). I'm not sure whether or not you have heard of the low FODMAP diet? It could possibly work for your dad at least as it is known to help with bloating issues. It just didn't work for me, obviously my issue is not due to fructose/lactose intolerance.

 

[foxl]

I am a vegetarian. I used to eat A LOT of starch with my protein sources -- beans and (mostly whole) grains. I used to call myself "the bean queen." Back then I also took tums for calcium. And I ate a lot of yogurt.

Well come my diagnosis, I dropped starchy grains and legumes and veg ... had already dropped the tums, and pretty drastically lowered my yogurt intake.

NO bloating, and barely a peep or a toot outta me. I eat broccoli and caulflower in pretty large amounts; they do not affect me. Neither does FAT!

 

[JudithAnnGrace]

So what do you eat? What's a sample day for you?

 

[SusieSchwartz]

So what do you eat? What's a sample day for you?

I am curious too what you eat.

 

[foxl]

Breakfast is 2 c coffee with cream (I found out less coffee == less DP the next day, BTW).

Lunch is VERY formulaic most of the time: 2 hb eggs, 1 oz nuts, 1 oz cheese, and a cabbage salad (recipe = No one knows I make sauerkraut in my purse, recipe section). I like to eat the same meal pretty close to daily, because I know I will not need insulin for it. I do take leftovers if I lot, though ...

Dinner depends on how crazy my kids' schedule is, but often I get home around 4 from work and have a flax cracker made of 1/4 c flax meal, 2T parmesan, 2T sesame seeds (buy in bulk from Korean grocer), slathered with butter or cream cheese. Sometimes if I eat 2, I have just a big salad at about 6, for dinner. Or will add a fake sausage to salad, or have a smaller salad and cheese-"burger, fried in butter or coconut oil. And any vegetables handy. For a bigger meal like that I will bolus 3-4U novolog.

Dessert if I have it is /12 sq baker's chocolate, 1 pkt Truvia melted in the microwave with 2T coconut oil, then cooled with 2T cream stirred in.

Formulaic-sounding, but it works. I tend to deviate more on weekends with small snacks and fancier cooking and naturally more frequent use of insulin. When I see how Bernstein, or that other very longterm D man recently reported in the news eat, it seems like being formulaic and consistent is what works! I do cycle various things in and out of my routine -- it is not like this is exactly what I will eat forever ...

 

[moon]

(recipe = No one knows I make sauerkraut in my purse, recipe section).

You make sauerkraut in your purse? I know I've not had my coffee and am a little groggy, but ... you make sauerkraut in your purse?

 

[foxl]

LOL -- that is the name of my recipe! I DO carry my lunch in my purse ...but it is not quite sauerkraut. I was being silly ...

http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes-diet-nutrition/3319-nobody-knows-but-i-make-sauerkraut-my-purse.html

 

[Erratica]

Gas and bloating

I can so relate to this thread! I'm on no meds at the moment, but was managing my type 2 with metformin and lisinopril until 2 months ago. The excess weight I carry (75 lb?) I gained during my 2nd pregnancy, 20 years ago. In fact, I looked pregnant with all the belly fat.

One month ago and a couple of days, I gave up all grains and 90% of the sugar. I already did fairly low carb and only ate whole grains before. Well, it took a week or so to get over the cravings, but I've lost a bunch of weight, the bloating is gone, and now my belly is just the fat that needs to get off. My clothes are hanging on me, even my undies are too loose. I have no access to a scale or a tape measure (traveling in Ireland for 4 months), but the way I feel and my clothes tell the story.

My diet: lots of saturated fats and meat. A few veggies here and there (salad, zucchini, bell pepper, onion, mushrooms), and a little dark chocolate. Sometimes a few strawberries or 1/2 an apple (in my tuna salad). I have to eat super low carb in order to keep my blood sugars down, and they ARE coming down, with NO meds.

Here's the thing: you do NOT need any carbs to survive. You may WANT them, but your body will burn fats and protein just fine, and won't put out as much insulin (or, if you're type 1, I'm thinking you won't need nearly as much). Ketosis is not a bad thing and not the same as diabetic ketoacidosis.

For more information on low carb, try these sources (since I'm a newbie, the forum won't let me add the links, but just google these guys:

Fat Head - Blog site for the comedy-documentary Fat Head This is the blog of the man (Tom Naughton) who made the great movie Fat-Head.

livinlavidalowcarb dot comThe Official Website For Jimmy Moore's Livin' La Vida Low-Carb[/url] Jimmy Moore's blog and he's got tons more sources to look at; as well, he interviews everyone, including his detractors!

The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D., who wrote Protein Power with his wife (also a dr.)

Gary Taubes wrote a great couple of books, Good Calories/Bad Calories & Why We Get Fat (and What To Do About It). He has a blog, and doesn't blog often, but his articles are great reads. You can also find him, Tom, and Jimmy on YouTube.

I haven't searched this forum much yet, so you may already know about these, and if so, I apologize for posting them again. Following these people on my low carb journey has really helped me manage my diabetes and get healthy.

Erica

 

[Shanny]

Goodness gracious mercy sakes! You already KNOW all our favorite people! LOL! Thanks, Erica!