Avoiding Weight Gain If You Take Insulin

The myth about weight gain on insulin happens to be fact, although in reality it is muddied up by people. For people with type 2 diabetes, taking insulin can cause weight gain. There are several reasons for this. The one factor that comes to the front is people use insulin as the medication of last resort. Normally this is fought until there is no longer any choice, insulin cannot be postponed as blood glucose levels are out of control and oral medications cannot keep blood glucose levels down.

Because insulin is often the medication of last resort, two factors can cause weight gain. The first is inactivity or sedentary lifestyle. This may be caused by diabetic neuropathy, which makes it difficult to walk more than short distances. The second is people do not reduce the intake of carbohydrates when going on insulin.

Why is the second necessary? Because insulin is necessary, when first started, insulin makes management of blood glucose levels easier. Instead of losing some of your carbohydrates in your urine when your blood glucose exceeded your urinary limits, these carbohydrates are now put to work or stored as fat. This new efficiency in blood glucose management generally causes initial weight gain.

This is the main reason that people starting on insulin should consider reducing the total carbohydrate intake for a period of time while your body adjusts to the efficiency. However, if you are a person that is able to exercise on a regular basis and you do this, your carbohydrate intake may not be reduced greatly and may be resumed shortly after starting insulin.

Weight gain is always a possibility for some body types and people must learn to manage their carbohydrate intake to avoid weight gain. The article did say that you should limit your insulin dosage, which is only possible, if you reduce your intake of carbohydrates. I will also reemphasize their statement of using exercise to aid in insulin use to burn calories and help keep insulin use low. This will aid in preventing weight gain.

In conclusion, I will state that insulin should not be considered by people with type 2 diabetes as the medication of last resort. Learn about it before the need arises and before you have the neuropathy, which can make exercise more difficult. One tip you should also consider is possibly using Byetta, which will assist you in reducing your carbohydrate intake, and help you keep extra weight off and to assist you in losing some of the extra weight you have accumulated over the years. Talk to your doctor, as this needs to be understood before using it. Consider getting an appointment with an endocrinologist for using insulin to aid you in your management of type 2 diabetes.