Being at a good weight is very important for a diabetic. Added weight can decrease insulin sensitivity and is a huge factor for my polycystic ovarian syndrome. At my weight, I am very insulin resistant and have to take more insulin to make up for the fact that I am over weight.
Insulin also stores fat! So the more insulin I do since I'm over weight, the more fat my body will store and it turns into a vicious cycle. Now that I am on the pump, I'm doing about 20 units of insulin less a day and I have already lost 2 pounds from this picture.
Exercise is a key factor in keeping my blood sugars under control. But I have always had issues with losing weight due to my hypothyroidism and my PCOS (both prevent me from losing weight). I never had the energy to exercise! The asthma doesn't help either.
I eventually got fed up with my weight and sought out a quick fix. Phentermine. This is a weight loss pill that I was prescribed as a last ditch effort for me to lose weight. It is an amphetamine! I lost a lot of weight quick. But sadly, it triggered me to lose my gall bladder and I gained all of the weight back.
This is the hard part to talk about. With that weight gain, I ended up figuring out that if I made my blood sugars high and withheld my insulin, I would lose weight! I thought I had something good going on. I really didn't. This is very dangerous and is termed Diabulemia. I think it's actually considered an eating disorder now. I did not starve myself through food, I just starved my cells of glucose by not giving myself insulin.
Luckily I did not develop any complications from being so uncontrolled and I have no idea how I did not go into Diabetic Ketoacidosis.
I am now away from that point of my life and I am taking care of myself now. It took a lot of work from Jeff to help me out of that state and I found some online support groups that helped me by showing me that I was not alone. I know I had my support system of my parents, friends and family. But no one actually understood how it felt to be diabetic (besides Matt)! I was essentially alone in that. But I found the help and changed my life!
I am active on a few of those Facebook support groups and I no longer feel as alone.
I know I am still over weight. This last Endo appointment, I lost 2 lbs since I started on the pump just due to not using as much insulin. The pump is more efficient with that! I also had to change my thyroid medication and that will also help me lose weight and give me energy to start exercising again! Having the right thyroid level will also help with lowering my insulin needs.
Things are looking healthier in the future!
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