“Does insulin cause weight gain?”
I have recently started insulin for type 1 diabetes, through injections. I've been noticing significant weight gain since I have started. Is this normal?
8 Answers
Insulin can cause small amounts of weight gain due to water retention - not more than a few pounds. It does not cause significant weight gain.
Insulin is a growth hormone. It stimulates the appetite and it promotes fat deposition among its other activities. In addition, it may cause fluid retention known as 'insulin edema'. For this reason we emphasize lifestyle and diet change in order to minimize the need for insulin in treating diabetes. Our objective is to maintain the best possible glucose profile using the least amount of insulin possible.
Insulin absolutely causes weight gain by stimulating appetite and making everythin you eat get absorbed. Most endocrinologists will try hard not to use insullin if you are gaining weight.
Yes. This is expected. Without Insulin, your body was unable to access the nutrition in the food you were eating so you were surviving by digesting your own fat and muscle.... and urinating out a great deal of sugar and calories. With insulin the body can absorb the sugar in food. It then burns this sugar to give you energy... what sugar is not burned will be stored away in fat cells for later use. For this reason everyone tends to gain some weight after being started on insulin.
Bringing sugar numbers down comes with weight gain, that is not from insulin. Uncontrolled DM cause weight loss by making you urinate out lots of sugars
YES
Yes it is appropriate to gain weight but watching and keeping dietary intake consistent is helpful as well. Once you start absorbing the glucose you were dumping in the urine in the past that’s your healthy response to insulin.
Yes insulin can cause wt. gain. Insulin increases appetite & thus a desire for more food. It does this by lowering the blood sugar which then tells the appetite center to eat. Most Type 1's are thin at diagnosis so we encourage the wt. gain problem. If you have reached your desired wt. or more, then cut back on your food intake and decrease your insulin accordingly. Less insulin and less appetite stimulation. Talk to your Dr. or a Diabetes Educator about this balance and make appropriate adjustments.
