tolerance to medications/insuling

[stackchips]

Hello,


Is it possible to develop a tolerance to insulin?  like u may have to generally start taking more and more. because of a tolerance.

[JDRF-VOL-RL]

Hello.  I'm not a medical professional, just the parent of a kid with diabetes.  Yes, it does happen where a diabetic will need to take more insulin.  It can happen for several reasons.  First is that the honeymoon stage is over, meaning that the pancreas has finally stopped producing any insulin.  Honeymoon stage lasts anywhere from a couple hours to a few years.  

Another reason that you may need more insulin is if you fail to rotate your injection sites or infusion sites properly.  That can cause scarring under the skin, making it so you get reduced insulin absorption.  That will force you to inject more to get the needed amount absorbed.  

The most common reason you need more insulin is because your body can become resistant to insulin.  It is most common in type 2s, but it can happen in type 1s as well.  It has related symptoms to failing to rotate sites properly, in that it is basically failing to get good absorbtion, often because of fatty deposits under the skin.  

So the treatment depends on the cause.  If it's the honeymoon, there's nothing you can do about it.  If it's the site, then you just need to rotate sites better, and likely have to stop using your current sites for a while.  If it's the last, then you may talk to your endo about changing insulins.  That can have the effect of getting the body to react differently to the insulin, making it absorb better.