Insulin - Diabetes Message Board

jonathan12 · 03-14-2009, 11:17 AM

Hi Guys
Just graduated to using insulin(Lantus) and was wondering if anyone out there could give me any info on using insulin, I have been on it for three days now and I feel a little different, better and different. Does anyone know if its okay to have a little blood at the injection site immediately after the shot? I am at a adjustment phase right now but when I get to the perfect amount of units I am supposed to be able to eat everything (within reason of course).

Kinselmom · 03-14-2009, 02:06 PM

Having a little blood at the injection site is not uncommon. Are you using the finest, shortest needles you can find and making sure you inject at a 90* angle?

It's not unusual to feel 'different' pretty quickly when you go on any form of insulin but as long as it's better different, that's great!

Be careful about the 'eat everything' part!! LOL, This is why there is a misconception that insulin makes people gain weight. It's not the insulin that causes the weight gain. It's that you can now eat more carbs and compensate with insulin to keep your BS in range. Insulin does balance the carbs but unfortunately it doesn't eliminate the calories!!

jonathan12 · 03-14-2009, 04:48 PM

Thanks for your reply, I am using the insulin pen using the short ultra fine needles. Also i was told not to inject on an angle. I will be careful but I have wanted some ice cream for quite a while. If I don't have a lot of fat is it can you inject in muscle? Thanks again.

catheryn · 03-14-2009, 06:36 PM

Insulin will make you gain weight if your diabetes has been uncontrolled no matter what you eat. I had uncontrolled diabetes for few months and lost a ton of weight (and I was eating horrible foods). When I got my sugars back on track I gained weight on a 1400 calorie, reduced fat diet for about 3 months (I gained about 10 pounds. I've lost half of that so far, but it took a while for the weight loss to kick in). What will also make one gain weight on insulin is if you DO eat high carbs you have to inject a lot of insulin and an abundance of insulin will store fat, so you won't be able to lose very easily. Often people starting insulin will gain weight because their diabetes is better controlled (or actually controlled). Basically you have to watch what you eat on insulin because your body will be able to process it better than it did before so your cells are getting more nourishment from that food than they would've before.

As for the bleeding: I find I experience the bleeding when I hit a site that hurts a bit when I'm injecting. When I find a good site I find I don't feel a thing. How are your injections feeling? If you are getting any pain, it's most likely not a great place to inject. I've been injecting so long that I know which sites will hurt and what ones won't, but I still get surprised (and sometimes I don't feel pain until I start to depress the pen and the insulin going in hurts). Sometimes I will get bruises. I don't want to scare you though, because once you get the learning curve down it's not bad at all. Just know all this stuff is normal!

You shouldn't be injecting your insulin into muscle. How are you injecting? I was always told to "pinch an inch" and pinch an inch of the skin and inject the needle and then depress the pen top. I find this works well. The few times I have injected into muscle it has been quite painful and I found the insulin wasn't as effective (that might just be me though). How short are your needles? I use the 6mm ones and they're AMAZING. My dad uses 12mm ones and I find they are harder to get in unless you have a very steady hand, and even then I find I have issues with bruising because the needle will jiggle around a bit.

Let us know how you're making out on your insulin