March 6, 2004
Insulin
Question from Broadview Heights, Ohio, USA:
I have had type 1 diabetes for 11 years. I am on an insulin pump and I been having unexplained high blood sugars. I recently had blood work to see if I had insulin antibodies and I was found to have four times the normal amount. What does this mean? Will my body continue to make antibodies and is there a way to prevent this? I am not able to find much info on the Internet.
Answer:
The evidence that insulin antibodies affect blood glucose control is ambivalent; but the majority of reports indicate little change. As long as you take insulin, you are likely to have some insulin antibodies. It seems more probable that your problem lies in the pump catheter. One possibility is that some catheters have had problems and you should contact the pump representative in your area to discuss this. Another possibility is insulin crystallization in the tubing and, if you are using Humalog in the pump, you might see if changing to NovoLog will solve the problem.
DOB
