Insulin therapy is a method of treating type 1 diabetes mellitus and, in some cases, the second. Each patient with this pathology should adhere to the dose prescribed by the doctor. Sometimes such therapy causes a number of side effects. Every diabetic should know them. The complications of insulin therapy will be discussed later.
Therapy for diabetes
If a person is diagnosed with disorders in the field of carbohydrate metabolism, urgent measures are required. The leading treatment in this case is insulin therapy for diabetes. Complications can arise for various reasons.
However, there is no more effective way that could improve the quality of life for patients with type 1 disease. The introduction of insulin into the body allows you to ensure the normal condition of patients.
Insulin therapy is a method that is actively used to treat patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, as well as during the preparation of a patient with type 2 disease for surgery, in case of certain diseases (for example, colds).
Also, this technique is also used for the ineffectiveness of sugar-lowering drugs. They are prescribed for patients with type 2 diabetes.
The presented therapy requires the correct calculation of the dose of insulin. For this, the patient takes a blood and urine test. Based on the result, the doctor calculates the daily amount of this drug. It is divided into 3-4 injections, which must be administered intramuscularly throughout the day.
After taking the drug, the doctor monitors the blood sugar and urine of the patient. If necessary, adjustments are made. For this, a person donates blood before each insulin injection (meal). He also collects urine in the morning, day and night. With inappropriate doses of insulin therapy, complications can be serious. Therefore, the process of introducing the drug into the body is taken seriously.
Complications
Every person who has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes should clearly understand the principles of insulin therapy. Complications arise frequently. However, this mainly happens through the fault of the patient. It is especially difficult to get used to such a schedule of life at the beginning of the disease. But over time, this procedure becomes common, natural for humans.
The hormone will need to be introduced into the body throughout life. The correct dose will avoid various complications. Diabetes cannot have a break, rest from treatment. The introduction of insulin is always required. It must be remembered that with a number of violations serious complications are possible. The main ones are:
- Veil before the eyes.
- Swelling of the legs.
- Lipohypertrophy.
- Lipoatrophy.
- The appearance of red itchy spots.
- Allergy.
- Abscess.
- Hypoglycemia.
- Weight gain.
The existing types of complications are caused by a number of reasons. It should be understood that insulin is a protein. It is not produced in the right amount in the body of a diabetic with a type 1 disease. Therefore, it is constantly administered intramuscularly. Patients with a similar ailment are prescribed insulin of different origin. It can be animal or human.
It is worth remembering that the hormone insulin can be of different types. It has a different validity period. Your daily routine is strictly adjusted to take the drugs. There are insulin homologous, heterologous and mixed. They are administered at different times, tying food intake to these manipulations.
Hypoglycemia
One possible complication of insulin therapy is hypoglycemia. This condition occurs due to an overdose of the hormone. In this case, the patient experiences an acute shortage of carbohydrates in the body. Some time after the injection, blood sugar levels may drop sharply. This leads to the development of a hypoglycemic state.
If the patient used a prolonged action, it can occur at the time of the maximum concentration of the substance. When taking a fast-acting hormone, this condition develops rapidly.
It is worth noting that this type of complication with insulin therapy, such as hypoglycemia, can occur not only due to the wrong dose of the hormone. After playing sports, physical activity or emotional upheaval, it also often develops.
In people with diabetes, the first symptoms of this condition can occur with an indicator of 5.5 mmol / L. This is caused by a rapid drop in sugar levels. If the decline is slow, a person may not feel deviations in their well-being for a long time. At the same time, the level of glucose in the blood can gradually drop to 2.7 mmol / L.
Each person with such a diagnosis should know about the abnormal conditions for his body and the complications of insulin therapy. The main symptoms of hypoglycemia are a feeling of severe hunger, heart palpitations, trembling limbs, and also sweating. If the lack of carbohydrates increases, convulsions will appear. A person may lose consciousness.
How to behave with hypoglycemia?
Prevention of complications of insulin therapy implies, first of all, familiarization with the causes of the emergence of various conditions and the fight against them.
If a person feels that his sugar level is falling, you need to eat a small amount of carbohydrate food. It can be 100 g of muffin, sweet tea or 3-4 pieces of refined sugar. Some people with this diagnosis always carry a sweet bar in their purse or pocket. This is a common precaution that can sometimes save lives.
If after eating carbohydrate foods no improvement occurs, they eat the same portion of sweets.
Otherwise, a person may experience a hypoglycemic coma. Here you will need the help of doctors. The ambulance team injects 60 ml of glucose solution (40%) intravenously. This allows you to stabilize the patient. If no improvement has occurred, after 10 minutes the injection is repeated subcutaneously.
If a person lives in an area remote from the city where an ambulance can travel for more than 20 minutes, he should have at home everything necessary for a case of hypoglycemic coma. Relatives must take intravenous glucose courses. This is vital.
Hypoglycemia can lead to death if appropriate timely action is not taken. Especially often, such a violation occurs in people of advanced age who have ailments of the heart, blood vessels, or brain. If the sugar level drops frequently, this will lead to the development of irreversible mental pathologies. Memory and intelligence are deteriorating.
Insulin resistance
One of the possible complications of insulin therapy is a decrease in the sensitivity of cells to the hormone. This condition occurs for a number of reasons. As a result, a person develops insulin resistance. In this case, the dose of the drug is increased. To compensate for the lack of hormone, a dose of 100-200 units of insulin is required.
A similar deviation may occur due to a decrease in the number or affinity of receptors in the body. This condition often becomes a consequence of the development of antibodies to the hormone or to the receptors themselves.
Insulin resistance occurs, as a rule, due to the breakdown of the protein by certain enzymes or its binding by immune complexes.
Sensitivity to the drug may decrease with increased production of contrainsulin hormones.
To prescribe the correct treatment, the doctor must find out the exact cause of the appearance of such a condition. During the diagnosis, the signs of chronic infectious diseases are eliminated (for example, sinusitis, cholecystitis, etc.). An analysis of the functioning of the endocrine glands is also performed. The doctor will replace the type of inulin. Sometimes therapy is supplemented with pills that help reduce sugar in the body.
It is important to establish the cause of the complication of insulin therapy. The use of glucocorticoids is indicated in some cases. The daily dose of insulin rises. Along with this, the patient takes prednisone (1 mg / kg) for 10 days. After that, in accordance with the condition of the patient, the dose of the drug is reduced.
In some cases, the doctor prescribes sulfated insulin to the patient. The substance does not react with antibodies, almost never causes an allergy. It is necessary to correctly adjust the dose of this type of hormones.
Allergy
This is another complication that often arises as a result of therapy. Allergies can be local and generalized.
In the second case, urticaria occurs on the face and neck. Nausea, erosion on the mucous membranes of the nose, eyes and mouth may appear. Sometimes anaphylactic shock develops.
A local complication of insulin therapy is manifested by inflammation and itching in the injection area. Also, hardening can be determined here. Such a condition in most cases is caused by improper injection (the needle is dull or thick, the product is cold).
Such conditions require replacement of the type of insulin. You can change the manufacturer of the hormone or switch from an animal preparation to a human one. Allergy is most often a reaction of the body not to a hormone, but to a preservative in its composition. Additional injection ingredients can be very different. Therefore, it is worth trying to use other types of insulin.
If the drug cannot be replaced, a number of allergy medications are used. For mild forms of complication, Hydrocortisone will do. In severe cases, appoint "Calcium Chloride", "Diphenhydramine", "Suprastin", etc.
Lipodystrophy
Considering the complications of insulin therapy in children and adults, it is worth noting a condition such as lipodystrophy. It can be hypertrophic and atrophic.
In the second case, the pathology develops against the background of prolonged hypertrophy. Scientists are not known for certain the mechanisms of development of such conditions. Some of them believe that these deviations arise due to permanent trauma to peripheral nerves and further local disorders of the neurotrophic type. Similar disorders can occur due to insufficiently pure insulin.
It is necessary to switch to the reception of monocomponent compositions. In this case, the negative manifestations are reduced. You also need to inject in the correct way.
Against the background of lipodystrophy, insulin resistance often develops. If there is a predisposition to such conditions, you need to constantly change the injection site, strictly adhere to all the rules of insulin therapy. Also, the hormone in this case must be diluted in an equal amount with a solution (0.5%) of novocaine.
Veil before the eyes, itching, spots, abscess
Complications of insulin therapy can be very different. Sometimes people complain that they have a veil before their eyes because of the drug. It causes discomfort, it's hard to read anything. This condition can be very worrying. This symptom is often confused with retinopathy (fundus damage).
But the veil is most often caused by the features of lens refraction. He is so responsive to taking the drug. The veil before the eyes appears in people who have recently started taking the hormone. After 2-3 weeks, this symptom will disappear on its own. In no case should you stop giving injections when a similar symptom appears.
Legs may swell when taking insulin. This is also a temporary symptom, which is observed in the first weeks of drug administration. Due to the hormone, sodium and water are retained in the body. Gradually, the body will get used to new conditions. Swelling will go away. For the same reason, blood pressure may increase at the beginning of therapy.
At the injection site, itchy red spots may appear in some patients. They cause severe discomfort. In this case, the drug is mixed with hydrocortisone. Previously, some patients noted such an phenomenon when taking insulin as an abscess. Today, such a pathology is practically not found.
Other deviations
There are other complications of insulin therapy. One of the unpleasant phenomena is fast weight gain. Patients who take the hormone recover on average by 3-5 kg. It's quite normal. Taking insulin activates the process of lipogenesis (fat forms under the skin). Also, the appetite may increase.
To maintain a figure, you need to carefully select a diet. The frequency of food intake, its calorie content requires control. Otherwise, this will negatively affect not only the figure, but also on the general well-being. Various pathologies may appear, caused by a sharp weight gain.
It is also worth noting that taking insulin leads to a decrease in potassium in the blood. Therefore, patients with diabetes are shown a special diet. The menu must add berries, citrus fruits, greens (especially parsley), vegetables (onions, cabbage, radishes). Responsibly referring to your daily routine, diet and rules for insulin administration, you can reduce the adverse effects of therapy on the body.
Prevention
Every diabetic should know how to prevent the complications of insulin therapy. A number of simple rules must be followed. It is necessary to constantly monitor the level of glucose in the blood. This is done after a meal. The indicators are fixed. At the same time, it is necessary to note whether there was physical or emotional stress. Diseases, especially with an increase in temperature or an inflammatory nature, should also be noted when fixing the results of measuring the level of sugar.
Doses of insulin must be adjusted with the doctor. At the same time adhere to special diets. You can control your sugar levels with test strips. They are immersed in urine, and then the result is checked against a control field. A blood test is more accurate, but at home, test strips are easier to use. You can purchase a glucometer. It will allow you to get accurate results about a person’s condition at a particular time of day.
A diabetic should monitor his body weight. Being overweight requires immediate correction.
Having examined the possible complications of insulin therapy, you can determine their presence in the early stages. Adhering to the clear rules for taking the drug, you can avoid various unpleasant situations in the future.