How long does it take for a diabetic's body to start producing insulin again after being off
of insulin for a while? What are some signs that indicate the body is producing insulin
again?
The following was written by Wayne Bottlick, a Type 1 diabetic May 1966; biochem
student in college:
Q: How long does it take for a diabetic˙s body to start producing insulin again after being
off insulin for a while? What are some signs that indicate the bod is producing insulin
again?
A: Human pancreatic endocrine beta cells NEVER EVER "come back" after they're destroyed (as happens in all three primary types of DM - Diabetes Mellitus). Of course,
those beta cells are not affected at all in DI (Diabetes Insipidus) patients, and NEVER
STOP producing insulin - so this is not applicable to those FOUR types of "diabetes".
DM comes in three primary types; in order of prevalence:
Type 2 Insulin Resistant DM, or T2s (~92% of all DM patients) produce MORE THAN
NORMAL amounts of insulin; in these patients, the INSULIN RECEPTORS embedded in
the walls of the body˙s cells fail to respond efficiently to insulin - they still respond, but
too slowly.
As a result, when a large glucose load is released into the bloodstream (after meals - we
GET glucose MOSTLY from the carbohydrates we eat), those insulin receptors don˙t deal
with insulin well enough to quickly remove the glucose from the blood, as they should;
instead, BG (Blood Glucose) levels rise too high, for too long.
BUT˙ over many years of dealing with this, and having to OVERPRODUCE insulin, those
beta cells wear out and die off - and insulin production drops too low, and eventually,
ceases entirely - IF the patient doesn˙t die of complications first.
For these patients, insulin MAY be used BEFORE reaching the stage of needing it due to
a lack of insulin - insulin is the MOST EFFECTIVE way to bring BG under control FAST -
so docs will often prescribe it for T2 patients that persistently fail to bring BG under
control with dietary limitation of carbs, regular exercise, and oral medications.
BUT˙ these patients are STILL PRODUCING LOTS OF INSULIN - they're just not managing their BG levels properly. WHEN THEY BRING BG under control, they MAY be
able to stop using insulin - NOT because they˙re beta cells started working again, or they
"grew" new beta cells - because THAT NEVER HAPPENS; stopping exogenous insulin injections ONLY happens in patients that are STILL MAKING THEIR OWN INSULIN.
Once a T2′s insulin production has declined severely, they˙ll need exogenous insulin for
the rest of their life.
Type 1 Autoimmune DM, or T1s (~7% of all DM patients), produce NO INSULIN AT ALL -
and this happens FAST (in a few days) in the most common subtype, Traditional T1;
there are a couple of slow-forming subtypes in which it takes anywhere from six months
to a few years for the loss to be total, and one RARE type (which is actually a
DIFFERENT disease) where it is NOT lost - but just doesn˙t start naturally, as it should.
In any event - in T1, ONLY the use of exogenous insulin will keep us alive - there is
NEVER ANY recovery of insulin production. EVEN IN TRANSPLANTS, which are used - but
ONLY WORK FOR A FEW YEARS (on average, about five years), before the immune system kills of the new beta cells the same way it killed off the "originals", DESPITE the
use of heavy immunosuppressant drug regimens.
Because of all the problems associated with that, transplants are ONLY used in cases
where COMPLICATIONS - typically, of the liver and kidneys - are severe, and ALSO
require transplants to keep the patient alive.
Type 3c Pancreatogenic DM, or T3c (~1% of all DM cases), is a sort of collateral-damage
version of T1, without the immune system involvement.
In these cases, an UNRELATED disease of the exocrine pancreas (pancreatitis, pancreatic
cancer, cystic fibrosis, haemochromatosis, et al) ALSO damages those beta cells -
leaving the patient with some, but too little insulin.
The SAME issue occurs here - there is NO rebirth or recovery of the lost beta cells; but
the EXTENT of the loss varies - A LOT - from case to case.
MOST pancreatitis-induced T3cs can use "just" dietary restriction of carbs, and regular
exercise to control their BG levels; but pancreatic cancer patients treated with
pancreatectomy MUST use exogenous insulin - and often, SOME of the FIVE OTHER glucoregulatory hormones, PLUS digestive enzymes, in order to stay alive.
NONE of the pancreas recovers or "grows back".
So a T3c that must use insulin - will ALWAYS have to use insulin - UNLESS the patient is
just in need of bringing their BG under control fast, and is still producing enough of their
own insulin, IF they start to employ dietary restriction of carbs and regular exercise.
Such cases are RARE.
More info...
https://www.quora.com/How-long-does-it-take-for-a-diabetics-body-to-start-producing-
insulin-again-after-being-off-of-insulin-for-a-while-What-are-some-signs-that-indicate-
the-body-is-producing-insulin-again
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* Origin: The Hobby Line! BBS (999:1/1)