had type 1 for 52 years now am i am very over weight. a couple of months ago my bld sugars started to fly up for no reason that was apparent to me. i felt ok, well as ok as a 71 yr old will. it has become obvious to me that this is caused by metabolic syndrome due to obesity. it seems that i cannot take enough insullin to satisfay my body’s need. i will be seeing my doc shortly. i do know that exercise and diet are the answers. i am disabled due to obesity, a bad back and neuropathy so exercise is a challenge. i am struggling to change my diet. i had slipped into bad eating habits last fall and this was the precursor to the syndrome i am now dealing with. i am making progress on the diet though. just wanted to share this and see if anyone else has ever had to cope this and/or had any suggestions, hope or strength.
Hope you find an answer that works. 
thanks for your reply, Carol.
Not sure it is the same, but I do know many of our older long-term Type 1’s have written about periods of dramatic change in their insulin needs, I don’t think any of them connected it to metabolic syndrome, but it sure seems like a reasonable answer. Have you tried the Keto diet?
Thanks for sharing where you’re at right now. When my thyroid meds are out of whack things feel all out of balance for me. This is also the time of year I think through some of my dietary choices over the past year 
!
well it can also be referred to as insulin resistance and i will need to research that term more. but i’ve read that metabolic syndrome is caused by weight and other issues. it is interesting that other with long term type 1 talk about needing increases in insulin. i was taking 80 units of toujeo and kind of suddenly i am now taking 160 and still requiring more short acting. i’ve been waiting forever for the dexcom6 but medicare is making it difficult. losing weight through diet and exercise is what i am looking at and i feel pretty motivated. thank you!
metabolic syndrome, i a now better understand, is related to insulin resistance, obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol). all of these puts a person at increased risk for cardiac issues. not very pretty. i think that i may not completely qualify for the complete syndrome because i my blood pressure is very good and my cholesterol is pretty good too. so i must rediagnose myself with Insulin Resistance. ta da! has anyone else required such a dramatic increased in insulin as i have? this inquiring mind wants to know.
I believe that @docslotnick experienced something similar. One of my wife’s coworkers who is a really insulin resistant type 1.5 had to go from 300-400 units per day to 500-600 units per day in a short period of time. Also, Type 1’s are not immune to the same issues that Type 2’s have i.e. insulin resistance can change and become as big an issue as the missing insulin.
My understanding is that with insulin resistance the insulin receptors on the cells don’t respond correctly to insulin, and don’t “let it in” properly. There are medications that can help with that. Are you working with an endo on this?
As for the exercise, I have rheumatoid arthritis so I know that can be hard when you have physical limitations. There are seated exercise programs that you can get on DVD that might be an option. Good luck!
wow, interesting. i looked plain insulin resistance and it has to do with waist circumference. for a woman a waist over 35 inches can cause it. forgot what it is for a man. so off with the weight! which i know will be a great challenge! yes, it does really stink to have the so high sugars.
thanks Jan. the main issue with obesity related resistance is, of course, losing weight in whatever way one can. i am disabled so exercise if a challenge. i take an anticonvulsant for weight loss - it helps the compulsion to eat. it helps a little only. i know of no medications to help specifically with type 1 insulin resistance related to waist circumference. there may be for type 2. maybe Metformin. there is at least on person her who has the rarer non-obese insulin resistance (type 1) and he and i are messaging about that in an effort to understand it.
thank you for posting and joining the conversation!
There’s a couple of folks that have used Metformin as T1 to combat insulin resistance. I’m thinking I haven’t seen them on in a bit, but maybe they’re dealing with the holidays and away from the forum.
Here’s the thread I was thinking about:
Hi @catsup 
As shown in the post @TravelingOn linked, I used the lowest dose of Metformin XR for awhile when I was experiencing insulin resistance in the evenings. It turned out that I just needed to switch off Tresiba to Lantus and that issue sort of resolved itself. I have type 1 diabetes, and my doctor was willing to prescribe Metformin for me.
I personally did not experience weight loss while using Metformin, but I was on the lowest dose.
I gained some weight last year before and while using Metformin, but I was only on the upper end of the “normal” weight - per the silly BMI table. Metformin may have also had a larger impact if I’d weighed more?
If you’re looking to increase insulin sensitivity and reduce your weight, Metformin seems like a no-brainer to me. I would talk with your doctor about it! I have a hard time believing that any good endocrinologist wouldn’t present this as an option- assuming you have no contraindications.
thank you for this helpful info. i do have a good endo but i rarely go to see her as she is 2 hours away and most of the time i manage myself quite well using diabetes nurse nearby. what take for weight loss is an anticonvulsant called Topiramate and it does curb my compulsion to eat somewhat. i will most definitely look into Metformin though with my GP. again i really appreciate your reply.
I’ve had Type 1 since I was a kid and have gained quite a bit of weight as an adult thanks to being told I could “eat whatever I wanted” when I started Lantus and two years later the pump. Let’s just say that no one can eat whatever they want unless they are exercising like crazy as some of the members on this forum do.
I started metformin a few years ago to see if it helped my hormone-related insulin resistance. It didn’t seem to have any impact on that, but it did seem to help my blood sugar overall. There are a couple other medications that were designed for people with Type 2 diabetes that some people with Type 1 have found helpful. I take about 40 to 80 units of insulin a day, depending on where I am in my hormonal cycle, so I don’t really think I’d qualify as having insulin resistance, although my doses have gone up with weight (I used to take 20 to 40 units, depending on cycle, when I weighed much less). I do have high blood pressure and “high” (for someone with diabetes) cholesterol and am on medication for both. I need to lose a lot of weight before I get to my target weight. I’ve found the best way to do that is to eat two or three meals a day with no snacking and get regular exercise. I have heard resistance exercises help more with insulin resistance than cardio exercises, but any exercise can really help your body use insulin more effectively. The hardest part about losing weight is sustaining the effort over months and years.
Losing weight is my major goal for the new year, not so much for insulin resistance, but just for overall health and feeling better about myself. I have issues with my feet that makes walking for exercise challenging, but even that I think would be helped a lot if I were lighter! Here’s hoping we both have some success on this journey. 
hi Jen. thanks for sharing about your personal experience with diet, exercise, insulin and Metformin. i also find that no snacking is a good rule and i do snack that low carb is the way to go. i must confess that last Fall i fell victim to cravings for sweets and the cravings too often won! boo! i am back on track now. i think i was using sweets and food to cope with feelings/stress, darnit.
exercise is a challenge as i have issues with my hands, back and legs but i do have a high quality machine to use if my body will allow. i will try to resistance training - that was an excellent tip.
i have bananas and mini tangerines should i just have to eat between meals.
thanks again for the sharing and show of support.
onward and upward!
a miracle. suddenly i am needed the same amount of insulin as i needed before. cannot explain this phenomenon. i didn’t have an infection. i wasn’t sick. weird. just plain weird. i may have lost a mere couple of pounds, that is all. anyone have any ideas?
HI @catsup, as someone with IR, I can vouch that dramatic schedule changes, stress, and sleep issues can all increase insulin needs dramatically - even short term. A regular predictable schedule with similar foods at similar times coupled with any form of aerobic excercise helps to partially mitigate the IR.
thank you! i do have stress increases at times but i don’t that this accounts for the sudden and short lived (3 weeks to a month) extreme insulin resistance that i experienced. but i do agree about keeping a regular schedule. i am almost 72 and a regular schedule helps in more ways than one!