This blog is a report on my experiences with lipodystrophy, a.k.a. lipoatrophy, due to continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII), a.k.a. insulin pump therapy. Since I discovered the first signs of subcutaneous fatty tissue disappearing, it's been a long and stressful search for finding the right treatment. After trying several treatments to no avail (hyposensibilisation, cream, mast cell stabilizer), I've finally found a treatment that works! I hope others can benefit from my experience through this blog.
Lipodystrophy, or -atrophy, was seen more often in the early days of insulin, when animal insulins were still used. It seems to occur more and more often with the use of CSII. The processes leading to liopodystrophy are not well known, and neither is there consensus about the right treatment. When lipodystrophic or -atrophic areas are starting to develop, they are often misidentified as thickening of the skin around the area, instead of depression of the skin in the area itself. When you start the right treatment (see the 'treatment that does work' and 'treatments that didn't work' posts), the problem can be resolved. When you haven't found the right treatment yet, the process of fatty tissue disappearing is really worrysome (you'll start wondering if you'll have any skin left to inject insulin in, within 5 years or so).
In my experience, there are very little medical professionals who understand and recognize the problem. Dermatologists will treat it as an allergy, but that's not the whole story. The damage is caused by putting needles, canulas, and insulin into your skin everyday for years and years and years. (If you think about it, it's actually a miracle your skin only started to protest just now.) So, you need to find an expert in both diabetes treatment, and skin reactions. And most of all, you need to become an expert yourself! Maybe this blog will be of some help in providing info and experiences.
If you want to contact me about anything on this blog, feel free to e-mail me at moc.liamg@golbortsydopil (spelled backwards for spam prevention).
Disclaimer: I am not a medical expert. Everything on this blog is a report of my personal experiences.
