today is "d" day for me, recently had a private operation declined, due to my hbac's being too high. when diagnosed with type 2 some 25 years ago i was told to hold of each stage as long as i can. in the past 25 years my medication has went from diet controled to 2000mg metformin mr, 120mg dimicron (glicklazide) mr and 1.2ml victoza sub cutaneous inj.
to complicate the matter i am a bus driver so will loose my licence for a period of time whilst i get used to the insulin effects.
my question is what type of insulin do you all use and when does it peak (if at all). i will require a slow release type but reading probably to much into it.
any ideas folks
Hi Norried
I was diagnosed type 2 in 1998. I've had 3 lots of diagnostic tests done since diagnosis. The last one was in 2010 where the c-peptide test result came back in the red which meant that I no longer produce sufficient insulin. It sounds like you're at the same stage as me.... I'd imagine you would be too as you've had diabetes longer than I have. I was also the same as you where I initially controlled with diet alone, then I was on oral meds of various sorts for 5 years before I told my endocrinologist look it seems to me that they are not working anymore.... that's when he agreed to do the tests for me again. When he gave me the results it showed I don't have auto immune diabetes, but I do need to be on insulin for life now. He explained type 2's lose insulin production due to years of insulin resistance which causes beta cell damage to the pancreas.
I use lantus for my basal insulin (slow acting, one injection same time everyday) and apidra for my bolus insulin (quick acting, taken with meals). I've had to adjust dosages as I go. I'm currently on 13 units of lantus. My bolus dosage tends to be 5-6 units per 10g of carbs. I seem to take more bolus than some others do, but I think that is also because with type 2 we have insulin resistance. You will need to work out your insulin to carb ratio too as it most likely will be different to mine. They recommend starting at 1 unit per 10g of carbs and keep increasing until you find the correct dose.
I did an online course not long ago for carb counting as they don't teach that to type 2's here. I would recommend it to you as it will help a lot to work out your correct bolus dosages. Here is the link:
https://www.bertieonline.org.uk/admLogin.asp
I don't have problems with driving, that's because I make sure my sugar level is well over 5 before I drive. If I am on 5 I know I have to eat something as if I go below 5 my sugar level drops very quickly and I hypo. For me 5 is my safe number. (the lowest you can go before your sugar drops fast). My endocrinologist told me to stay above 5 at all times.
Another thing to remember is that with taking insulin you have to factor in your activity level too. If you suddenly do more activity that you didn't plan for you may find that your sugar levels drop. So what I do is plan ahead and take less insulin with my food if I am expecting to do more activity. Well that's the idea, but at times I wind up doing things I didn't plan for... that's when I have to be careful.
I wish you the best.
