Insulin temporary use to return control

Is Vic There ? said:

Type 2 for12 years now and struggling to keep numbers under control, Not seen diabetc clinic for almost 2years as Pandemic rules.
Last time I did see the diabetic clinic I suggested the idea of using insulin to help get my numbers down and then return to diet and metformin/Glicazide.
Anyone on this site have experience of this idea of aiding diabetic management , could you please advise on your experience , was your doctor supportive of this , is it a practical or acceptable approach to getting my management back under control ?

Thankyou

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Insulin will help you get your blood sugars down. As a type 2 still producing your own insulin they will likely just start you on one type of insulin (for example short-acting) as a top-up to your own to cover some of your meals. Phone your clinic to ask what they are suggesting.

What else have you tried before this? Insulin for a type 2 is usually a last resort or desperate measures. Sadly sometimes before other alternatives have been explored properly first. It has its place for sure but shouldn’t be a first choice by a long way.

Have a look at the links in red below this message. Is this news to you or have you been down this path?

Is Vic There ? said:

Type 2 for12 years now and struggling to keep numbers under control, Not seen diabetc clinic for almost 2years as Pandemic rules.
Last time I did see the diabetic clinic I suggested the idea of using insulin to help get my numbers down and then return to diet and metformin/Glicazide.
Anyone on this site have experience of this idea of aiding diabetic management , could you please advise on your experience , was your doctor supportive of this , is it a practical or acceptable approach to getting my management back under control ?

Thankyou

Click to expand...

Insulin is a significant move and not one to be taken lightly for T2. My doctors/nurses have always been finding ways to not take this step even where my blood levels started to progress out of control they found alternatives. I was on 3 sets of different drugs at the end and diet/low carb/exercise/weight loss (cannot confirm any were the actual answer as I did them all, but low carb I do see as a valid option as I know what a too carbs meal does spike wise)

so, what does control mean for you? What are your levels?
What drugs are you in and what dietary changes have you made to help manage this?

It can be a step to go, but there might be other options that you can raise with your team or do yourself that we can help for suggesting

I don't want to de-rail this thread but I feel I should remind others that some t2's have no choice but to use insulin.
I am an insulin dependant t2........as are many.......I don't produce any insulin myself due to pancreatic failure and have no other option. .....and there may be many reasons the OP has been advised to use insulin on a temporary basis that we are unaware of, this should be bourn in mind when replying.

satindoll said:

I don't want to de-rail this thread but I feel I should remind others that some t2's have no choice but to use insulin.
I am an insulin dependant t2........as are many.......I don't produce any insulin myself due to pancreatic failure and have no other option. .....and there may be many reasons the OP has been advised to use insulin on a temporary basis that we are unaware of, this should be bourn in mind when replying.

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No one has said that there aren’t those who have to take insulin as a T2, my father was one. However the OP clearly said this was their own suggestion.

I appreciate the question was in respect to experiences of managing sugars with it and doctor support

for that we are answering, doctor support where it is needed should be there, but in my experience, they won’t support as a standard approach as it is a last resort and they will use other approaches where possible. NICE guidelines will have a number of hoops to go through before it is prescribed

Clearly in your case and others, there aren’t always other approaches

As a fellow T2D I too reached the point where my sugars were out of control. My meter was giving me readings that did not go below HI (i.e. < 32 mmol/l) and I had exhausted most of the oral medications according to NICE huidelines. I was being referred to the Consultant for insulin therapy and training when I came across this site.

Low Carb hit me in the face (and in the gut) and I started on that pathway. Within a month I had bought my sugars down to the point where I could sensibly use a meter, and my GP provided me with one on scrip. I still use it and he still supports my testing. For 3 years now at least I have kept my Hba1c below 48, and I am clearly producing my own insulin in adequate amounts. I am currently on a minimal dose of hypoglycemic medication and have just given up Metformin after 30 years. Struggling a little to recover from a recent hospital stay but getting back to normal. FBG this morning 5.9.

I was put on insulin drips in hospital, and all it did was induce a myriad of medical hypo events, but did not give me back control, In my case, diet control is very effective. It is worth a shot, but keep in mund the possibility you are becoming deficient, and look out for DKA which is a serious condition due to lacking insulin. If low carb reduces your sugar levels then you should be able to detect this relatively quickly. Keep a meal vs readings log as you go it helps.

i believe that some here have been insulin users, but have used diet to regain control and enabled them to stop the insulin therapy so that way is feasible but not one I have personally sought. The Heparin shots in hospital are the nearest to a daily shot for me, and I am pleased to be out of it now,

I'm replying as someone that 'thought' they were type 2 and was classed t2 for 9 years

I rushed onto insulin and in hindsight in the same position I'd try not to get on insulin as fast and try some alternatives..

While I agree some t2's have no choice but to go the insulin route I believe if you can avoid it then try to

Yes insulin will get your numbers down and get you in more control now but many that go on insulin find weight gain an issue thus increasing insulin resistance and making it more difficult to come off... along with other considerations.

Other thing you could discuss with them would be bydureon or similar which is intended to help reduce weight whilst helping with bg control.. im not saying this is even something they would want to consider but just don't dismiss other options without discussing them first as there may be a better option to insulin.

Good luck

I recall that there was a theory some time back that a possible strategy was to put T2s on insulin immediately on diagnosis to take the load off the pancreas and prevent further damage.

I haven't seen anything about that recently, and I think it would probably only be appropriate for those who have been tested for insulin production and found to be below normal.

However if the pancreas is over producing, possibly adding insulin might remove the demand on the pancreas and allow it to return to normal levels. This assumes that the main aim is to reduce Insulin Resistance early on so the pancreas no longer has to over produce.

Interesting topic.

Hi @Is Vic There ?

Gestational diabetes is treated with temporary insulin.. for some. Alot are given metformin instead first. Only once bgs go crazy insulin is introduced Temporarily.
I'm a huge believer in you know your body better than anyone. However unless you have the full facts that can fall on deaf ears.
I'm still on a little basal insulin but today's alternative is weight gaining tablets which didn't work in the past. I'm sick of gaining so I won't be agreeing to any more weight gaining meds unless it's dire emergency. I'm very happy with my basal insulin which I know with weight loss I can reduce some more. I cannot suffer maximum metformin but I suspect its ingredients has been changed a fraction to what I cannot breakdown safely. Or just age on my bowels even.
You know how best your body reacts to meds and different food.
Go with full conviction with your body's needs. If diabetes is your only health concern it should be even more apparent.
Be confident and assertive.

It is possible to test for insulin production, I believe - perhaps that might be a first step in the process?

Resurgam said:

It is possible to test for insulin production, I believe - perhaps that might be a first step in the process?

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I totally agree with @Resurgam @Is Vic There ?
Request a C - Peptide blood test before agreeing to insulin therapy.
May I add if you are severely overweight it will be alot of insulin but if its essential then you can reduce your weight and insulin resistance on insulin therapy. It's not doom and gloom on insulin, especially when you know your health will improve.

Hi, I don’t think it’ll be temporary so if you decide to start, don’t expect to stop it without extreme measures, these measures could be tried first maybe? Easy to be strong of will when pretending to wear someone else’s shoes huh insulin feels like a magic bullet when you’ve tried everything else to exhaustion, in fact, it is a magic bullet (black magic), it works incredibly well.
Unfortunately it has huge downsides so please be careful what you wish for. I hope you find a path that works for you.

In my potted history I gave you above, I forgot to mention that I too was totally maxed out on top whack Metformin and also maxed out on Gliclazide. But my readings were over 32 mmol/l. I was out of control. Soon after I started my LowCarb (non-keto) diet, I saw rapid drops in readings, and soon after I was having to reduce my Glic dose to prevent hypos. I had up till then never experienced a hypo, but I soon got used to them, and I quickly reduced my Glic dose down to one 40 mg tab a day, which is the minimum dose for that med. So my experience is and remains that glic+ metformin is a perfectly viable control regime, so you might not need to ditch the baby with the bathwater. Using diet can be very efficacious indeed, which is why I support the LC movement. I do not use keto myself just careful carb choices.

Is Vic There ? said:

I can see that there are some people here who really believe in the low carb diet and I expect that some low carb meals might help but I often have meals with very low carb and still I struggle to get my numbers down.

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I’d go so far as to say the vast majority of type 2 that do low carb are won over and convinced it works. But it takes more than “some” meals. Also what some people think of as low carb actually turns out not to be that low at all.

Give us an idea of what you are eating/like eating and we can see where you can ditch carbs and get those numbers down. A typical day or twos food maybe.

Are you testing any meals to see what they do to your levels?

Also have you seen the links I have attached below in red? lots of ideas and info even if you’re not new to diabetes that you might not have seen.

Antje77 said:

@HSSS , it doesn't hurt to add the links you want someone to see in the main body of your posts, signatures are invisible on phones unless in landscape position.

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I never knew that. A bit daft imo as many people have useful links there and I suspect a lot of people use their device in portrait mode (I don’t obviously)

I’m just a bit lazy and have the links in my signature to save me typing / pasting them each time as I use them often.