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Ashintheuk

Well-Known Member
Hi all, I'm Ash. I've been treated with tablets for T2 for the last 12 years. Insulin was added to my cocktail list a couple of weeks ago.
Feeling a bit better for using it, but I'm not a fan of the needles. I can see it taking a while to get past this. Is there a tried and tested way of using the quick pens which doesn't involve pain or bruising?
 
What length needles do you use? 4mm is deep enough. What insulin are you on? If it's Lantus, it's known for its stinging. There are different insulins available. By the way, when I was on Lantus it stung less with longer needles. With other insulins I have tried I like the shorter ones better.
Don't be afraid to try out different sites to inject. I started with legs for my lon acting and hated it until I found a couple of spots I liked better. In time I found out I like arms a lot better than legs, and I don't like using tummy below my belly button but am fine with sides on my rib cage.
Good luck!
 
Hi, I'm on Absagalar with 4mm needles. They are tiny but still felt tender going in, and drew blood for the first time last night . I need a steadier hand, and yo be more gentle pushing the plunger
 
Welcome to the forum @Ashintheuk. I have a severe needle phobia. That was one of the main reasons I looked into reducing my blood glucose by other means than medication after I was diagnosed Type 2.
I have so far been able to control my bgs by reducing my carbohydrate intake. Many of the T2s on here have found that adopting a low carbohydrate way of eating has reduced our bgs. Have you tried to control your T2 by diet? It's worth looking at.
 

I started off with diet 12 years ago. I went low carb and whilst it made a difference, wasn't enough. My BMI is about 21 and the most it's ever been was 23. my last HBa1c tested at 75. It's not my case of too much body mass for my own insulin to go around, and my weight has dropped 10 lbs over the last 12 months. with no change to diet or lifestyle.
 

It’s not so much too much body mass for your own insulin as too much glucose for it or too much insulin resistance for it to be effective. (And throwing yet more at the glucose in order to overwhelm it in the end means you feel a bit better but does nothing to address the problem of resistance) That’s why you get slim t2 as well as not so slim. The excess body mass is as more a symptom or aggravating factor rather than a cause.

Some type 2 do end up not producing enough though. Maybe worth asking if you can get c peptide test to establish if you’re not producing enough or not able to use the reasonable amounts you do make. Two different problems with potentially different solutions.
 
My Doc reckons it's an average of 10 years from diagnosis to starting insulin. I've been on Metformin since 2007, and now
So what is the solution for insulin resistance if this is the case ? my BMI is 20.8 at the moment
 
Ashintheuk said:
My Doc reckons it's an average of 10 years from diagnosis to starting insulin. I've been on Metformin since 2007, and now

So what is the solution for insulin resistance if this is the case ? my BMI is 20.8 at the moment
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Be aware that some of us are mis-diagnosed Late onset T1 (LADA) and not T2. The fact that you say you have lost weight without trying and have a low BMI are pointers. A c-peptide test will show what your own insulin production is like. If the result is low then your beta cells are failing and insulin resistance is probably not your problem. Being on insulin is the right medication but are you on the Basal/Bolus regime or just the Absalagar (=Lantus)? If your beta cells are failing then being on Basal/Bolus i.e two insulins, the 24hr one you have and a meal-time Bolus, is usually the best solution as it gives complete control. Discuss with the DN if needed. BTW you should find injections become less painful as the injection areas become less sensitive.
 

I've got a follow up appointment with my doc this afternoon. I don't think the slow release Absalagar is giving enough control, but it is helping
 
If you haven’t been yet then definitely ask about the possibility of late onset/1.5/LADA and checking insulin production.

If resistance does turn out to be the problem then weight loss is one factor but not the only one. It’s possible to be thin on outside and fat on the inside around the organs. Lowering carbs (adding fats to balance and energy deficit), intermittent fasting (still all the same foods but in smaller eating windows), building muscle, resistance training and avoiding swimming in insulin constantly all help reduce insulin resistance.

This is possibly why your dr thinks all type 2 diabetics up on insulin. Because he’s possibly not addressing all the factors and causes with all the potential solutions and relying solely on medication.
 
 
Hello all, I am new here, joined about a month ago but had some major unrelated issues and just got back on this a.m. I was looking where/how I could send first post, begin posting. Sorry am not as advanced technologically as some! I'm posting reply here so could get started. Might you or someone tell me exactly where to begin posting, please?
Best of luck to you Ashintheuk! I did not mean to override your post, I'm just not sure where to begin posting?
Thank you so much!
 

Hi
You could start by posting something here
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/greetings-and-introductions.20/

Just click on the link then press the Post New Thread button.
Tell us a bit about yourself your particular brand of diabetes and any medication you are taking.
I'd also suggest having a good read around the forum as there is a huge amount of info as well as the general website which has even more!
Hello and welcome.
 
Just had a decent conversation about this. He said that despite being the diabetic lead in the practice, he'd never seen the c peptide test offered by the health trust. I asked him if I had significant insulin resistance and he was emphatic that lack of insulin is my problem which is being demonstrated in the lowering of my numbers when testing since I started injecting a couple of weeks ago
 
I’m not an insulin user so stand to be corrected but I didn’t think that’s how it worked. Adding yet more insulin to a persons system whose problem is IR (rather than lack of insulin) will to some extent overcome the insulin resistance, for a while, whilst simultaneously making it worse. Hence the reason the problem is progressive.

Of course if you actually aren’t producing much insulin then it will also work as you do need it. So I’m not sure how his logic differentiates between the two problems if my understanding is correct.

Again I’ve not had the c peptide test either but it’s my understanding it’s a standard test along with gad antibodies to determine which type of diabetes and how much insulin is being produced. Whether it’s ordered at gp or consultant I don’t know.

Hopefully someone can confirm this soon for you (and me).
 
I'm figuring now that the c peptide test can give me answers which a considered opinion cannot. The test is being offered by the Spire private healthcare group. It may be something for me to consider if I can't get it done on the NHS.
I am a prime candidate for the thin/fat Indian syndrome as my father came from India, but ive lived with this condition for 12 years now and had hypos for years before I diagnosed. I'm on 8ml per day of slow release insulin. I know I can reduce my insulin resistance with strenuous exercise, but then need to up my calorie intake to cope with it. Either way, I think I'm too far in with it to turn back the clock. I'm on max dose of Metformin, saxagliptin and Dapagliflozin as well as the insulin.
 
I can’t make any promises in your personal case but people in here have come back, at least improved, from the same position of having worked through lots of meds to insulin. It is possible for at least some people. You’ll find quite a number of success stories in here.

In your shoes I’d be doing more reading in these forums and the links you’ll find. I’d be pushing for the tests to confirm or dispute what your dr is assuming to be the situation. Depending on the results of those what I’d do next.

Calorie ie energy for exercise can be gained from sources that don’t raise your bgl. Ie fats and to a lesser extent protein.

You say you went low carb 12yrs ago. How low? Do you still do it? What sort of bgl levels are you getting?
 
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