For 30 years, I had thot as you did, that T2D leads to premature exhaustion of our pancreas and that is will eventually lead us to lifelong dependancy on insulin, just like T1D.
But one of the most surprising and life changing realization about T2D is that the above is often mis-represented and is actually misleading.
This is a well understood T2D progression chart
Looking at the lower graph, you can see that following standard dietary advice and treatment insulin levels will decline and beta-cells function approach zero after 30 years.
But note that for up to 10 years BEFORE and AFTER diagnosis, we typically continue to produce MORE insulin than normal. That means there is at least 10 years of excessive beta-cells demand that we can control.
The reason for this is exactly what the others have pointed out. The build up of insulin resistance means we need MORE insulin to process/handle the same amount of carbs.
Dr Joseph Kraft's graph illustrates this with great clarity
The obvious solution then is to reduce the amount of carbs so that we place minimal demand on our remaining functional beta-cells and achieve normal glucose/insulin levels. This will also give our pancreas a chance to regenerate more beta-cells than it is losing....many of us do this using a carbs lite fats friendly approach. Others choose a combination of very low calorie diet (Newcastle diet), Vegan diet, exercise, and intermittent fasting.
Welcome to the forum and your journey to beta-cells recovery...