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Type 2 and insulin

Re: Type 2 and insulin

Some do but the vast majority do not and rely on diet or diet and oral meds that either help reduce insulin resistance or enhance insulin production in the pancreas.

I started off using a basal/bolus insulin regime but after losing around 4 stone in weight found that I had lost my insulin resistance to the degree that I was able to wean myself off insulin as the weight came off. Started off on 10units of Humulin I at night to stop bg levels rising overnight and 10 units of Humulin S at mealtimes, these units were based on my weight at diagnosis and were increased to 12 units across the board over the following week before starting to reduce as my weigh loss started. I was started off on insulin as my bg levels were so high (29 mmol/L ~ HbA1c 12.6%) that insulin was thought necessary to reduce them to a safe level as I had suffered an SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) brought on by high bg levels, an arrhythmia of the heart I had a heart beat of 188bpm and the two halves of my heart were beating out of time, I had to have my heart stopped (medically) and restarted in its correct rhythm.

Some T2 diabetics find that they need to go onto insulin when oral meds either fail to work or its found that their pancreas has reduced efficiency due to the over work it is put through in an effort to reduce bg levels caused by insulin resistance, some T2's avoid reduced pancreatic function but most will have suffered some beta cell death caused by an overworked pancreas, often even before diagnosis although it is usually associated with long term high bg levels.

So just as a T1's beta cells die through autoimmune disease and do not produce insulin so a T2's beta cells can die through overproduction of insulin and neither re generate once dead.
 
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