Type 2 Type 2 - Switching to Insulin

Madavane said:

Wondering why the tablets have stopped working. Is this common ?

Click to expand...

What exactly were the tablets you were previously taking? I'm guessing it was one of the drugs that stimulates your pancreas's own insulin production like gliclazide. Yes these drugs do often stop working. Essentially what happens is that your pancreas eventually burns out and can longer produce enough insulin, despite the drugs.

I think I'm having the same problem with my tablets. I'm on metformin 1000mg twice a day, gliclazide 80mg in the morning and 120mg at night & also on insulin Humulin I, 24 units at night and slowly increasing it. My blood sugar levels have gone up to 10.2 to 17 mmol/L. I've been on them for 15 years now and they have gone up rapidly. When I was first diagnosed they could be anything from 15 to 29.6 mmol/L, I managed to get them down but now they are up. I have to say that I also suffer from anxiety, mood swings, back pain, insomnia and sciatica and take tablets for that too.

So I wonder if I have to change medication to try and bring it back to normal levels. I have to add that I'm a vegetarian and most of my meals are slow cooked, boiled or vegetable stir fry with as little oil as I can. Don't have tea, coffee or soft drinks. Don't have large portions of food. Don't do crisps, biscuits and energy drinks.

So it drives me crazy and wonder how I became the size I am as I'm out every day and walk about 5 miles a day to get shopping. Guess I have another underlining problem that's not been found yet? But 15 years and still counting and changing medication amounts is making depressed just thinking about it.

Right I'll stop talking for now and see what people think.

GhostTalket said:

So I wonder if I have to change medication to try and bring it back to normal levels. I have to add that I'm a vegetarian and most of my meals are slow cooked, boiled or vegetable stir fry with as little oil as I can. Don't have tea, coffee or soft drinks. Don't have large portions of food. Don't do crisps, biscuits and energy drinks.

So it drives me crazy and wonder how I became the size I am as I'm out every day and walk about 5 miles a day to get shopping. Guess I have another underlining problem that's not been found yet? But 15 years and still counting and changing medication amounts is making depressed just thinking about it.

Click to expand...

High ghostalket. Perhaps surprisingly, your low fat diet may be making BOTH your weight and your diabetes much worse. Take a serious look at the concept of a LCHF (that's low carb high fat) diet. See for example diet doctor http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf and take a look at the low carb sub forum here http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/low-carb-diet-forum.18/

A low carb high fat diet has definitely helped me. Both in controlling my BG levels and with weight control.

hi Madavane,
Has your doctor done the diagnostic tests for you again? (the GAD and c-peptide tests).
I had to insist that this be done and my endocrinologist eventually agreed after he noticed oral medications didn't seem to be working on me. The results of those tests he did early 2010 showed that I no longer produce hardly any insulin. He explained I had beta cell damage to my pancreas and I now needed to be on full time insulin therapy. He placed me on a basal insulin (at first it was protophane, but he changed it to lantus) and a bolus insulin (Apidra). I'm so glad he did this for me as I've had much better control of my diabetes than I did prior to being placed on insulin. No wonder I wasn't getting anywhere because oral meds are designed to try and get your pancreas to produce more insulin... mine just wasn't able to do that. If you haven't already, it is worthwhile getting it done. I had been type 2 diabetic for 12 years when I was placed on insulin... but in hindsight I probably should've been placed on insulin sooner than I was because they just kept switching meds on me and none of them were working. By the way, if you do have the same as me, you need more than basal insulin as oral meds will not be working at all. You will need the full time therapy just like type 1's have. For me it equates to 4 injections or more daily.