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Why is being on Insulin viewed as bad?

D

deb100

Member
Messages
22
Location
S Yorkshire
Dislikes
being told what to do
What difference does being on insulin make to a persons general life as opposed to oral drugs?
I no longer use metformin because of medical problems/advice.
 
Hi Deb

Not everyone considers being on insulin as necessarily bad. If fact, many people who started off on diet, graduated to oral meds and then to insulin often say that they wished they had switched to insulin sooner. There are of course downsides - injecting 1 to 4 times a day, possible weight gain (which happens with some oral meds too of course), a greater risk of hypos (low blood sugar). On the other hand, often experienced insulin users are able to eat more 'normal' foods simply by adjusting their doses (may sometimes depend on whether you're type 1 or type 2) and tighter BS control can be achieved on insulin generally.

I am sure wiser heads on here may have other ideas but personally, I don't find being on insulin any problem at all (crosses all fingers and toes) but then my whole family are diabetic so I kind of grew up with it!!
 
Thanks for that reply, I've spent a lot of time wondering why I wasnt offered insulin earlier, apart from a couple of stabs a day life is almost normal now. Oral meds always have side effects.
 
The trouble with using insulin, is the risk of hypos. they can be life threatening. and now tthey think that frequent hypos may cause slow brain deterioration.
Another subtler problem is the temptation to eat "whatever" and just take more insulin to "cover" it. That road is full of traps., like yoyo BG numbers.
Using small amounts of insulin,perfectly matched to food, similarly to a naturally functioning pancreas is probably fine.
 
I'd agree that there is the risk of hypos and danger of hypo unawareness from repeated hypos but I'd definitley like to hope that the conclusion from this metanalysis is correct:
"Lowered cognitive performance in diabetic patients appeared to be associated with the presence of microvascular complications but not with the occurrence of severe hypoglycemic episodes or with poor metabolic control."
:http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/28/3/726
 
For type 1's its not bad, its what stop them from dying (blunt, but true)

For type 2's I think it appears to be seen as a 'failure' in respect that diet and exercise, meds fail and insulin is the last resort. I agree for some it might be a best first resort but it all ties in IMHO with the dietary advice issues, as alluded to by hana. If you follow standard advice (ie no sugar, healthy heart diet) then you will not control bg by this method alone to any great degree. Insulin lets people eat what they want (in theory) thereby not having to change a life(style).However I agree, that the theory is fine but practice can still result in horrible bg even with insulin.

In general terms with insulin -risk of hypos is serious and fatal, can restrict your driving license, prevent you from getting some jobs, puts weight on you (even if controlled, small doses it does still seem to happen). You also have to inject which is stressful for some people and all the paraphanelia that goes with it on holidays, trips out etc etc. A personal gripe with it for me is that I feel there is a bit of the unknown with it in terms of longer term effects. Some suggest recombinant DNA based insulin are linked to changes in mitochondria and have long term effects
Also, lantus was passed remarkably quickly from trial to market by the FDA.
Anyway, conspiracy theories over!

If id had the choice, and was type 2 I personally would be overjoyed at the option of diet and exercise than having to inject. But im not, so it's do or die for me im afraid! :wink:
 
I was diagnosed 2.5 years ago and went onto Metformin having swings in BS levels. Up went the Metformin and so did the wind! Always chasing the BS figures and not winning. Been on insulin since February and have seen such changes. WITH ADVICE I was able to increase and/or decrease dosage and now keep my BS levels at an almost constant 5.5. I do exercise and am very active and do watch what I eat, in values and in volume. The only setback to being on insulin is having to inform DVLA who always put at least a two year cap on your licence, having to go through a check about levels and hypo's. HGV and PSV drivers, I believe have to surrender their licences altogether! So long as you stick to a sensible timetable for eating and stabbing (!) I really cannot see any drawback to insulin. I loved the stabbing reference for I always have to remember where I am when a doctor or nurse says just before administering the injection - "sharp scratch" - its not a scratch its a prick or as you describe it, a stab. Perhaps I'm getting old, for I still remember when gay meant happy!
 
My take on going onto insulin as a type 2, is that it is a dead end.

My own insulin production will drop off and probably stop, not somewhere I intend to be.

With new drugs coming onto the market on average every six months, I don't want to be in the position were a new drug is useless to me because I no longer produce my own insulin.

My GP mentioned Insulin once, I then informed him that he no longer had any say in my diabetic treatment and went to the best private Endo I could find.

For myself, I will never go down the insulin road.
 
I admire your positive attitude, humph but for some, going onto insulin will be inevitable. Most of us would steer clear of insulin if we could and I feel it's important that folks don't feel they've failed if insulin cannot be avoided.
 
Well in that case, you may be faced with some very hard decisions. That of life or death. Just because someone is on insulin does not mean they do not produce their own. In the beginning, insulin levels in the body are not produced in sufficient amounts and "progressively" gets worse as the sufferer gets older. That’s why diabetes is called a progressive disease. History is littered with stepping stones and no doubt in the future, diabetes could be cured by a "one off" pill or injection. Until then, I will be happy with my intake of insulin giving me a good stable BS level and a healthy quality of life. Each to their own although I would rather approach this face on without leaving my hope that something may just be round the corner. Spike Milligan had on his grave stone "I told you I was ill"
 
chocoholic said:
I admire your positive attitude, humph but for some, going onto insulin will be inevitable. Most of us would steer clear of insulin if we could and I feel it's important that folks don't feel they've failed if insulin cannot be avoided.
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Wasn't meant to say that what I have done is right for everyone.

But we should all have a say in were our treatment is going. I feel some GP's use insulin as an easy option and bully people into going down that path too soon.
 
But we should all have a say in were our treatment is going. I feel some GP's use insulin as an easy option and bully people into going down that path too soon.
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Yes, I can see that might happen sometimes and I wouldn't wish to knock your positivity. I just know that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, insulin has to be accepted and it has to be looked on generally as a life-saving tool.
 
Yes, I can see that might happen sometimes and I wouldn't wish to knock your positivity. I just know that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, insulin has to be accepted and it has to be looked on generally as a life-saving tool.
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Well said and my point exactly. As an asside, I have had a terror of needles all my life and injecting insulin was not a happy thought. I battled for two years trying to stabalise BS levels with tablets and became quite depressed by my failure to master the beast. By the time I was on two x metformin three times a day my doctor advised I should go onto insulin. It was not an easy option for him because I fought not to although in reality it is a natural and necessary progression. Again, having mastered the needle I feel far more "in charge and in control" that I ever did before.
 
Wow
thanks for all that discussion, and reading through it I can see that it is the only and best option for me, especially as I have no other choice. lol But the positivity out there is great!
 
A friend called insulin "the 800lb gorilla of BG control". He was a LADA and was diagnosed as Type 2 for far too long, so in his case it was inevitable.

It's often used earlier in the States and once insulin resistance is addressed so you don't need excess quantities of the stuff it does work a lot more controllably than some of the alternatives. it takes some technical knowledge, obviously, and one of the major factors is that it can relieve the load on the pancreas and actually reduce the progression and ensuing damage much better than less controllable alternatives such as sulphs.

The obvious downside apart from the injections and need for close monitoring is, as someone pointed out, problems with the DVLA and insurance.
 
As someone on tablets, and having never been happy around needles, I do dread getting to the stage where meds dont work anymore.

But that's the only concern for me - the delivery method - but, of course, I'll get used to needles if I have to !

(secretly hoping that another delivery method will be developed before I get there !)

Ian. :)
 
eon said:
(secretly hoping that another delivery method will be developed before I get there !)
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I seem to remember reading something about the development of a nasal spray for insulin delivery, but don't recall where, try Google?
 
diomede said:
I was diagnosed 2.5 years ago and went onto Metformin having swings in BS levels. Up went the Metformin and so did the wind! Always chasing the BS figures and not winning. Been on insulin since February and have seen such changes. WITH ADVICE I was able to increase and/or decrease dosage and now keep my BS levels at an almost constant 5.5. I do exercise and am very active and do watch what I eat, in values and in volume. The only setback to being on insulin is having to inform DVLA who always put at least a two year cap on your licence, having to go through a check about levels and hypo's. HGV and PSV drivers, I believe have to surrender their licences altogether! So long as you stick to a sensible timetable for eating and stabbing (!) I really cannot see any drawback to insulin. I loved the stabbing reference for I always have to remember where I am when a doctor or nurse says just before administering the injection - "sharp scratch" - its not a scratch its a prick or as you describe it, a stab. Perhaps I'm getting old, for I still remember when gay meant happy!
Click to expand...


I was put on Lantus 18 months ago and on my last visit to the clinic it was suggested that I come off tablets and go unto insulin full time. In my mind at least this is a backward step. :( Ok my HbA1c had gone up but I asked for another 6 months as I was and he agreed since then I have really tried to behave but when I go back in July the figures he will be reading will be my January figures which were not good rather than my new well behaved figures. As for the effect on my licence as soon as I went on Lantus I was immediatly put on a 3 year medical licence(free) and I must get a medical including an eye test before I apply for a new one. However lately I have been thinking it might not be such a bad idea for as some of you have said my levels might be easier to control. I'm torn at the moment and don't know what way to go.
 
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