Insulin-dependent type 2

[Shanny]

That's really sweet, Rocky! And you'll find that most of us do know more than our doctors . . . and you will too when you get this dialed in.

Doctors don't really get much education in managing diabetes - definitely not in doing so with diet - and what they do get often comes from the government diabetes associations which don't necessarily put us patients ahead of their politically motivated sponsors.

Almost everything I know has come from forums like this and diabetes buddies who share their knowledge of tried & true management tools.

I met SKB on the very first diabetes forum I ever found  . . we've been friends ever since and he has taught me a LOT.

[skb]

Almost everything I know has come from forums like this and diabetes buddies who share their knowledge of tried & true management tools.

I met SKB on the very first diabetes forum I ever found  . . we've been friends ever since

And it was brimming with 'hotheads' 

[Grammabear]

I 'second' the statement that almost everything I know has come from forums where people are willing to share what they know with others.  My doctor sent me to a "diabetes class" in 2003 which proclaimed the teachings of the American Diabetes Association.  As a result I gained a LOT of weight and have great difficulty losing it.  I asked a different doctor recently for suggestions in losing weight while on insulin, and dang it if he didn't want to send me to the same class.  I said "No, thank you" and walked out of his office.

LCHF has given me far better glucose numbers than anything else I've tried.  I've just got to find a way to lose the weight that works for me.

[starsign]

Shanny, if as you say, you have stopped making any insulin, wouldn't it be better to also add a rapid acting dose to cover for food ? Just asking out of curiosity. I know whatever little I know because of this forum.

[Shanny]

I would think so too, SS, but doc sez this is how we start out.

As I've said before, I dearly love him as my PCP, but I'm not sure how well educated he is on diabetes management. I myself am the one who turned him on to LCHF, as well as the fact that LCHF will control cholesterol, proving statins are NOT needed . . . we'll just have to see. I think I may have an ally in his PA, because I hadn't gotten a response from him on raising the dosage, so she charted increases (not enough, but better than nothing). As long as they prescribe enough insulin, I'll just have to titrate as needed and not wait on their go-ahead.

[Grammabear]

Sometimes doctors assume we know that it is ok for us to raise the dose even though they haven't given us permission to do just that.  The protocol for raising insulin when I was doing MDI (multiple daily injections) is to raise the TDD (total daily dose) by 2 units and then wait 3 days for that dose to settle in.  Your doctor may have other guidelines for you to follow.

[Timewise]

Hi Shanny....sorry for my slow response, I have been traveling.   I have been on Lantus for about 8 years now.  As you say it is so easy and relatively painless, why not!   Once and a while I hit a spot that burns like fire when I inject, doctor says that happens when you hit a blood vessel.  Not sure I buy it though as sometimes this bruises bad (hit a blood vessel) and other times it does not bruise.   Go figure!  but now that I am doing so little it is not a problem either way. 

I think I started on around 20u and was told I could increase or decrease by 3-4u after waiting 4-5 days watching my overall BS readings.   I think you know my story that in time I worked my way up to 126u! OMG before LCHF... I took that amount with one stick, just inject a full shot then carefully, without taking the needle out, crank up the rest and inject!   I swore in time I was slushing when I walked...?   LCHF saved me, I now take 25u...and BS is fine!

Good Luck

[Sweety]

Had it not been for this forum, I would have continued thinking that injecting insulin was bad and one of the worst things to happen to anyone. Turns out that I was completely wrong and it is a Go To option if other things don't work.

[Grammabear]

Had it not been for this forum, I would have continued thinking that injecting insulin was bad and one of the worst things to happen to anyone. Turns out that I was completely wrong and it is a Go To option if other things don't work.

Sweety - You have more of an open mind that most doctors I've met in my lifetime of 71 years.  It is most refreshing to read a post like yours.

[rocky]

True that. Many of my misconceptions about diabetes were cleared here. When I was first diagnosed I was dreadful that my doctor would put me on insulin. 

[Shanny]

Well here's my comparison on it:
I still take the maximum dose of metformin XR, which is 2000mg per day which is four of those horse pills at one time. I gotta tell ya, taking those pills is worse than the injection with its VERY tiny 31-gauge needle, which is about as thick as a strand of hair - don't even feel it. But getting those pills down is a pain in the neck!

[Grammabear]

I agree Shanny.  Those dang metformin XR pills are enormous.  I take 3 a day, one after each meal and I don't look forward to it at all.

[rocky]

Well here's my comparison on it:
I still take the maximum dose of metformin XR, which is 2000mg per day which is four of those horse pills at one time. I gotta tell ya, taking those pills is worse than the injection with its VERY tiny 31-gauge needle, which is about as thick as a strand of hair - don't even feel it. But getting those pills down is a pain in the neck!

Understood. I take the 500 mg metformin. It is a big one, but not that big.