When Should Insulin Therapy Be Intensified
Because of progressive -cell decline, treatment with once-daily basal insulin alone will eventually fail to maintain glycemic control in a substantial number of patients with type 2 diabetes. When the recommended A1C level of < 7.0% is not reached, or maintained despite successful basal insulin dose titration maintaining fasting plasma glucose 100 mg/dl, or when aggressive titration is limited by hypoglycemia, treatment should be intensified by adding insulin injections.
How The Drug Could Help
Kane said the approval of tirzepatide is good news for people with type 2 diabetes because the results associated with the drug are better than those from other drugs currently available.
We know anything that helps with weight loss is always going to improve their diabetes control, that will lower blood sugars almost without a doubt, she said.
Whether its lifestyle, medication, supplements, or surgery, weight loss always improves glycemic control. And the amount of weight loss plus glycemic control from the agent is better than anything we have right now, Kane said.
Gabbay agreed the results of the trials are promising.
The SURPASS trials continue to show tirzepatide is associated with impressive A1C and body weight reductions, with no significant increase in hypoglycemia in people with type 2 diabetes. The SURPASS-4 trial showed that participants maintained A1C and weight reductions up to 2 years with no excess cardiovascular risk, he said.
will be a significant addition to our tools to help manage peoples diabetes, Gabbay said. The majority of my patients with type 2 diabetes are overweight, and therefore would benefit from this treatment. It also could be a wonderful tool early after diagnosis to help people with diabetes enter remission.
Before Using Ozempic Tell Your Health Care Provider If You Have Any Other Medical Conditions Including If You:
- have or have had problems with your pancreas or kidneys.
- have a history of diabetic retinopathy.
- are pregnant or breastfeeding or plan to become pregnant or breastfeed. It is not known if Ozempic® will harm your unborn baby or passes into your breast milk. You should stop using Ozempic® 2 months before you plan to become pregnant.
Tell your health care provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, herbal supplements, and other medicines to treat diabetes, including insulin or sulfonylureas.
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Throwing Away Your Needles And Lancets
Sharps bins and needle clippers are the safest way of disposing of your insulin needles and your lancets. A needle clipper removes the needle from your insulin pen, and is useful when youre out and about. How you get rid of your sharps bin depends on where you live. Your healthcare team should have information to help you get rid of your bin.
How To Get Free Prescriptions For Diabetes Medicine
If you take diabetes medicine, you’re entitled to free prescriptions for all your medicines.
To claim your free prescriptions, you’ll need to apply for an exemption certificate. This is known as a PF57 form. To do this:
- fill in a form at your GP surgery
- you should get the certificate in the post about a week later â it’ll last for 5 years
- take it to your pharmacy with your prescriptions
Save your receipts if you have to pay for diabetes medicine before you receive your exemption certificate. You can claim the money back if you include the receipts along with your completed PF57 form.
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What Is Different About Insulin Lispro
Insulin lispro is a new type of insulin. It starts working sooner than other insulin types. It also reaches peak activity faster and goes away sooner. Insulin lispro helps keep your blood sugar level from going too high after you eat. To keep your blood sugar level steady, your doctor will probably prescribe either a longer-acting insulin or another drug for you to take each day in addition to the insulin lispro.
If you need to mix insulin lispro with a longer-acting insulin, it’s best that you mix insulin lispro only with Humulin U or Humulin N, which are brand names for certain longer-acting insulins. Insulin lispro should always be drawn into the syringe first. This will keep the longer-acting insulin from getting into the insulin lispro bottle.
It Can Take Time To Develop An Insulin Regimen
If youve been prescribed insulin therapy, it can take a little trial and error to learn what types and dosages of insulin work best for you. Blood sugar tests can help you and your doctor learn how your body is responding to your current insulin regimen. If needed, your doctor can make changes to your prescribed treatment plan.
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Common Questions About Type 2 Diabetes:
- Can type 2 diabetes go away?
- Will I need to take insulin?
- Do I have to take it forever?
How do you treat type 2 diabetes?
When you have type 2 diabetes, you first need to eat a healthy diet, stay physically active and lose any extra weight. If these lifestyle changes cannot control your blood sugar, you also may need to take pills and other injected medication, including insulin.
Eating a healthy diet, being physically active, and losing any extra weight is the first line of therapy. Diet and exercise is the foundation of all diabetes management because it makes your bodys cells respond better to insulin and lowers blood sugar levels.
If you cannot normalize or control the blood sugars with diet, weight loss and exercise, the next treatment phase is taking medicine either orally or by injection.
Diabetes pills work in different ways some lower insulin resistance, others slow the digestion of food or increase insulin levels in the blood stream. The non-insulin injected medications for type 2 diabetes have a complicated action but basically lower blood glucose after eating. Insulin therapy simply increases insulin in the circulation.
Many people with type 2 diabetes have elevated blood fats and blood pressure, so you may be given medications for these problems as well.
Can type 2 diabetes go away? And if my blood sugar becomes normal, do I still have diabetes?
Will I need to take insulin if I have type 2 diabetes?
Getting Started With Insulin If You Have Type 2 Diabetes
New to insulin? Learn about insulin dosing and timing and how often to test your blood sugar levels if you have type 2 diabetes.
If you have type 2 diabetes, it is likely that your treatment regimen will change over time as your needs change, and at some point, your healthcare professional may suggest that you start taking insulin. While this might feel scary, there are millions of others living with type 2 diabetes and taking insulin, so its definitely manageable.
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Diabetes Pills Vs Insulin
Its usually not a case of either pills or insulin. Your doctor will make a recommendation based on the type of diabetes you have, how long youve had it, and how much insulin your body makes naturally.
Pills may be easier to take than insulin, but each kind comes with potential side effects. It may take a little trial and error to find the one that works best for you. Pills can stop working, even if theyve been effective for some time.
If you start out with only pills and your type 2 diabetes worsens, you may need to take insulin as well.
Insulin also has risks. Too much or too little can cause serious problems. Youll have to learn how to monitor your diabetes and make adjustments as necessary.
How Do You Use Ocotea Oil To Help Lower Blood Sugar
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When Dietary Changes Exercise And Medications Don’t Work
People with type 2 diabetes do not always have to take insulin right away that is more common in people with . The longer someone has type 2 diabetes, the more likely they will require insulin.
Just as in type 1 diabetes, insulin is a way to control your blood glucose level. With type 2 diabetes, though, dietary changes, increasing physical activity, and some oral medications are usually enough to bring your blood glucose to a normal level. To learn about how the hormone insulin works, we have an article that explains the .
There are several reasons people with type 2 diabetes may want to use insulin:
If you do decide to use insulin to help control your type 2 diabetes, you should learn all you can about it. Talk to your doctor and diabetes treatment team. They can walk you through the basics of insulin dosing, answer any questions you have, and help you figure out how to balance food, exercise, and insulin as you take care of your body.
Read on to learn more about the basics of insulin treatment. You can also visit our for more details.
Types of Insulin
There are several types of insulin you can take. Each type serves a different purpose, and you might need to take a combination of the following:
How Much Insulin Should You Take?
As imprecise as it sounds, figuring out the best insulin dose is a matter of trial and error. You should work closely with your diabetes treatment team to monitor how well your insulin is working, and to adjust it as necessary.
Travelling With Diabetes Medicines
If you’re going on holiday:
- pack extra medicine â speak to your diabetes nurse about how much to take
- carry your medicine in your hand luggage just in case checked-in bags go missing or get damaged
- if you’re flying with a medicine you inject, get a letter from your GP that says you need it to treat diabetes
Page last reviewed: 18 August 2020 Next review due: 18 August 2023
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Avoiding Injection Bruises And Lumps
Bruising can happen when you catch a tiny blood vessel under the skin where you have injected. It is quite normal for this to happen occasionally when you are injecting regularly and youre not doing anything wrong.
If you are concerned, you could make an appointment with your diabetes specialist nurse who will be able to do a review of your injection technique. In some cases, bleeding and bruising can be reduced by something as simple as using a different sized needle or changing your needle after each injection.
Some people notice hard lumps that can form if you inject in the same place too often. This might be lipohypertrophy , or could be something called cutaneous amyloidosis. These lumps can stop the insulin from working properly, so make sure you rotate where you inject and choose a different spot each time. If you notice any lumps, especially if they’re not going away, speak to your healthcare professional for more advice.
Other side effects from injecting a lot can be itching, rashes and other skin irritations. Changing where you inject helps with this too. You can also get treatments from your local pharmacy that can will help with the irritation.
What Is The Most Important Information I Should Know About Ozempic
Ozempic® may cause serious side effects, including:
- Possible thyroid tumors, including cancer. Tell your health care provider if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, hoarseness, trouble swallowing, or shortness of breath. These may be symptoms of thyroid cancer. In studies with rodents, Ozempic® and medicines that work like Ozempic® caused thyroid tumors, including thyroid cancer. It is not known if Ozempic® will cause thyroid tumors or a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid carcinoma in people.
- Do not use Ozempic® if you or any of your family have ever had MTC, or if you have an endocrine system condition called Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2 .
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Why Is Insulin Injected In Your Body
Diabetes is the major cause of using insulin. Insulin is a hormone in our body that is created by the pancreas. Its main function is to make proper use of the glucose or sugar that is received through the food and transfer it to the cells so that our body can get the desired energy. However, people with diabetes do not have the normal level of insulin in their bodies. Their pancreas either does not create insulin at all or if created, the cells restrict its use, due to which the level of sugar in the blood keeps on increasing.
When our body stops creating insulin, taking insulin therapy is the vital option. It helps in transferring the glucose received by food to other body parts including the heart, muscles, and brain, instead of increasing its level in the blood. Moreover, it helps in providing the desired energy to the body so we can function properly throughout the day.
What Else Do I Need To Know About Taking Insulin
Its common to experience minimal discomfort from needle injections or skin changes at the insulin injection site. You may also experience side effects of insulin therapy, which can include some weight gain and hypoglycemia. In some people, insulin increases appetite and stops the loss of glucose in the urine, which can lead to weight gain. Hypoglycemia can occur if you are not taking the right amount of insulin to cover your carb intake, over-correcting high glucose levels, exercising, or consuming alcohol. Treating hypoglycemia also adds more calories to your daily intake and can further contribute to weight gain. Contact your healthcare professional to adjust your insulin dose if you are experiencing hypoglycemia, or call 911 if you experience more serious side effects, such as severe low blood sugar levels, serious allergic reactions, swelling, or shortness of breath.
Staying in contact with your healthcare team is the best way to make the transition to insulin therapy. Though the first few days or weeks will be challenging, with the right support, youll find a diabetes care plan that works for you.
If you were recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, check out more resources here.
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Insulin Means Your Diabetes Is Serious
The truth is diabetes is a serious condition no matter how you treat itbut it is treateable and maneagable.
High blood sugar is unhealthy for your body and can cause damage to very small blood vessels throughout your body. According to the National Kidney Foundation, the sugar “sticks” to your small blood vessels, which makes it hard for blood to get to your organs. This can result in damage to the heart, kidney, eyes, nerves, and feet.
And it is why it’s crucial to work towards blood sugar controlwhether through diet, exercise, medications such as oral medications or insulin, or a combination of these methods.
What Is Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a disease where your body cant use energy from food properly. Your pancreas produces insulin to help your cells use glucose . But over time your pancreas makes less insulin and the cells resist the insulin. This causes too much sugar to build up in your blood. High blood sugar levels from Type 2 diabetes can lead to serious health problems including heart disease, stroke or death.
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Making The Switch To Insulin
Making the transition is much easier than it used to be because most patients are started on a long-acting insulin that does not need to be matched with food intake.
Insulin pens that are preloaded are replacing insulin that needs to be drawn up into a syringe. Patients may still be worried about giving themselves injections, but because the needle is so tiny the adjustment is often quick.
Toujeo and Lantus are long-acting forms of insulin that are available in a prefilled injectable pen.
There’s also a type of rapid-acting insulin, Afrezza, that can be inhaled through the mouth via an inhaler.
And a new class of medication called sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors is also available now, according to Mazhari. “It works via a different pathway that’s not pancreas-dependent, offering another medical therapy option for patients with type 2 diabetes.”
The key to an easy transition to insulin is education.
“Patients need to know how to take their insulin properly since there are many formulations on the market, including short- and long-acting insulin and premixed,” Mazhari said. “Most can be started on a long-acting insulin once a day, though for some patients short-acting or mealtime insulin may be necessary as well. Insulin doses need to be further adjusted depending on blood sugar readings.”