I’d first talk to your doctor to see if this is an option. The results of your C-peptide will tell how much of your own insulin you have. Maybe you had too much at one point, but perhaps you don’t now. If you’ve never had one, or it’s been a while, an antibody test is good to see where you are. You’ve got to know these things first. There are Type 2’s who take insulin & it helps. Should your doctor agree, he can give you samples. Different brands, of course, & some work better for some people over others. I’ve had my brands changed several times.
The side effect of insulin is hypoglycemia, which is NOT good, & why you need to know the status of your own insulin.
There are several basic types of insulin–basal, rapid acting & another that’s called Regular. There are others, but that’s it in a nutshell. From what I’ve read, doctors often put Type 2s on basal first. This is supposed to last 14-20 hours–slow release. Like all insulins, it’s not totally predictable & everyone’s chemistry is different. Basal insulin is taken either once or twice a day. I’ve got bad dawn phenonmenon, so I take it immediately before bed & then in the morning.
Rapid acting is before meals, usually around 15-20 minutes before meals. It tends to last around 4 hours. I’m one of the weird ones who’s on the old-fashioned regular insulin because the rapid acting was too fast for me. I’d have a low after meals & then go too high. I have slow digestion so the insulin was gone before food hit my bloodstream. Regular is taken 45 minutes before meals & sticks around for more than 4 hours. I have rapid acting to correct highs, too, but have to be careful how I time it because it’s dangerous to have rapid & regular shooting through at the same time. Can cause a major crash.
As to how much to take, that’s the experiment all of us Type 1s struggle with:) We’re always figuring out our carb ratios & they change. Fun, fun, fun! 1 unit of rapid acting can cover anywhere from 8-15 carbs, generally speaking. If you’ve got your own insulin, you’d need very little. To correct highs, & again everyone is different, 1 unit of rapid acting brings my BG down 60 points.
If you went on insulin, you’d start out on a low doses & keep testing a lot at first to see how it effects you–1 hour after meals, two hours after eating, 4 hours after meals.
Sure I’ve confused you, but there are good books that can explain it far better than I can.
