Talk to me about type II using insulin in addition to oral meds

Samantha, I will sure get Bill to give up some of his best tips and recipes. The place where he worked before had the same attitude, until one of the cook staff was diagnosed with ulcers and diabetes…whoa, look out change happened quickly. It’s a matter of offering it, and then asking the customers how they liked it. We did constant asking, polls, surveys last summer, and by a big surprise, theirs not mine, the lesser calorie foods, lesser sugared foods, lesser fat foods, etc were more popular. We now work for a franchise and there is little of our control over the food, but thankfully many of the things that they serve are already low end foods.
When the public starts demanding ( in a nice way) for healthier foods, restaurants will serve it. But I’ll ask anyway, he loves to have his mind picked.

Thanks Cathy, I sent you a friend request.

Mayla, since I have been so adamant about not doing insulin, I doubt that my doc will bring it up until the need is definitely there. In fact, when I did ask her about it recently, she was sort of surprised by MY asking.

My last A1C was 8.4; which is very high for me, I typically run in the mid fives. However, I had had three cortisone injections for my knees during that time, found out that my father was dying, had had pneumonia over the winter, and my husband had lost his job. so there was a lot going on — that had nothing to do with eating or exercising. Typically my daily BS run about 100 - 150 — depending on the rest of my health issues. If I had my choice, it would be between 110 and 120…and that’s why my questions about insulin for type II.

Am I doing the best job I can, I think my other posts answer that question very well. There is not much more that I can do, short of crawling inside my pancreas and squeezing out the insulin myself. I am very diligent, my grandmother died of diabetic complications, and I have no need, want or desire to be there or even close. I have close friends who have lost eye sight, toes, fingers and even a leg to this insideous disease, so I do much more than most of the people I know who have diabetes.

My meds are many but a few, metformin, I take 1000 mg twice daily, amaryl 10 mg twice a day. so I am not even at max as far as orals are concerned. All my tests come back that everything is working in the most efficient level the organs can. I wish my arthritis tests were as good.

The poke of a needle is not a big deal to me, for 20 years I gave myself daily injections for migraines and that was a breeze, I am allergic to bee stings so have used an epie pen often. Needles don’t scare me, it’s the idea that this is how far I have come, and I didn’t even want to get close to this place. Thus my desire for thoughts from those who are there.

Thanks for your input…I appreciate your thoughts.

Dear cathy.

I hear you. I also have to go with a suboptimal BG because thighter control would ballon my weight to 500 lb. Life is a choice among necessary evils. Try and get the best mix for you.

I have a friend who gave me the following mantra when he moved away:" Make the healthiest choice possible for yourself, in all situations and at all times. It might not be the healthiest for anyone else, but you. It may not be the healthiest choice you’ll make tomorrow or yesterday, but for today, make the healthiest choice possible." It works for all things, what’s the healthiest choice I can make today, not the healthiest for you, but for me. It works.

Cathy,
I’ve experienced no weight gain due to the Levemir. All my weight gain has been due to overeating and being sedentary! Now that I’m eating a no starch/liquid dairy diet along with the levemir and metformin, my weight has dropped dramatically again in only 6 weeks time. (from a 34 waist to a 32, I don’t use scales). The needles are so small that it’s almost ridiculous, and I hurt more from my finger sticks than from the Levemir needles. I too resisted insulin for all the mythological reasons, but now that I’ve had to take it and found out the truth about it, I’m glad that I take it and wish my PCP would have put me on it sooner.

FYI, Onglyza has been approved by the FDA as of August 2009. LINK