The Dawn Study

Diabetes Advocacy Self Advocacy
1

The Dawn Study involves: "5,426 adults with diabetes
2,194 primary care physicians
556 specialists (endocrinologists, diabetologists)
1,122 nurses (specialist and general)
The people with diabetes interviewed were self-classified as 50% Type 1 and 50% Type 2."

Some very interesting and revealing results were found.

http://www.dawnstudy.com/dawnprogramme/studyresults.asp

2

This caught my eye... from the study:

  • More than half of people with Type 2 diabetes are worried about starting insulin.
  • Half of them believe that starting insulin means they have failed to manage their diabetes.
  • Only one of out five believe insulin would help them manage their diabetes better.
  • A third of physicians postpone insulin until "absolutely essential".

I went through exactly this. It was only when I decided that, yes, I've completely failed and I'm resigned to being a feeble, sick insulin-using diabetic for life.

Then I started insulin, at my request.

MY LIFE COMPLETELY CHANGED!

3

Hi Dave, I hoped it changed for the better control.

4

Really???? You're calling yourself a feeble, sick insulin-user??? AS if

5

Massively.

A1c 11.4 -> 6.0 now.

But that's just a number. The very first day I injected Humalog and brought my chronic high BG down from something like 350 to just 200, I felt like I had been reborn. My head was clear and sharp like I couldn't remember. I had TONS of energy. I had an apetite, and tore into lunch, loving every bite as it went down.

This was immediate. The great feeling, energy, etc. didn't last at those levels, as my body eventually got used to normal, well-controlled BG. However, the steady-state before was bad, feeling tired, short-tempered, hard to choke down food, and on and on.

Now, I'm just basically normal w.r.t. to those effects.

6

Oh no! Not at all.

That's how I viewed using insulin as a T2 diabetic. It's a near-universal perspective of T2's, that insulin == failure, and a life of sickly decline and very restricted living.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. I wish I had started using insulin to treat my diabetes the day I was diagnosed. I'm a strong advocate for this approach, now that I've learned :-)

7

Fantastic!!