Type 2 diabetes and insulin therapy

When you have type 2 diabetes, your body cannot utilize insulin sufficiently, or your pancreas do not produce enough insulin. Without insulin, your body cannot convert carbohydrates into energy. Therefore, your body needs help and in many cases you will be offered treatment with pills.

But the older you get and the longer you have had diabetes, the more your insulin production will decrease. Therefore, you should be prepared for the fact that your treatment will be continuously adjusted. Up to half of all people with type 2 diabetes end up receiving insulin. It is therefore normal if you need to start insulin therapy over time. Your diagnosis does not change to type 1 diabetes if you start insulin therapy. You still have type 2 diabetes.

When you have diabetes that requires treatment with insulin, depending on the type of insulin you receive, you may need to take insulin several times a day to mimic the function of the pancreas. You will not be taking insulin as a pill because your stomach acid destroys the insulin.

You should therefore take insulin as an injection in your abdominal skin, for example. Before you can take your insulin, you need to know how large a dosage you need to take. You will measure your blood sugar. This will prevent your blood sugar from becoming too high or too low.

You will discuss with your caretaker to determine how often you should measure your blood sugar. It is your diabetes caretaker who will recommend the combination and dosage based on measurements of your long-term blood sugar as well as your daily measurements of current blood sugar. It is important to discuss how you feel in your routine so that your treatment matches your needs in the best way possible.