Would I reccomend insulin NO.

From the flog http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/going-on-to-insulin.87838/

"I was diagnosed type2 about 9 years ago and gradually the oral meds stopped working until 4 months ago had a really bad chest infection and couldn't throw it off, turned out I had a HbA1c of 120 and my imune system was struggling. It was sugested that the meds weren't working and would i consider insulin. Spoke to a couple of type 1 friends and they said it would be the best thing to happen to me.
So I was put on Insumen comb25 twice a day morning and evening and told to just keep upping the dose till my blood glucose was in the right range. Which i did until I was taking 42 units a day ( the more you eat the more insulin you need etc. vicious circle) I put 5kg in weight on in less than 2 weeks. I thought this isn't right and talked to my diabetic nurse who then said yes you will put weight on if you don't watch what you eat. Thanks could have told me that at the start!
So I started calorie counting (2500 cals per day) and excercising (I ride for 45 mins 11.5 miles) (2 great apps Nutracheck and Probike fit) 3 months later my HbA1c is 39 and my insulin is down to 28 units 14 in the morning and 14 in the evening. I've lost nearly a stone and a half and achieved my ideal BMI.
I didn't know if I could inject myself but once I tried it and had to look if the needle had actually gone in I found it a breeze.
I'm still on metformin twice a day but luckily I dont have any of the side effects that some do.
Would I recomend someone to go onto insulin a resounding YES."

Almost 12 hours on and no reply from "The Global Diabetes Community" Maybe someone should tell this member a type two diabetic on Insulin has up to three times the death rate, as discussed in a thread deemed to be scaremongering by the non diabetic fresh out school forum administrator.

Read the thread re. insulin and type two diabetics here http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/recent-insulin-study.50729/

Mixed insulin is commonly called Mixturd, and NPH Insulaturd, on account of its generally uncontrollable nature. No wonder the NHS/NICE recommend it. OTOH using an APPROPRIATE amount of insulin may actually improve far gone Type 2s as long as the IR is addressed first. Using EXCESS insulin on top of EXCESS carbs is a one way trip to the boneyard, stopping off at the amputation, dialysis and opthamology clinics on the way.

One of my big wake-up calls was taking mother to the opthalmologist (she had AMD, a different type in each eye). They wheeled in an obviously diabetic patient. She was in a wheelchair because one leg was missing. She was so fat that the wheelchair wouldn't fit through the door, so the doctor and his equipment had to relocate to a different office with double doors. An NHS success story.

Insulin is a last resort the worst scenario as Chris said is excess carbs and matching it with high doses which is a recipe for an early exit.

Yes, that's true except when you need it you need it. The problem with most diabetic's use of insulin is over consumption. To fix that a diabetic needs to minimize insulin by following a program like Dr. Bernstien's or a keto diet with very low carbs (less than 30 g). The problem with excess insulin (which most type 2s already have) is that it damages the vascular system leading to complications. It is also criminal that doctors recommend higher glucose targets for diabetics on insulin to avoid hypos. That means that they also get complications from high glucose as well as high insulin, and that's why the ACCORD study failed! That's a deadly combination!

Insulin can be necessary to prevent complications. Any A1c in the pre-diabetic range or above is damaging. There is a recent case of a skinny type 2 who maintained her A1c's in the low 6's for seven years on a low carb diet (~50g) and now has retinopathy and early neuropathy. She is shocked because she considered her control good.

Personally, I have already decided that if I cannot maintain normal blood glucose (A1c less than 5.0 and blood glucose less than 100 mg/dl all the time including postprandial) on my keto diet and exercise I will add basal insulin. After metformin, insulin is the next best choice, but only in minimal amounts.

Great post OldTech a few of the old timers I keep in touch with have said since diagnosis and swiftly seeing the low carb light, we would save insulin to we had to use it. We don't fear injected insulin but we respect it. So far touch wood, as each year passes we have not needed it. As you say so many type two diabetics are awash with plasma insulin, hence the insulin resistance. Many medics appear not to know that. Insulin is the growth hormone it is also the ageing hormone.

A point I have thought about over the years and the way the NHS works, how high does a type two diabetics BG have to go, before they will prescribe insulin. The NICE guidelines the UK Doctors are in the vice like grip of, quote safe numbers way above what I reckon to be safe, roughly around 50% higher than a non diabetic. I suppose I will have to face that situation if it come to it. My guess is the medics will try and get me on a bag of useless and often dangerous type two meds before prescribing insulin.

If I remember correctly, an anatomically correct amount of insulin is something like 20 - 50 units/day, based on body weight, activity and various other factors. Some Type 2s may be on hundreds of units/day on top of what they still produce.

Insulin would be no good for me. Carbs spike me something rotten after 1hr but I produce too much and can be hypo after 2hrs.
Low carb is the only way for me.
D.

Derek wrote:Insulin would be no good for me. Carbs spike me something rotten after 1hr but I produce too much and can be hypo after 2hrs.
Low carb is the only way for me.
D.

Me too, and I can now identify the cause of many of the symptoms I've had since early childhood. In theory a small dose of fast acting would probably control both the postprandial BG spike and the post-postprandial insulin spike by shutting down glucagon overproduction. In practice NOT eating the carbs has the exact same effect.

It's a great pity that they don't test insulin (actually c-peptide) levels except for diagnosed Type 1s. They would learn a lot, a la Joseph Kraft.