changing from tabs to insulin

[Beany Mike]

Beany mike type 2 from 2007
hi everyone - blood test coming up 31st may but my doctor has warned me I may be being advised to change to insulin. - gliclacid 30mgs +Metformin 850 both 3 times daily +Vildagplitine + Dapagliflozine midday +very good diet + plenty of exercise isn´t doing it.
1) does this change mean I will be a type 1 now.?
2) Has anyone a link to help me understand what it is to inject (Quantities of insulin or is this all trial and error) - where to inject - when to use BSL machine - how to more accurately measure carb intakes - anything would be helpful as my understanding of Spanish is fair but a little preparation will be most helpful!!
I am a little slow at learning to navigate this site - hope this message goes where it´s supposed to! Very grateful that this site exists.
Bye for now - beany mike

 

[grovesy]

Welcome.

 

[Kaylz]

Hi and welcome 🙂 no it doesn't mean you are Type 1 you will be an insulin dependant type 2, if it is MDI you are put on which is 4 or more injections a day (basal/bolus) you and your team will have to work out an insulin to carb ratio that suits you but this may not be done straight away there is a diagram on here somewhere that I will try and find if someone else doesn't get it first but usually injections can be done in the outer top part of the thigh, the tummy, the top of your bum or some may do it in the top of their arms sorry is a BSL machine a blood glucose monitor if so you may have to test at least 4 times a day or more if you drive etc how do you mean to more accurately measure carb intake x

 

[Ljc]

Hi Welcome I'm a T2 who now needs insulin. The causes of T1 and T2 are different. It's just T2 can be progressive, sometimes it's down to poor dietary advise and sometimes not following good advise
Do you test your own blood glucose (BG) levels ?
I have found a diagram of suitable injection sites .
Don't worry you'll be shown how , the initial doses will be worked out for you as will any fine tuning needed.

 

[trophywench]

hee hee, my useful Spanish regarding D is limited to Tengo diabetes y necesito azúcar por favour! LOL @Bloden might be able to assist you with the more common terms you may need though.

Insulin these days isn't delivered in syringes - it comes in pens holding 3mls of insulin, equivalent to 300 units. 300 units is about 10 days worth for me - but I'm Type 1 and don't have any insulin resistance - which is a common feature of T2, though not absolutely everyone has it - however more or less all T2s need more than I do every day. So - we don't know and can't really guess how much anyone else might need - it depends completely on YOUR body - and no-one else has that! LOL

The needles are far tinier than any other needle you've ever met. However if you have knowledge of fishing line - it's not much thicker - in fact it's narrower than some line. Pen needles - the business end that we stick in ourselves are 4 - 6 mm long. Teeny teeny! Most jabs - we shouldn't actually even FEEL. Incredible, eh? But true.

It could be far, far worse - so please try not to be scared.

There are some carb-counting Apps you can get for your phone if you are into such thing - or books if you aren't giving each food's content per 100g or 100ml - or the backs of packets across Europe have that info anyway - you're looking for a word like Glucose or Carbona - haven't had a Spanish packet to read for ages so I forget exactly what LOL. There's also an online carb-counting course available that you can do, from Bournemouth Hospital - and it's good.

 

[Bloden]

Hi there, Beany Mike. 🙂 How long you been in Almería?🙂

 

[Ljc]

Have a read of Test review adjust by Alan S
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.co.uk/2006/10/test-review-adjust.html

 

[Beany Mike]

hee hee, my useful Spanish regarding D is limited to Tengo diabetes y necesito azúcar por favour! LOL @Bloden might be able to assist you with the more common terms you may need though.

Insulin these days isn't delivered in syringes - it comes in pens holding 3mls of insulin, equivalent to 300 units. 300 units is about 10 days worth for me - but I'm Type 1 and don't have any insulin resistance - which is a common feature of T2, though not absolutely everyone has it - however more or less all T2s need more than I do every day. So - we don't know and can't really guess how much anyone else might need - it depends completely on YOUR body - and no-one else has that! LOL

The needles are far tinier than any other needle you've ever met. However if you have knowledge of fishing line - it's not much thicker - in fact it's narrower than some line. Pen needles - the business end that we stick in ourselves are 4 - 6 mm long. Teeny teeny! Most jabs - we shouldn't actually even FEEL. Incredible, eh? But true.

It could be far, far worse - so please try not to be scared.

There are some carb-counting Apps you can get for your phone if you are into such thing - or books if you aren't giving each food's content per 100g or 100ml - or the backs of packets across Europe have that info anyway - you're looking for a word like Glucose or Carbona - haven't had a Spanish packet to read for ages so I forget exactly what LOL. There's also an online carb-counting course available that you can do, from Bournemouth Hospital - and it's good.

A very big thank you to everyone who so kindly replied with all your info - yes I test my blood glucose levels - don´t know what MDI is - nor basal/bolus - one will presumably reveal the other!

Thank you so much for your info - it´s a treat for me to have many long standing false assumptions blown out of my head - I had always thought that type 1 folk were in some ways the "worse off" of the two types and had no understanding that type2´s could regress to a state of needing just as much "care and attention" thank you. I have no fear of needles, only my own ignorance and ability to misunderstand.
My apologies for delay in replying - very slow keyboard skills! Best wishes for perfect counts and will pop back 1st week of june with next "stage". Mike

 

[trophywench]

The modern way of taking insulin is by multiple daily injections - MDI ! Typically we take one (or sometimes two) jabs of long-acting insulin each day to cover all our background needs (eg breathing, digesting, pumping the blood - all that sort of thing) - and that's known as Basal insulin. Plus, we also have a faster acting insulin, that we jab before each meal, to deal with that, based on the amount of carbs on our plates. This is known as Bolus insulin and these jabs are also called 'Boluses'. Basal/Bolus ! See ?

No idea of the Spanish terminology for such things, sorry.

 

[Beany Mike]

Dear Trophywench - Thank you x millions - l will look up any Spanish I. Need no probs. - B Mike

 

[Beany Mike]

Hi
in prep for possible changes - have been trying to learn a little more about counting carbs - 2nd hand book stall had updated version of Dr Atkins - the back of which has a brill list of foods + carbs per portion.
As a 5ft 7" - 9st 6lb - very active 67 year old - I cannot relate to much else in the book (regarding weight loss) except his extraordinary insight into the damage caused by constant high carb intake.
This morning I have tried to measure a breakfast I have been eating for the last 3 years - it all added up to about 69grms of carbs.
I have counted up my "highest" carb intake lunch meal - 66grms and supper - 47grms. My devoted (and at the moment extremely perplexed) wife who has tirelessly worked out my foods since first diagnosis cannot understand why I am once again questioning my food intake, and tells me I look like a scarecrow and on the way to looking skeletal. I think that she is genuinely scared that I am once again looking to cut out more food, and as neither of us are big meat eaters ,the choice of what to change/leave out/reduce/substitute is becoming heavy weather.
Is a 181grms carb daily average total an abnormally high intake for D type 2? - my BS count yesterday morning was 9.6 - took a 7 klm walk late in the evening - normal supper and woke to BS 8.4 - these last two weeks I have been bouncing around 7:5 - upper 8´s - no missing drugs - no naughty binging - and no change in my wife's well planed meals.
It´s got to be me that´s changed - nothing else left to look at that makes any sense - so am expecting after the next weeks HBa1c my Doc´s ponderings about change to insulin is inevitable.
I did promise to get back after test and the week- after´s consultation but my wife's´(and my) dread has prompted this!!
I can hear you yawning!! - sorry to be such a boring pain!
If you actually fell asleep reading this, please link me up to all the folk with sleep problems and will gladly Mail them too!!!!
Best to all - Beany Mike

 

[Ljc]

Sounds like you may well need more calories. Snacking between meals would help as well. Cheese makes a good snack some nuts are lowish carbs but will give you more calories, pork scratchings . I'm sure others here will come up with a few suggestions soon.
When do you test , you see it depends on the difference between your pre and two hour post meals testing