If You Need Insulin

When you hear the word "insulin," do you picture giant needles? Many people find insulin to be less painful or scary than they expected. Find out what's fact or fiction when it comes to using insulin to treat type 2 diabetes.   View slideshow

Insulin pumps are used most often by people with type 1 diabetes, due to their more complicated insulin injection regimen. Only 5% of the more than 5,000 individuals who are members of insulin-pumpers.org, an online community for people interested in insulin-pump therapy, have type 2...  Read More

If your doctor puts you on insulin, it's not necessarily permanent. Unlike people with type 1 diabetes, who need insulin to survive, people with type 2 diabetes use insulin as just one more tool to control blood sugar...  Read More

Insulin has come a long way since 63-year-old Andy Mandell, executive director of Defeat Diabetes Foundation, a Madeira Beach, Fla.-based educational organization, began taking it. There are long-acting insulins to keep the blood sugar smooth all day and all night and rapid-acting insulins to keep blood sugar levels at bay after meals...  Read More

Yes, some people with type 2 diabetes can manage the disease with diet, exercise, and oral medications alone. But if you need insulin to manage your blood sugar, it doesn't mean you've somehow "failed" in your effort to control diabetes...  Read More

If you can't lower your A1C with diet, exercise, or other medications, you may need insulin  Read More

In my early 30s, I began to have complications like bruising and tingling in my arms and legs. So I started writing the symptoms down and talking to my doctor about them.   Read More

If you have type 2 diabetes and your doctor thinks it might be a good time to start insulin therapy, there are two important factors to consider: How much insulin do you need to take? When do you need to take it? And both are very personal.  Read More

If you have type 2 diabetes, you have more options to control blood sugar than ever before, including no less than six classes of oral medication. But just because one certain drug—insulin—has been around for nearly a century , doesn’t mean that it should be considered as less useful or important than other “more modern” drugs. In fact, some doctors recommend it sooner rather than later in people with type 2 diabetes.  Read More

Like so many people with type 2 diabetes, Daniel Wimer didn’t watch his blood sugar—even though as an RN, he had seen firsthand the serious damage caused by toxic blood sugar levels. He started using insulin more than 20 years ago, but stopped taking it until a few years ago. After a few health scares of his own, Wimer, now age 68 and living in Tampa, has his blood sugar and weight under control thanks to a combination of Byetta and insulin. Wimer shares his health struggles on his blog and in motivational talks as a member of the National Speaker Association of Central Florida.  Read More

Carol Ayers lives in Los Angeles. She was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes shortly after she retired at age 50. After cycling on and off oral medication and gaining and losing weight, she found that her blood sugar still wasn’t under control. She started taking once-a-day insulin shots, and now uses an insulin pen three times a day. It hasn’t been easy, but her blood sugar is finally under control. Ayers hopes that if she loses weight, she may be able to reduce or stop taking insulin.  Read More

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Taking insulin can be tricky. A surprising number of factors can affect the drug's ability to reduce blood sugar. If you’re on insulin, here are some questions you should ask yourself to help determine the impact of this powerful medication.   View slideshow

If you need insulin for diabetes, there’s good news: You have choices. There are five types of insulin.   View slideshow

Pregnancy is full of challenges—and even more so if you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes.   View slideshow

Insulin-related blogs as well as sites that give detailed information about insulin therapies.   View slideshow