To My Type 2 Diabetics... Again

I'll start with an apology. I'm sorry if you feel left out. When I speak about bending the rules of a diabetic diet, many of you can't do what I suggest. You're probably on oral medications and a far less forgiving diet.

Or are you? 

Okay, let's start with my repetitive reminder: I AM NOT A DOCTOR! I've read a lot of stuff. I've made some reasonable leaps in logic. I have decades of experience as a Type 1 diabetic. So if you read medical advice from me and act on it without consulting your doctor, that's on you.

With that said, maybe you should have a sit-down with your doctor and ask if moving from oral meds to insulin injections would grant you more freedom. Obviously it would best if you simply followed instructions. A large portion of Type 2's are overweight, and the best course of action would be to lose weight. But that's a big ask when you're older and so out of shape that diet and exercise look like an insurmountable task.

Mind you, my first instinct is to tell you to try and lose the weight. No, it's not easy. But if you can afford to buy healthier foodstuffs, then please give it a shot. Because if you succeed, you'll get the natural high that comes with achieving a difficult goal.

If your doctor agrees that switching to insulin would be better for you, you need to understand that you cannot take this change lightly. You're not on the strictest timer in the world, but you better have a scheduled range in place of when to take your insulin regularly. Here. Have another list, this one of the time ranges for my insulin doses.

1. Breakfast: 6:30 - 8:00
2. Lunch: 12:00 - 1:30
3. Dinner: 6:00 - 7:00
4. Bedtime: Wildcard!

"Wildcard." This is my only one that isn't scheduled all that strictly. That's because bedtime could come between 10:00 and 1:00, and there's a sizeable gap between that dose and breakfast. But this is the dose that I'm the most careful with. No cheating with my evening snack. If you read my post about The Somogyi Effect, then you already know this dose is a balancing act. As careful as I am, I still manage to screw it up quite often.

The main point is that you have to take the switch to insulin VERY seriously. A poorly planned meal or dose could see you struggling with glucose readings that swing wildly up and down.

Let's look at two different dates on my glucose records.

The first is the day after I saw my doctor to receive a steroidal injection for, of all things, tennis elbow. How'd I get tennis elbow? No clue. I don't even know where a tennis court might exist where I live. But steroids do goofy things to one's blood sugars, so this is what 12 November 2022 looked like:

1. Breakfast: 273
2. Lunch: 360
3. Dinner: 277
4. Bedtime: 154

That was a rough day. I struggled all day to get my blood sugars in line, and was only partially succeeding toward the end of the day.

Now let's look at a more typical day. This is 22 November 2022.

1. Breakfast: 316 (As mentioned, I still haven't perfected avoiding The Somogyi Effect.)
2. Lunch: 75
3. Dinner: 165
4. Bedtime: 112

Timing. Care. Awareness. These are things that you need to keep in mind when taking insulin.

I have a friend from way back in high school that became a Type 2 diabetic, and he's on insulin now. He tells me how he takes 2 or 3 units per meal, and the tone of my voice switches to that of an adult addressing a child. "Awww, wook who's a big boy, taking his cute wittle insuwin dose." But that small dose is exactly what he needs to keep his glucose levels in line. Does he have it down perfectly? No, but he's trying. I think he said his last Hgb A1c was around 8.0, which isn't good, but far from the worst I've ever heard.

In my educated OPINION, your A1c is going to be your biggest indicator as to whether or not you should be on insulin. If oral meds aren't keeping you between 6.0 and 7.0, then your control might tighten up a lot more with insulin. TALK THIS OVER WITH YOUR DOCTOR!  My "educated opinion" means squat because I don't know your medical history, and I haven't been to med school.

And so we come to the close of yet another blog post filled with what could be excellent advice, or some of the dumbest words to ever come out a guy who thinks he's smart.

I think it's time we brought back the beautiful scantily clad young woman that I used as my shtick in my earliest posts. But this time...

Here she is, scantily clad

at last.

But this is as scantily clad as she ever gets. If you want more of my opinion about her and her "modelling," you'll have to ask. And we all know how that one will play out. 😛