November 14, 2011
-
No, you are not a failure.
There is a common misconception among type two diabetics that if you are on insulin (or have to go on it) you are a failure. It’s your fault. You should have taken better care of yourself.
First of all, yes, there ARE factors you can control: Your weight, what you eat, how much exercise you get.
But there are ALSO factors you can’t control: your genes, your age, your ethnicity.
So that means, even taking the first three items out of the equation, you may have ended up a type 2 diabetic anyway.
The average type 2 diabetic is on insulin about 6 years after diagnosis. It could be that they waited too long and should have been on it sooner. That doctors are hesitant to prescribe insulin because people tend to be afraid of the ‘needle’.
It doesn’t have to be about 2″ hypodermics. I use a pen with a very short needle (maybe 1/2″) and inject in my abdomen where I usually can’t feel a thing.
Diabetics are already used to needles because they have to test their glucose.
Insulin is the ‘wonder drug’ for diabetics.
Diabetes is a progressive disease. It progresses. Period. Even with excellent control. So no matter how good you are, you will likely end up on insulin at some point in your life.
Insulin will help you regain control. It may prevent complications because it helps with control.
If you are a diabetic and your doctor “threatens” you with insulin, change doctors. It’s not a BAD thing!!! And it could be a life-saver for you!
November is National Diabetes Awareness Month.
Consider this a public service announcement
Comments (3)
Yep, there is a stigma. It didn’t matter to me that I was taking aerobics and watching what I ate. Genes from my mother and my father’s mother dictated where life would take me. I was diagnosed in 1991, maintained with diet and exercise for 5 years, started oral meds, finally went to insulin in 2007. i agree – the needles are so tiny that I don’t feel them. Thanks for posting this. It is the month for it.
@thirtythousanddays - I was inspired to write this when a friend of mine, who has had type 2 for 14 years was put on insulin by her doctor. She is refusing to take it. She says she can do it with diet and exercise. She is afraid of insulin because she said it caused cancer in rats. I don’t think she realized that insulin is a natural substance that her body is having trouble making.
@SherylM - Tell her this – I wish I had started it years earlier. It is so easy. Yes, it is a pain to carry the pen when travel involves eating in restaurants, but it has become second nature very quickly. Nobody even notices me using it. The advantage to taking the insulin was being able to broaden my eating choices past non-carb foods. As I said, I wish I had gone on it sooner.