My doctor prescribed insulin – how do I starting insulin injections?

Starting Insulin Injections is a big step when it comes to treating your Type 2 diabetes. If your Type 2 Diabetes is at the point where oral medications are no longer keeping your blood sugar in check, then your doctor will prescribe injectable insulin. 

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists sets the standard for determining when people get prescribed insulin. They recommend insulin for people with Type 2 diabetes when the person has an A1c above 9 and complains of symptoms.

People with untreated Type 2 diabetes can stop producing insulin. In this case, your doctor will prescribe it for you.

Starting insulin injections will bring your high blood sugar levels down very quickly.

Diet and healthy lifestyle changes take time to improve your blood sugar. Insulin injections are immediate. They are not a cure-all for all of the problems Type 2 diabetics may face. Therefore, improvements to diet and lifestyle can help people get off of insulin and get back on track.

Basal Bolus Regimen

You may get prescribed a basal-bolus¹ regimen. This involves taking several injections throughout the day. These injections are taken with meals and before bed.

You may get a prescription for a single basal injection. Inject this at night before bed. This ensures steady blood sugar levels during sleep. 

You can inject insulin with a pen or a syringe.

Pens have a prefilled cartridge of insulin. They have thin short needles. These insulin cartridges are usable for 2 – 4 weeks without refrigeration. Inspect the cartridge and discard any that have floating clumps inside. Always check the end dates. Expired insulin is not helpful.

Syringes get filled by the user out of an insulin container. Allowing bubbles inside of the syringe can cause underdosing. Tap the syringe several times once it’s full to get the bubbles out before injection. Do not mix long-lasting insulin with other types. Follow the instructions from your doctor exactly.

Injecting insulin into different areas of the body affects the speed at which it can get into the bloodstream. Insulin injections get into the bloodstream fastest when injected into the abdomen. They are slowest when injected into the butt or the thighs.

Avoid injecting into the area around the belly button. Change injection sites on the abdomen to avoid soreness.

Click below to read about how Insulin can cause weight gain and what you can do about it.

How Does Insulin Cause You to Gain Weight?

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Anna

Founder and Author at Help For Your Diabetes

Anna has worked for several big functional health practitioners as a writer, editor, training specialist, customer service manager, summit coordinator, and affiliate screener.

She helped start and managed a supplement company and has consulted on targeted supplement creation.

She has also served for over 7 years as an admin for very large Facebook groups about health and autoimmune issues.

Anna has years of unique experience seeing which protocols and treatments work for which people, having seen hundreds of thousands of patient experiences and testimonials.

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1. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/insulin/basal-bolus.html#:~:text=A%20basal%2Dbolus%20injection%20regimen,1%20and%20type%202%20diabetes.