Starting on Insulin
As you know, diabetes is a condition that changes over time. You’re probably already
doing a lot to manage your diabetes, like making healthy food choices, exercising
more, and taking your medication as prescribed. If your blood sugar is still not
under control, insulin therapy may be right for you. The truth is, most people with
type 2 diabetes may
need to take insulin at some point in their lives. This is a natural progression
of diabetes. Although you can’t always control it, you can control the next step
you take.
When you need insulin to help manage your diabetes, it doesn’t mean that you haven’t
been doing everything right. You may even have been controlling your blood sugar
without insulin until now. It’s important to remember that while some factors of
diabetes are under your control, some are not. Remember, diabetes is a progressive
condition—it changes as you age.
Fortunately, there are treatments available that can address your needs as your
diabetes changes. Experts from 2 major diabetes associations—the American Diabetes
Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)—
together have provided general recommendations for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The chart below shows one possible stepwise approach supported by these experts.
You should know that the time between these steps can sometimes be long or very
short. And not everyone will go through every step. In addition, your doctor may
recommend medications not listed in this chart as part of an individualized diabetes
treatment regimen. Only you and your doctor can decide if insulin is right for you.
Working insulin therapy into your life
Many people with diabetes are concerned at first about taking insulin. The good
news is that, for most people with type 2 diabetes, insulin therapy can be added
once per day to the medicine you’re already taking. As a result of advances in insulin
delivery, Levemir® (insulin detemir [rDNA origin] injection) is available in the
FlexPen®, a prefilled insulin pen that is ready to use in just a few steps. Levemir®
FlexPen® uses NovoTwist® needles, which are the thinnest needles available from
Novo Nordisk.*†
