Interested in Diabetes and Insulin?
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at
11:15 am
vclutter asked:
I am a diabetic and now am taking insulin. What happens if I really didn’t need it? Am I now dependent on it? Has my pancreas quit working all together? What would happen if I stopped the insulin?
I am a diabetic and now am taking insulin. What happens if I really didn’t need it? Am I now dependent on it? Has my pancreas quit working all together? What would happen if I stopped the insulin?
Tagged with: Diabetes • Diabetes Insulin • Pancreas
Filed under: Diabetes
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If you have Type I diabetes, where your pancreas is unable to make insulin, you definitely need insulin. With Type II diabetes (where the ability of the pancreas to make insulin decreases or insulin resistance increases) you could actually manage high blood sugars with oral medication. However, sometimes with Type II diabetes you may need insulin as well.
If you doctor has started you off on insulin it is highly likely that you are unable to make insulin and you definitely need to have it. If you stopped using insulin, your blood sugar would rise and you could get diabetic ketoacidosis, which is a serious acute complication and if not treated promptly could be fatal.
In more severe cases you could go into a coma (also known as hyperosmolar non-ketotic coma). This condition begins insidiously and may be present for days to weeks before it is diagonosed. This could also be fatal.
So if you have been prescribed insulin please use it.