Taking insulin or other diabetes medications with healthy eating options and physical activity is often part of the treatment of diabetes, the drug can help you manage the disease. Some other treatment options are also available.
What are diabetes medicines?
You take different medications according to your type of diabetes because there are different medicines to control different types of diabetes, along with the diseases related to diabetes, and because of the price of medicines.
Type 1 Diabetes
If you have type 1 diabetes, you will take insulin because now your body does not make this hormone. You will need to take insulin several times during the day, including food. You can also use insulin pumps, which give you small, stable doses throughout the day.
Type 2 Diabetes
Some people with type 2 diabetes can manage their disease by making healthy food choices and physically active. Many people with type 2 diabetes also need diabetes medicines. These drugs may include your diabetes pills or medications that are inserted under your skin, such as insulin. Sometimes you may need more than one diabetes drug to control glucose in your blood. Even if you do not take insulin, you may have to take it at special times, such as during pregnancy or if you are in the hospital.
Gestational diabetes
If you have gestational diabetes, you should first try to control your blood sugar levels by opting for healthy food and doing regular physical activity. If you cannot reach your prescribed blood glucose goal, your doctor will talk with you about diabetes medicines, such as insulin or diabetes pill metformin, which may be safe for you during pregnancy. If your blood sugar is too high, your health care team can immediately start diabetes medicines.
No matter what type of diabetes you have, taking diabetes drugs every day may sometimes feel like a burden under the diabetes care plan, you may also need medicines for other health problems such as hypertension or high cholesterol.
Types of Insulin
There are many types of insulin available, each type of insulin begins to work at a different speed, called “introduction”, and its effect is for “different” times. Most types of insulin reach a peak, then the effect is eliminated in the next few hours or even longer.
Different ways to take insulin?
The way you take insulin can depend on your lifestyle, insurance plan, and preferences. You can decide that the needles are not for you and can choose a different method. Talk to your doctor about the options that are best for you most people with diabetes use syringes, pens, or insulin pumps. Inhalers, injection ports, and jet injectors are less used.
Needles and syringes
You can take insulin shots using a needle and syringe by yourself. You will pull the insulin dose from the vial, or bottle, into the syringe. Insulin works the fastest when you put it in your stomach, but you should change the turn of insulin injection. Other injecting places include your thigh, buttocks, or upper arm. Some people with diabetes who take insulin require two to four shots per day to keep their blood glucose normal. Other people can take a shot.
Insulin pen
An insulin pen looks like a pen but has a needle on its top. Some insulin pens are full of insulin and are disposable. And the dust-like insulin pen has an insulin cartridge that you find and change after use. The price of insulin pens is more than needles and syringes, but many people are very easy to take it.
Insulin Pump
An insulin pump is a small machine that gives you a small, stable dose of insulin throughout the day. An insulin pump is a device outside your body that you keep in a belt or pocket and it gives only 24 hours of insulin under your skin through a pipe and needle. You can also give insulin supplements through the pump at the time of your meal. Another type of pump has no hose and is directly attached to your skin, such as a self-adhesive device.
Insulin Inhaler
Another way to take insulin is to inhale powdered insulin from the Inhaler device into your lungs by inhaling insulin from your mouth and quickly goes into your blood inhalation insulin is only for adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
Injection Port
In an injection port, there is a small tube that you put into the tissue under your skin. On the surface of the skin, an adhesive patch or dressing sticks to the port. You can inject insulin through the port with a needle and syringe or insulin pen. The port stays in place for a few days, and then you replace the port elsewhere with an injection port, now you don’t puncture your skin every time—only when you find a new port you have to puncture the skin.
Jet Injector
This device sends a good spray of insulin at high pressure instead of using a needle to deliver insulin.
Do oral medications treat type 2 diabetes?
You may need medicines with healthy eating and physical activity habits to manage your type 2 diabetes. These drugs are called oral medicines.
Most people with type 2 diabetes start medical treatment with metformin tablets. Metformin also comes in the form of liquid metformin reduces the amount of your glucose that makes your liver and helps your body make better use of insulin. This medicine can help you lose weight in small quantities.
Other oral medications act in different ways to lower blood sugar levels. You may need to take another diabetes medication after a while or use combination treatment. Combining two or three types of diabetes instead of just taking one can lower blood sugar levels.
Do other injectable drugs treat type 2 diabetes?
In addition to insulin, other types of injectable drugs are available. These medicines help to protect your blood sugar levels from being too high after your meal. They make you feel less hungry and can help you lose some weight. Other injectable drugs are not substitutes for insulin.
What should I know about the side effects of diabetes medications?
Side effects are problems that occur from a drug if you do not balance your medications with food and activity, some diabetes can cause hypoglycemia, also known as low blood glucose.
Ask your doctor if your diabetes medication can cause hypoglycemia or other side effects, such as stomach upset and weight gain. You should only take the medicines given by your doctor to help prevent side effects and diabetes problems.
Other treatment options for diabetes
When your medications and lifestyle changes aren’t enough to manage your diabetes, you can opt for other options. Other treatments include bariatric surgery for some people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes and “artificial pancreas” and pancreatic islet implants for some people with type 1 diabetes.
Bariatric Surgery
Also called weight-loss surgery or metabolic surgery, bariatric surgery can cause some people to lose weight in obesity and type 2 diabetes in large quantities and regain normal blood sugar levels. Some people with diabetes may no longer need their diabetes medicine after bariatric surgery. How long glucose levels in the blood will improve, it varies according to the patient, the type of weight-loss surgery, and the amount of weight of the person. Other factors include how long someone has diabetes and whether the person uses insulin or not.
Recent research suggests that weight loss surgery can help improve blood sugar control in people with type 1 diabetes and who are obese.
Researchers are still studying the long-term consequences of bariatric surgery in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Artificial Pancreatic
The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDSK) has played an important role in the development of artificial pancreas technology. An artificial pancreas uses manual blood glucose tests and insulin shots. A system always monitors blood sugar levels and automatically puts a second hormone, Glucagon, into the blood with insulin or insulin. The system can also be monitored remotely, for example, parents or medical staff.
Questions you should ask to your doctor
When you take a prescription for the medicine from a doctor, ask your doctor these questions.
- What are my drug names?
- Brand Name
- Appellative
- What does my medicine do?
- When should I start this medication?
- How long will this medicine take to work?
- What is strength (for example, how many milligrams, written as MG)?
- How much should I take for each dose
- Can my diabetes medication cause low blood glucose?
- What should I do if my blood glucose is too low?
- What causes this medicine?
- What should I do if I have side effects?
- Should I take before or after meals?
- When I take it, should I avoid any foods or medicines?
- Should I be protected from alcoholic drinks when I take it?
- When should I change the amount of the drug?
- What should I do if I forget to take it?
- Should I still take my medication if I am sick and can’t eat?
- How should I store this medicine?
- How many times should I take medication one day?
- When should I take my medication?