Hello everyone. Im a recently diagnosed type 2. Very confused with everything. Taking 1injection of Lantus daily. Numbers in 150s and 160s in morning. I eat basically the same thing everyday. Frustrated
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Welcome here, Shelby.
I use Lantus too (on most days, in addition to a bunch of other insulins). We are insulin experts on this forum! If you have questions, ask away!
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@Shelby Welcome! Sounds like you’re ready to tackle this beast. Make sure you let your doctor know that you’re not going to tolerate high Bg’s.
It’s doable, and we’re here to give you all the help you need.
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Welcome Shelby, sorry to hear about your diagnosis. There is a lot to learn, but it is completely doable. The good news is you don’t need to eat the same thing everyday, that sounds really boring, but you will probably have to modify what you eat from your pre-diabetes days, at least until you are on fast acting insulin.
Here is a link to some information we have compiled.
While you may not be newly diagnosed to diabetes, you may be new to the insulin thing.
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Im type 2. I’m so ignorant about everything…do type 1s use the same type insulin. I appreciate your responses.
Shelby, yes type 2’s use the same type of insulin as everyone else. The primary difference between type 1’s and type 2’s is that in type 2 there is generally some insulin resistance that also has to be dealt with.
The normal way this manifests itself is that type 2’s typically do better on a low carb diet, which can significantly limit the amount of insulin you need. Type 1’s with proper management can do well at any carb level, although a significant number choose to limit the carbs to make management easier.
Also, type 1’s will use basal and bolus insulin from the start, but type 2’s generally start with no insulin, then basal insulin and then progress to basal plus bolus. Basal insulin usually is given once or twice a day and last longer than 12 hours (depends on type) and bolus insulin is much faster acting, usually exiting the system within 3-5 hours.
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@Shelby, welcome to the best place on the planet for becoming educated and learning to deal with diabetes (in all it’s forms). No member here is super happy to be here because that makes them diabetics in one way or another. But we are all extremely happy to have each other in this journey.
All your questions will be answered in short order here at FUD!
Welcome!!
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Question for your Shelby, how many times a day are you measuring your blood glucose? 150-160 in the morning is fine, what about 2 hours after meals?
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Welcome, @Shelby! I am sorry you had to join the club 
It is overwhelming at the beginning. But very soon you’ll be able to start adjusting your own doses and figure out what works for you.
Did your doctor give you a specific number of units (of Lantus) you are supposed to use every morning?
Did he mention anything about bolus insulin (you may not need any yet)?
Once you have been at this for a few days, there will be no reason whatsoever to keep eating the same things all the time.
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As @Chris said, T1 means that the insulin producing cells in the pancreas have been destroyed, so the insulin a T1 takes is for replacement of insulin they don’t have.
T2 is primarily a case of your body’s cells becoming more resistant to the action of insulin, so the insulin you produce is not enough to efficiently get glucose into the cells for processing.
T2 is treated in two ways: increase your insulin supply by taking injections, and reducing your insulin resistance by taking oral medication.
This explanation is just a simple overview. There are people who have T1 and also have significant insulin resistance. ( like me 
). There are also T2 people who have some non functional pancreatic beta cells. So, very often the treatment protocols for T1 and T2 will merge.
As a very wise endocrinologist once told me, “the disease is not diabetes, it is high blood sugar”. So in both T1 and T2 the objective is to not have high blood sugar.
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Im testing twice a day. Usually 200 a few hours after dinner. Discouraging. I take 27 units of Lantus once a day.
Shelby, most of us here take both basal insulin (Lantus is basal), which lasts a day, and bolus insulin, which is for each meal.
It takes a few weeks to tune your basal insulin. You basically need to adjust it until you have the right amount per day. It is a very delicate process because you don’t want to have too much: that will kill you in a few hours by bringing you too low.
Then, once you have the basal dialed in, your doctor typically adds bolus insulin for each meal. That is not always true for a T2: it depends upon whether you actually need it: some T2s like you don’t need bolus insulin. Maybe you do need some, or not.
When are you scheduled to see your doctor again? Do you have training classes that he has asked you to take? Do you have a Certified Diabetic Educator you can go to? What happens with diabetes is that a lot depends upon the patient, so being educated about the disease is really important. Most diabetes clinics have specialized educators who have scheduled courses. Have you taken some of them yet?
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Also - it is really normal for the process to take a while early on. You have to lock onto the right numbers. Sometimes a doctor starts you on basal for a few weeks at a low dose to make sure that you don’t get into DKA (hyperglycemia that might kill you), then they progressively tune your Blood Glucose (BG) down until they have it just right.
Has your doctor shared his plan with you yet?
I know this is overwhelming. I am really sorry you have joined us 
But, the good thing is – it is a fairly understandable and deterministic process. The early part, when you don’t know much, and are really worried, is the worst. As you get educated, it starts to make sense. Eventually you are in full control. it is never a pleasant thing, but it becomes very routine eventually – just frustrating to have to think about it all the time when you eat etc… But frustrating is not so bad 
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If they gave you a prescription for enough strips, you may want to start by adding a test just prior to dinner, that will provide your care team with a little more information to help you dial in your basal insulin and decide when bolus insulin is appropriate (if ever).
Also, if they aren’t asking, you could keep track of how many carbs you are eating with that dinner, and perhaps experiment with what happens with different carb levels of dinners, i.e. I am 200 two hours after dinner when I eat a dinner with more than 40 carbs, but when I eat a 20 carb dinner I am 130 two hours after dinner.
I wouldn’t be discouraged with a 200 two hours after dinner, it just is. My son regularly busts through 300, but it is just a number, what is important is treating with the tools you have available. Currently that is working with your medical team to dial in your basal and looking at what you eat. Eventually you may have more tools at your disposal.
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Thank you Chris. Your posts are encouraging. I need that now.
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@Shelby Just so you’re not too worried about a 2O0 reading at this point, I made it through my first year of dental school 45 years ago with an average Bg of probably over 300.
You’ll get good control pretty soon. The fact that you want to have good control is the most important thing.
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