What type of medication for type 1 diabetes

Some types of insulin cost more than others, so talk with your doctor about your options if you're concerned about cost. Read about financial help for diabetes care. The way you take insulin may depend on your lifestyle, insurance plan, and preferences. You may decide that needles are not for you and prefer a different method.

Talk with your doctor about the options and which is best for you. Most people with diabetes use a needle and syringe, pen, or insulin pump. Inhalers, injection ports, and jet injectors are less common. You will draw up your dose of insulin from the vial, or bottle, into the syringe.

Insulin works fastest when you inject it in your belly, but you should rotate spots where you inject insulin. Other injection spots include your thigh, buttocks, or upper arm. Some people with diabetes who take insulin need two to four shots a day to reach their blood glucose targets. Others can take a single shot. An insulin pen looks like a pen but has a needle for its point. Some insulin pens come filled with insulin and are disposable. Others have room for an insulin cartridge that you insert and then replace after use.

Insulin pens cost more than needles and syringes but many people find them easier to use. An insulin pump is a small machine that gives you small, steady doses of insulin throughout the day.

You wear one type of pump outside your body on a belt or in a pocket or pouch. The insulin pump connects to a small plastic tube and a very small needle. You insert the needle under your skin and it stays in place for several days. Insulin then pumps from the machine through the tube into your body 24 hours a day. You also can give yourself doses of insulin through the pump at mealtimes. Another type of pump has no tubes and attaches directly to your skin, such as a self-adhesive pod.

Another way to take insulin is by breathing powdered insulin from an inhaler device into your mouth. The insulin goes into your lungs and moves quickly into your blood. Inhaled insulin is only for adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. An injection port has a short tube that you insert into the tissue beneath your skin. You inject insulin through the port with a needle and syringe or an insulin pen.

The port stays in place for a few days, and then you replace the port. With an injection port, you no longer puncture your skin for each shot—only when you apply a new port. This device sends a fine spray of insulin into the skin at high pressure instead of using a needle to deliver the insulin. You may need medicines along with healthy eating and physical activity habits to manage your type 2 diabetes. You can take many diabetes medicines by mouth. These medicines are called oral medicines.

Most people with type 2 diabetes start medical treatment with metformin pills. Metformin also comes as a liquid. Metformin lowers the amount of glucose that your liver makes and helps your body use insulin better. This drug may help you lose a small amount of weight. Other oral medicines act in different ways to lower blood glucose levels. You may need to add another diabetes medicine after a while or use a combination treatment. Combining two or three kinds of diabetes medicines can lower blood glucose levels more than taking just one.

Most medications for type 2 diabetes are oral drugs. However, a few come as injections. Some people with type 2 diabetes may also need to take insulin. These medications help your body break down starchy foods and table sugar. This effect lowers your blood sugar levels. Biguanides decrease how much sugar your liver makes. They decrease how much sugar your intestines absorb, make your body more sensitive to insulin, and help your muscles absorb glucose.

Metformin can also be combined with other drugs for type 2 diabetes. Bromocriptine Cycloset is a dopamine agonist. It may affect rhythms in your body and prevent insulin resistance. DPP-4 inhibitors help the body continue to make insulin. They work by reducing blood sugar without causing hypoglycemia low blood sugar. These drugs can also help the pancreas make more insulin.

These drugs include:. They increase B-cell growth and how much insulin your body uses. They decrease your appetite and how much glucagon your body uses. They also slow stomach emptying. For some people, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, heart failure, or chronic kidney disease may predominate over their diabetes.

These medications help your body release insulin. However, in some cases, they may lower your blood sugar too much. Sodium-glucose transporter SGLT 2 inhibitors work by preventing the kidneys from holding on to glucose. Instead, your body gets rid of the glucose through your urine. Everyone's plan is different, based on a person's health needs and the suggestions of the diabetes health care team. The first thing to understand when it comes to treating diabetes is your blood glucose level, which is the amount of glucose in the blood.

Glucose is a sugar that comes from the foods we eat and also is formed and stored inside the body. It's the main source of energy for the cells of the body, and is carried to them through the blood. Glucose gets into the cells with the help of the hormone insulin. So how do blood glucose levels relate to type 1 diabetes? People with type 1 diabetes can no longer produce insulin.

This means that glucose stays in the bloodstream and doesn't get into the cells, causing blood glucose levels to go too high.

High blood sugar levels can make people with type 1 diabetes feel sick, so their treatment plan involves keeping their blood sugar levels within a healthy range, while making sure they grow and develop normally.

To do that, people with type 1 diabetes need to:. Following the treatment plan can help a person stay healthy, but it's not a cure for diabetes. Right now, there's no cure for diabetes, so people with type 1 diabetes will need treatment for the rest of their lives. The good news is that sticking to the plan can help people feel healthy and avoid diabetes problems later. People who have type 1 diabetes must take insulin as part of their treatment.

Because their bodies can't make insulin anymore, they need to get the right amount to keep their blood sugar levels in a healthy range. The only way to get insulin into the body now is by injection with a needle or with an insulin pump. If someone tried to take insulin as a pill, the acids and digestive juices in the stomach and intestines would break down the medicine, and it wouldn't work.

Different kinds of insulin are used for different purposes. The types of insulin you use and the number of shots you take each day will depend on what's best for you and your daily schedule.

As you grow and change, the amount of insulin you will need to take can change. Getting insulin injections today is nearly painless, thanks to smaller needles. Insulin pumps which deliver insulin through a small tube placed just under the skin cut down on the number of injections needed.

People with type 1 diabetes have to pay a little more attention to their meals and snacks than people who don't have diabetes. They need to eat a balanced, healthy diet and pay closer attention to what they eat and when they eat it. They also have to balance the food they eat with the amount of insulin they take and their activity level.