I have had diabetes for about five years and have been taking Glucotrol XL and Glucophage which seemed work great at first, but then not so well. Now, I have an A1c of 10%, and my doctor increased my Glucophage to three times per day, but I still have blood sugars of 190-240 mg/dl [10.6-13.3 mmol/L]. Will I have to take insulin? Is this normal?

Your doctor is correct to increase the level of medication if your sugars were running above 200 mg/dl [11.1 mmol/L]. Whether you will eventually need insulin injections is not known. Roughly 50% of people with type�2 diabetes end up taking insulin so it is very common.

I would say that it is best to treat the high sugars, whatever it takes. You would still use the oral hypoglycemic agents first. In addition, a healthy lifestyle is most important. If you carry extra weight, it would be very important to address this with diet and exercise. If you need help with this type of intervention, there are many resources available through your physician and the local hospital. It would seem that the best insurance policy for maintaining good glucose levels in the future is good blood sugar control now.

JTL