What Are The Side Effects Of Taking Insulin Injections?

Posted on Wed, 25 Feb 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 25 Feb 2015 Answered on

Wed, 18 Mar 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : hi,
I am a Diabeic patient. I am 55 Yrs old. Today I got my sugar level checked. It was 191. Last month my glucose level was normal. My Doctor is suggesting me for insulin injection. is it safe for controlling sugar. ALso, let me know if there is any side effects.

Answered by Dr. Ajish TP (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Depends on other blood tests

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX,

Welcome to HCM. I had gone through your question and understand your concerns.

Some doctors believe in starting insulin early in treatment of diabetes. Most important thing is control of diabetes and prevention of complications.

The target is:

Fasting blood glucose : less than 130 mg/dl
After food : Less than 180 mg/dl
HbA1C (3 months' average blood glucose) : less than 7%
Absence of any complications : Normal kidney function, neuropathy and retinopathy tests.

If you cant achieve this with oral medications, it is better to add on insulin.

Safety and side effects of insulin:

Insulin can bring down any blood sugar values to desirable levels. Insulin is relatively safe, but it may result in low sugars (hypoglycaemia) and weight gain. You should monitor the blood sugars more frequently while on insulin.

Hope I have answered your question. If you have any further questions I will be happy to help.

Regards
Dr Ajish TP
Consultant Endocrinologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar