I can stop taking medications once my blood sugar level is under control

Blood sugar level can be controlled by proper dietary plan, physical exercise and medications, but that does not mean diabetes is cured and will not come back. Therefore the medications should not be stopped until it is guided by the doctors. Stopping medication can lead to the rise of blood sugar level and can lead to sever complications, which can include kidney, heart and nerve damage. Once you are started to take medication you cannot change or stop it without consulting a doctor because Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition. Even slight  increase in blood sugar level can lead to serious conditions and these damage may be silent, which can eventually lead to take stronger medicines later(1).

Needing to take insulin means you have failed

If we are having a disease we should take medicine, that doesn’t mean we have failed. Type2 diabetes is a progressive disease due to the less production of insulin and can be caused by many factors and it is not because of any personal shortcoming. Diabetes needs to properly treated as it can lead to many serious condition, insulin is the most effective way to reduce or control blood sugar, so there is no need to have a feeling of being failed. Starting the intake of insulin can help in overall health and helps in avoiding complications. Taking anything that our body requires is not a failure, it is a sign of healthy and quality lifestyle to avoid severe conditions (1).

Diabetes can be cured with diet

Type2 diabetes is a autoimmune disease and we cannot cure it by diet. The idea of being on a “diet” for a chronic lifelong condition like diabetes is enough to put many people off as knowing what to eat and maintaining an optimal eating pattern are challenging. A proper diet routine can help to lower the blood glucose level but it cannot be cured. Remission and reversing can only be attained through diet, as Type2 diabetes involves the improper functioning of pancreas and their no/low insulin production. Once the diet is broken the blood glucose level start to rise, which is an indication that Type2 diabetes cannot be cured through diet (2).

Reference

  1. American Diabetes Association. (2023). Standards of care in diabetes—2023. Diabetes Care, 46(Supplement_1), S1–S291.

  2. Forouhi, N. G., Misra, A., Mohan, V., Taylor, R., & Yancy, W. (2018). Dietary and nutritional approaches for prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. Bmj, 361.

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