Is insulin addictive?

Insulin, as a kind of protein hormone produced by human body itself, needs exogenous supplement when it is absolutely or relatively deficient in the body. There is no saying that “medicine is divided into three poisons”. Insulin is not a drug, there will be no addiction, withdrawal syndrome will not appear after discontinuation.
In recent years, more and more people with diabetes are coming. According to the latest epidemiological study of diabetes in China, the prevalence of diabetes in adults in China has been increasing continuously, reaching 12.8%. This has undoubtedly sounded an alarm for us. Today, I’d like to answer some questions about the use of insulin.
What is insulin
Insulin is an acidic protein, which is produced by islets β Cells secreted for clinical use in diabetic patients; Diabetes mellitus complicated with pregnancy and ketoacidosis. Patients with acute diseases such as myocardial infarction, major surgery, trauma and burns will also be treated with insulin for a short time（ See the table below for insulin classification.)
Insulin injection three piece set
An injectable insulin consists of an insulin pen, an insulin refill and a needle, just as a pistol needs a gun body (pen), a bullet (Refill) and a trigger (needle).
Below are ten common misconceptions commonly used by diabetics when they use insulin. Ask your friends to see if these misconceptions occur on your body, change the wrong way as soon as possible, and use insulin correctly.
Myth 1: insulin addiction
Addictive concerns are often the first candies before diabetes patients use insulin. Insulin, as a kind of protein hormone produced by human body itself, needs exogenous supplement when it is absolutely or relatively deficient in the body. There is no saying that “medicine is divided into three poisons”. Insulin is not a drug and will not be addictive. Withdrawal syndrome will not appear after withdrawal (such as long-term drug addiction, craving, nausea or vomiting, muscle pain, tears and runny nose, pupil dilation, hair erect or sweating, diarrhea, yawn, fever, insomnia and other addiction syndromes).
After using insulin for a period of time, due to the supplement of exogenous insulin, the patient’s islets were damaged β The cells were rested to help protect the remaining islets in type 2 diabetic patients. β Cell function, thereby slowing down the development of diabetes.
Myth 2: insulin is the last resort. The later you use it, the better
It is wrong for some diabetics to use insulin to procrastinate and drag. During the treatment of diabetes, doctors should be advised to use insulin regularly, regularly and according to the condition. The timely use of insulin can control blood glucose early, and reduce the possibility of diabetic complications.
Mistake 3: oral hypoglycemic drugs are better than insulin
Some patients believe that they can not take medicine while they are taking medicine. They hope to use oral hypoglycemic drugs instead of insulin. But for patients with type 1 diabetes, it is necessary to use insulin replacement therapy for life. For patients with type 2 diabetes, if they can not control blood sugar after improving their lifestyle and oral hypoglycemic agents, it is necessary to combine oral hypoglycemic drugs and insulin.
Mistake 4: insulin is very painful
Insulin injection needle is short and thin, as long as the standard injection, basically no pain. If you have pain, you should pay attention to the following points: new Kaifeng insulin should be warm to room temperature before injection; Avoid injecting at the root of body hair; Use a special insulin needle and change it every time.
Myth 5: for convenience, insulin is injected at the same place for a long time
Repeated use of insulin at the same location can cause subcutaneous fat hyperplasia (induration), resulting in a decrease in drug absorption rate, leading to blood glucose fluctuations.
According to the order of absorption speed, the suitable parts for insulin injection are abdomen > arm > buttock > thigh. Therefore, the best choice for short acting insulin injection is abdomen, and the best choice for medium and long acting insulin injection is buttock. In addition, the injection site should be rotated regularly.
Myth six: in order to save money, 2 or more diabetic patients in the family use the same insulin pen (core).
In some families, there are a number of diabetics. It is very dangerous to use insulin pen with each other in order to save money. Trace blood is easy to backflow to the refill, even if a new needle is used, it will also lead to the spread of blood diseases and infectious diseases.
Myth 7: do not shake the premixed insulin before injection
Premixed insulin is a mixture of two kinds of insulin with different onset and maintenance time, also known as biphasic insulin. Shake and mix well before injection. If the mixing is not enough, the insulin concentration will be unstable, which will affect the hypoglycemic effect and cause hypoglycemia. The correct mixing method is turning and rolling, and the bubbles produced by violent shaking must be avoided.
Error 8: keep the needle perpendicular to the skin surface during injection
This is related to the length of the needle and the thickness of subcutaneous fat. If the length of the needle is less than 4mm, it is usually injected vertically; If the needle is larger than 4mm, or the body is thin, it is necessary to lift and pinch the skin, incline the needle at a certain angle, so as to prevent the needle from penetrating into the subcutaneous layer.
Mistake 9: always keep insulin in refrigerator
The unopened insulin injection should be stored at 2 ℃ ~ 8 ℃ in cold storage to avoid direct sunlight and repeated vibration, and should not be frozen. The unsealed insulin can be stored at room temperature.
When taking a plane, patients should put insulin in their carry on luggage, which must not be checked in. Because in flight, the luggage compartment will be in the environment of dozens of degrees below zero, which is equivalent to putting insulin into the freezer. After freezing insulin, transparent liquid will crystallize. Even after thawing, turbidity in these liquid will form a large number of granular substances, leading to insulin failure.
Mistake 10: reduce or stop the drug after the blood sugar is stable
More insulin is easy to hypoglycemia, less insulin will fluctuate, must be injected according to the doctor’s advice. Insulin can only help control blood sugar, but can not cure diabetes. Even if the blood sugar is stable for a long time, we should continue to use insulin. It is strictly forbidden to reduce or stop the use of insulin without the consent of the doctor.