“Which diabetes uses insulin shots?”

Type 1 diabetes can only be treated with insulin. Most type 2 diabetics can be treated with pills, but some require insulin.

It does not matter what type of diabetes mellitus you have. Usually type 1 diabetes mellitus is managed with insulin injections and type 2 diabetes mellitus is managed with oral medications, however if the blood sugars are too high, people with type 2 diabetes mellitus may need insulin injections as well.

A Type 1 diabetic - whose pancreas doesn't make any insulin - MUST take exogenus insulin in order to survive. But, Type 2 diabetics, who do make some insulin -- just not enough to adequately control the blood sugar -- will need to take supplemental insulin if their blood sugars are not adequately controlled with lifestyle measures and oral hypoglycemic medications.

Type 1 diabetes, in which a person is not making any insulin, obviously needs lifelong insulin therapy. Type 1.5, or Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of Adulthood, which typically occurs in the 2nd to 4th decade of life and many times is falsely diagnosed as type 2, also requires insulin therapy. The issue is that insulin production is very minimal, so not enough to control blood sugars without insulin, but enough to prevent from going into diabetic keto-acidosis. Thirdly, type 2 diabetes where there is insulin resistance and if blood sugars not controlled can lead to burning out of pancreas sooner and need insulin therapy.

Type I Diabetics must use insulin. Type II Diabetics may need insulin shots.

William Z. Cohen, M.D., FAAFP