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If I can butt in, I was really reluctant to go to insulin, but after menopause things went haywire and nothing else was working.

You get used to the shots (you can get short needles). But what I found made them almost a non-issue was going from syringes to the new insulin pens. They were a lot easier to deal with, portable, and it seemed like the needles were finer; most of the time I never felt the shot. With the syringes I used to have a lot of bruises, never from the pens. There are different types of insulin, so depending on what type your doc has you on, you can do it once at night, or with each meal, etc.

As it happens, at the New Year I got a couple of Atkins books and started reading and doing the plan. My numbers went to normal, I had to reduce my meds quickly on my own and after about 7 weeks my doctor took me off of insulin. I had always 'watched' my carbs, but w/age and slower metabolism, find that I have to be really millitant about it.

South Beach works for some, but I think it was too many carbs for me. Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution is along the same lines, but very restrictive and probably a difficult lifestyle to maintain over time. My doc is an endo and the head of the university diabetes center where I go; the center is supporting patients going on Atkins - if they do it the right way and not just do what they 'think' is Atkins via the media. It's not all eating meat. Not at all. I also use a lot of George Stella's recipes from FoodTV and his cookbook. We're actually eating very well, I'm losing weight and I'm not taking insulin 6 times a day like I was a year ago (tho I had dropped to twice a day just before I got off).