Why you may need more medication over time After your initial diagnoses of type 2 diabetes, you may notice that it’s harder to reach your diabetes treatment targets even though your medication, exercise routine, diet, or other things you do to manage your diabetes hasn’t changed—and that’s normal. Every so often, your routine to manage your diabetes will likely need to be adjusted. You might start managing your diabetes with diet and exercise alone, but, over time, will have to progress to medication, and further down the line you might need to take a combination of medications, including insulin. Switching from taking an medications other than insulin, like metformin, to insulin can make you feel like you haven’t been doing enough to manage your diabetes. But this isn’t true. Your body changes as it ages and diabetes is a progressive disease, so your need for different medications and treatments also changes. While you may have to adjust your treatment plan and medications as your body changes and your diabetes progresses, it to helps prevent complications and helps you stay as healthy as possible. How diabetes progresses Type 2 diabetes is a progressive condition, meaning initial management strategies may become less effective over time. Understanding the type 2 diabetes complications timeline can help you prepare for adjustments in your treatment plan. Scientists understand the basics of type 2 well, including how the body makes and uses insulin. When beta cells in the pancreas can’t produce enough insulin to keep your blood sugar (blood glucose) from raising too high, the result is diabetes. First, your body stops making enough insulin or using insulin it does make properly. When your body doesn’t use insulin properly, it’s called insulin resistance. Your beta cells increase the amount of insulin they produce to make up for the insulin resistance. Over time, the body works even harder to make more insulin and eventually it can’t keep up.