Diabetes Discussion Groups NYC area?

I myself just started on insulin a little over a year ago and am very pleased with my progress. I was started on Lantus insulin, 6 units each evening 9:00 PM. I kept a blood sugar, exercise and food intake journal for a week and faxed it to the doctor's office. She had her assistant call me back with insulin dosage changes and we did this for about a month. She pretty much trusts me now on my dosages and I'm at about 15 to 18 units a day depending upon my food intake at dinner. (If I've gone out to eat or had a bit extra because of a special occasion I'm allowed to adjust my long acting insulin to help take care of the extra sugar load.)

My oral meds include 1000 mg metformin twice a day and 2 mg advandia twice a day. My fasting sugars before insulin were running between 125 and 160 in the mornings. They now range between 89 and 110 with Lantus. After many posts about injecting techniques on this site our group came up with this:

Draw up your dose as taught. Re-cap the syringe and put it under your armpit to bring the refrigerated insulin to body temp quickly. (This cuts down on the sting factor.)

I use the padded area on my hips and outer thighs for injection because there are less nerves there. I have enough fat that I don't need to pinch the skin to stay out of the muscle, your experience may differ. It has been my experience that I bruise more often if I always use my tummy area.

Slowly slide the needle into the skin, slow and gentle, not stabbing as you will undoubtedly be taught in class. Inject gently, rest a second and firmly withdraw the needle. Place your finger over the injection site for about 10 seconds and that's it.

Injecting insulin is easier than configuring your remote. After about two days you will be a pro and able to help people on this site with their concerns. If you read back in the posts you'll find a wealth of information about injection techniques, travel hints, food plan helps and a bunch of other stuff. Hope this helps.