Why I hate lantus...
I don't care how much they like to advertise it as stable... for me, Lantus has a HUGE spike after I take it. Every night, I have to get my blood sugar to AT LEAST 230 to avoid waking up low in the middle of the night. However, If I lower the amount I take, my bloodsugar runs high all day long.
Today confirmed that I'm getting the perfect amount of basal during the day. With my new job, they like to give you 5 hours shifts, anything longer than that and they legally have to give you a break. Because of this, I had a nice 5 hour stretch to do some basal testing.
11:00AM- 175 (didn't measure my cereal this morning, so I guesstimated on the carbs. I also didn't want to risk a low at work, so I didn't correct it)
2:00PM- 178
4:00PM- 172
5:30PM- 173 (finally back home, so I corrected it then)
That was 6 1/2 hours without much change in bloodsugar, so that should mean that my Lantus is set right. If thats true, then why the heck do I have to eat 40 uncovered carbs just to get a good night's sleep?!?
On top of all this, my mom thinks that is completely normal and won't let me split my dose or take my shot in the morning, AND she thinks there is no difference between Levemir and Ultralente so I can't switch to that insulin either...
ugh
I honestly don't know what to do at this point besides what I've been doing.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by garidan on -
The day you try, do half dose at night and half in the morning.
Then measure and adjust doses (they usually are not half-half).
The first days measure a little more.
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Permalink Reply by Lara on -
TimmyMac, Lantus worked the same way for me. Huge spike and constant lows at night. I switched to Levemir and never looked back. If I start the night at 145 I wake up at 145. Your mom (no offense!) has no clue about insulins. The binding agents are different between Lantus, Levemir, and UL so they work differently with different people.
Call your doc on Monday and get a script for Levemir. You'll start with the same dosage as Lantus, but you might have to tweak it a little bit. I ended up adding a little supplement of Levemir (4U) in the mornings to assis with pre-dinner highs.
Good luck and let us know how Levemir works for you! And BTW you really need an endo... try to find one!
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Permalink Reply by andrea on -
hi lara, your situation sounds similar to mine. i could NOT figure out levemir either though, any advice for learning how to dose
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Permalink Reply by Holger Schmeken on -
Like Lara I would recommend to try Levemir. But I would recommend to split the dosage evenly at the beginning. The one shot pattern will not cover 24 hours for most people (also true for lantus BTW). An even coverage is the key to good control, evenly distributed I:C factors and reproducible effects in general.
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Permalink Reply by marty1492 on -
Hi TimmyMac,
I'm sorry for your situation with your mom. And you've probably considered the following possibilities, already.
Does your college have a health center? If so, can you go there for help in getting referred to an endo? Or at least see a doctor there who can prescribe a more effective insulin regime.
Do you have health insurance? Is it through your mom's health insurance? Often there is health insurance for cheap for college students, but I don't know if the health insurance companies are only willing to insure the "healthy" students.
Someone else on this board who is your age--or someone who has a diabetic kid in college--would know a lot more than I do about the possibilities.
As the last resort that I can think of at the moment, if your school has guidance counselors, maybe one of them could help.
You sound like a smart person who wants to take good care of himself. There must be someone who can give you some support in getting better health care for yourself.
Sending you the best of good wishes,
Marty
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Permalink Reply by TimmyMac on -
I honestly don't think my school has a health clinic. It's a community college, so no one actually lives on campus. They are more likely to just tell you to go home than treat you for something there. I could ask the guidance people... but what should I say? Do I just walk up to them and say "my family is compromising my health...help me?"
I'm currently on my dad's health insurance. It SHOULD cover enough for me to go to an endo every 6 months or so... The only thing it really prevents me from getting is a pump, but I would be okay with that if I could keep my night time numbers from crashing.
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Permalink Reply by marty1492 on
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Hi TimmyMac,
Thanks so much for your reply! Sorry there's no health clinic at school.
MossDog said some really good things about trying to create more open communication with your mom. It's certainly going to be easier for you for the next four years if there is some way to get her to understand more about how you feel.
Is there a person in your life whom your mom respects whom you might be able to talk to? Would that person maybe be willing to mediate a conversation you would have with your mom about how you feel and about the Lantus and endo issues?
If that's not an option, think about talking with someone from the guidance center. You could start with: "I have diabetes and I'm concerned about my health," or something like that. You could ask if there is a particular counselor (if there is more than one) who has more of a medical background. You could talk some with a counselor and get a "feel" for how well you connect with that person. If things seem comfortable for you, you could go further on to talk about communication issues with your mom. You could see how fast you want to work into the specifics about your health and the issues with your mom about that--based on how good you feel about the counselor.
I hope this helps. I also know that someone else's well-meaning suggestions can feel useless because the person is not "there" inside your life. So I sympathize if what I'm suggesting is off the mark.
Please know that you are not alone! There are many people who care!
Best, best good wishes,
Marty
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Permalink Reply by dino on -
Timmy, make sure your mom reads all these replies. Seriously. She needs to know that you are putting in a lot of thought and effort into figuring this thing out. You're just like all of us, and you have a right to experiment with different treatments and make educated decisions to balance your blood sugar.
Your mom should be more supportive and open to your ideas. There is a reason that there are so many different insulins out there. You never know how one is gonna work for you, specifically.
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Permalink Reply by Brian (bsc) on -
One thing about Lantus (and other basal insulins as well) is that for small doses, they don't have a nice long profile. This has to do with the fact that a small dose of insulin will absorb faster. It is also for this reason that you are recommended not to inject more than 50 units in a single injection.
Are you taking a small dose of basal insulin (i.e. < 10 units). If so, you may benefit even more than most from a split dose.
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Permalink Reply by TimmyMac on
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I'm not taking a huge dose (like my uncle, who takes 48 units twice a day...that would kill me) but I'm currently taking 24... I'm not really sure if thats small or not.
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Permalink Reply by Brian (bsc) on
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No, that is not really small. Even still, it would be good to try the split doses as others have suggested.
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