Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Hal B on December 7, 2010 at 1:11pm

Hi, I'm taking 60 units twice a day of Levemir and up to 20 units per meal of Novorapid. Seems to work for me.

Permalink Reply by morggirl on December 8, 2010 at 8:24am

O wow i thought I was taking a lot I just alwas see people that are taking like 7 or 10 and i am like o my god why do i have to take so much! I do also take and were from 15 to 30 units of novalog at meals and victoza once a day.

Permalink Reply by Cheery Love on December 9, 2010 at 2:58pm

i have been on levemir about 2 years.  i take it every 12 hours = day 66 units, nite 60 units.  i also carb count w/ novolog & take symlin.  i have been diabetic for 40 yrs & not gone on the pump yet.  the split dose worked much better for me & it seems logically it would.  your doc seems to have some unusual ideas.

Permalink Reply by morggirl on December 9, 2010 at 4:10pm

Ok thank you I was thinking that i was the only one out there taking 70 a day lol 

Permalink Reply by Emmy on January 1, 2011 at 1:01pm

Most of the people on those low doses are slim type 2's or type 1 or LADA.

Those of us with type 2 usually have a lot of insulin resistance, thus the need for higher doses. We usually have more body fat too. More body fat and insulin resistance go hand in hand. Its all part of type 2.

Don't worry, you're a normal type 2. Those doses are not high at all for a type 2. You have to take what you need, not what works for someone else.

Permalink Reply by Gary on February 26, 2011 at 8:02am

WHAT ARE YOUR MORNING NUMBERS AND WHAT IS YOUR AVERAGE?

Permalink Reply by morggirl on February 26, 2011 at 9:55am

Well they were in the hight 200s to lows 300s but here in the last 3 weeks they have came down to the middle to high 100s. I am not really sure why this is cuz i have not really changed anything that I do but I am pleased. Not really sure of the average but I would say about 160 right now.

Permalink Reply by Emmy on January 1, 2011 at 12:57pm

I definitely think its best to split the dose. You should check out their website. Its not gaurenteed to last 24 hours.

 

I take about 47 to 50 units at night and about 27 to 30 units in the am. I am actually adjusting my dose a bit right now, that's why I have a range. Its not settled yet. I was on 27 and 47 for a while which seemed to work well, but my morning blood sugar started to rise when I got some injection site infections (I'm very prone to them, ever since I had my tetanus booster shot).

 

Anyway, back to Levemir, even though the infections have cleared up, my morning numbers are still high and my bs remains high all day. I really really hate this. I usually have good numbers, but nothing seems to be working right now. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll have to switch back to Lantus. I just spent about $450 on my Levemir too, which I have to use, as I can't afford to replace it with lantus. I think some of my Novorapid insulin was faulty, since it doesn't seem to have any affect on my mealtime numbers right now. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm upping my Levemir dose for a few days to see if it helps. I checked the formula in their prescribing PDF and I'm no where near the average dose for my size, so its safe to do so, provided I do it slowly. (My diabetes nurse gave me the formula).  

 

It does sound like you need to split your dose and possibly increase it. Check with your doctor about increasing it. Do you take a mealtime insulin such as Novorapid? Levemir and Lantus are both basal insulins and do not cover your mealtime carbs. That might be the problem.

Permalink Reply by morggirl on January 3, 2011 at 4:52pm

Well thank you for all the info, yes I do take meal time insulin (novalog) and I was taking 80 units of levemir then she backed me off to 60 and now I am back to 70 units. Although what I can not understand is that e y sugars seamed to be the same in the mornings when taking 80 units as it was taking 60 units. It is just so hard to get it all straight.

Permalink Reply by Emmy on January 4, 2011 at 12:03am

Well, it does take about 4 to 5 days for it to level off whenever you change an insulin dose, so if it was less than a week, you might not see any difference. It might not have stabilized yet. I'd give any change at least a week to be sure I know what it did or did not do.

If the increased dose made no difference even being on it for more than a week, then you probably need a split dose, one shot in the evening and another in the morning. Levemir doesn't last a full 24 hours. If you try taking half a dose one night and the rest of the dose the next morning you might see an improvement, but it will take a week or so to let your body catch up to the changes. That one night you will be a few units short too, so it takes time to catch that up as well. I'd allow two weeks before making any other changes if you go with a split dose, just to give things time to settle down again, because of the shortfall that first day. Check with your doctor or DNE first.

If you aren't taking enough novalog for meals, your basal insulin won't be able to keep your morning fasting number down. So if you try a split dose and it doesn't help, you need to talk to the doc or DNE about increasing your mealtime ratio.

To give you a perfect example: I was ill in December and got an infected injection site. Apparently it did some damage and my diabetes has gotten worse.

My blood sugar has been running high ever since and I had increased my Levemir dose with little effect.

I planned to try an increase in my mealtime insulin next. I called the clinic and the nurse said to increase my mealtime ratio, exactly what I planned to do. I started today and will know in a few days if it worked.

Keep this in mind: All insulin changes require time for your body to get used to the new dose, so take it slow.

Only adjust one thing at a time, either your basal insulin (levemir) or your bolus - mealtime insulin (novalog). Never adjust both at the same time, as you could go way too low, and you also won't be able to tell which change worked.

Better safe than sorry! Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Gary on February 26, 2011 at 7:59am

WOW

CAN I GET SOME REPSONSES TO THIS. BECAUSE READING THE AMOUNT OF UNITS OF LEVEMIR AND HOW MANY TIMES A DAY PEOPLE ARE TAKING SHOTS IS SHOCKING!

I HAVE BEEN DIABETIC FOR 5 YEARS. JUST STARTED TAKING LEVEMIR. WAS A TYPE 2 TAKING METFORMIN. MY ENDO DR. HAS ME TAKING 10 UNITS OF LEVEMIR BEFORE DINNER AND THAT'S IT FOR THE DAY. I ALSO TAKE 5 UNITS OF HUMALOG BEFORE BREAKFAST AND 2 UNITS OF HUMALOG BEFORE DINNER. FUNNY THING IS MY NUMBERS WERE OK TILL YESTERDAY. THIS MORNING MY NUMBER WAS 208. NORMALLY 110-140 AND ONE DAY THIS WEEK IT WAS 95! :)

CAN I HEAR FROM SOME PEOPLE ON HOW MUCH LEVEMIR THEY TAKE A DAY AND WHAT THEIR NUMBERS ARE. ITS A REAL BATTLE...

I ALSO HARDLY EAT ANY CARBS. JUST FRUIT. MADDENING.

Permalink Reply by morggirl on February 26, 2011 at 10:00am

I have been a type 2 for about eight years. I take 70 units of Levemir at night at about 10pm then I take probably any were from 50 to 80 units of novalog through the day with my meals.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page