Diabetes

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I take the Novolin N (Long acting) at Bedtime, but I keep falling asleep and forgetting to take it. Does anybody know if it would be ok to take in the morning with my Breakfast Dose, or does it have to be at bedtime?

Are you a T1? If you add together the doses, the effect will NOT be the same! Novolin has peaks in its effectiveness. (You can look on the patient information that comes with the insulin for details) By adding the doses, you will get a doubly strong level of insulin, and probably have low sugar when the Novolin peaks. By splitting the dose, you are covering yourself for the overnight hours, and perhaps avoiding the dawn phenomenon (when insulin's effectiveness thend to wear off by early morning, thus producing high AM sugars, although fasting). You would therefore have a peak in action when the evening dose is strongest, and another when the AM dose is strongest (probably around lunchtime). You can discuss with your doctor exactly what he was thinking when he put you on this regimine. You may also want to discuss the possibility of changing to Lantus. It works for 24 hours at a more or less level rate. You would need to take a rapid acting insulin (such as Humalog) to cover meals and carbohydrates. You have more flexibility at mealtimes, but it does require a lot of testing and willingness to take extra shots. Just an idea... Hope this helped! sheryl

No-I am a Type 2. But thank you so much for the info. I think I just better remember to take it at night!

If you can get Lantus, you might try that instead. Once a day (24 hours) dose... you pick what time of day or night will work best for you... then keep taking it at that time from then on.

one large shot of lantus created lows for me, so, i split it into two shots, approx 12 hours apart. no more problems.

endo put me on apidra for quick results at mealtime.

I usually take my night time shot of slow actingNovolin ge nph at 10 pm every night. I have the alarm on my clock radio set and it wakes me if I fall asleep too early . Don't take it with your morning shot. It will change the results. Good luck. Saphire

Important Announcement The MSN Groups service will close in February 2009. You can move your group to Multiply, MSN’s partner for online groups. Learn More
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