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| | | From: MrsMarried (Original Message) | Sent: 7/10/2006 6:06 AM |
First, I woud like to ask how much of Lantus is everyone here taking? Is 40 units of Lantus a night considered a lot? Can Lantus simply quit working? How about oral meds for type 2? My husband has been taking Lantus nightly since he went on insulin and is suppose to be taking Novlog on a sliding scale up to 4 times a day plus Glipizide 10mg -five pills daily and Starlix 120 mg -three pills a day. The Starlix he takes one pill before meals and the Glipizide is 2 pills before breakfast, 1 pill before lunch, and 2 pills before dinner. He started insulin a couple of years ago and the Starlix shortly after that but he has been taking the Glipizide about 10 years. About two weeks ago, around midnight, my husband took his blood sugar and it was 466. He had already took his nightly 26 units of Lantus and I told him that we would have to call the doctor because his Novlog only covered up to 350 with 8 units. When I called the doctor, he told us for my husband to take 14 more units of Lantus and 10 units of Novlog and for us to call him in the morning. I personally thought the doctor would have told him to go to the hospital. Well, the next morning, {about 8 hours lately and without anymore food}, the blood sugar was 206. We finally got the nurse to talk to us around noon and she said that it was normal for the next 14 units of Lantus and the 10 units of Novlog to bring his blood sugar down only 260 points and for him to contiue taking the 40 units of Lanuts nightly. The doctor and his nurse didn't seem concerned about my husband's blood sugar, even to the point of changing my husband's next appointment from the end of July to the middle of August. This is a kidney doctor and I have tried to get my husband to look into going to a doctor that only treats diabetes. My husband refuses to change doctors and now is back to not checking his blood sugar. I know that I can't do anything more than what I am already trying to do for him and that's all up to him. I am wondering though about the questions that I listed in the first part of this post and simply giving a little history for why I would be asking such questions. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for any and all help, suggestions and advice. |
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| | | From: sarahQ | Sent: 7/18/2006 9:37 PM |
It might be worth your while talking to the Dr about splitting the Lantus dose many people find Lantus does not work for 24 hrs. |
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| When I took lantus I took 11 units a day. Lantus is a basal insulin, so unless your husband takes only lantus, it should be about 50% of his total daily dose. I would consider 40 units quite a bit, but not too much, especially since he is type 2, and they tend to need more insulin. |
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How much Lantus is the million dollar question for me. I have been typeII for about 20 years, control is fair to poor and I am very insulin resistant. Over the years my insulin needs have grown, as has my weight and waist. Let demonstrate this with my tribulations with HUMALOG, then I will comment about LANTUS. Insulin is a vicious catch-22. The more insulin you take, the more weight you put on and the more resistant you become. For fast insulin there are several sliding scales called '1500', '1800', '2200' etc, each calculate how much fast insulin you need. I was first prescribed 2units per each 50mg over 200 my sugar was. 10 years later this didn't do the trick. After careful experimenting I now need much more units of fast for each 50 and it takes 3 hours to act instead of the 1 or 2 hours.--and this does not cover the meal! If my sugar is 450, I have to take 60U of fast to bring me back to 100 mg/dl glucose. So, we can see I am very insulin resistant. Now LANTUS. I starting taking somwehere between 20 - 40 U once a day, as it lasts 24 hours. I later found I needed 100 Units a day. This is a lot of fluid to inject under the skin, so I broke my injections to 50U TWICE A DAY. This provided me better control. Sadly, 100 U does not give me any control. I was happy to see that someone else is taking 120 U a day! MODERATE exercise is recomended. Anything more stressful causes you body to produce more glucose and in the end, will raise your sugars. A note to BAMBISMOM1-- Diabetes and depression seem to go hand-in-hand. Because the depression prevents you from taking good care of yourself , I am sure your doctor will be happy to prescribe something to treat the depression. I have spent 20 years as a Medical Technologist doing glucose and A1C testing in many different clinical settings. I have spent my professional years testing, analysing data, and looking for causal relationships in clinical data. To MRSMARRIED-- Shame on your kidney doctor who should know that Diabetes is the leading cause of dialysis. It's a shame that your husbands care team does not take an active interest in his glucose control. You and your husband deserve better care! Regards |
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| | | From: Bar | Sent: 10/15/2006 1:07 AM |
I am overweight but managed to hold the line and even lose a little on lantus and humulin but when the dr changed me to hunalog and lantus I started gaining . My control is not better in fact not even as good and I have gained weight. I want my humuoin back. Bar  |
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I've been on Lantus for about 6 mos now and my doctor continuously complains about my weight. I have stayed the same weight for the past 6 months, never losing a pound, never gaining. If Lantus causes this weight issue, how can we lose on it? I take 72 units twice a day plus I take Glucovance 500 twice a day. I am on the patient assist program as I do not have insurance. I sometimes run out of the insulin before it refills again, and then I have to buy it. It then costs me $140.00 for 2 vials. |
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I have been taking Lantus for a few years. I was taking around 70-74 units per day, but then gained some weight, and then needed about 80 units. I then cut down my Avandia dose from 8 mg to 4 mg (I was getting significant ankle swelling and frankly would like to cut out the Avandia all together), and then my Lantus needs went up again. I currently take 96 units once per day (I prefer to inject in the mornings rather than at bedtime). I also use Novolog, and am supposed to take it daily before my main meal (usually dinner), but often forget. When I do take it, I use 16-22 units depending on how many carbs I think I am eating. My morning readings are good (usually 90-120, with sometimes as low as 70, but sometimes 140 if I forget the Lantus). I have gained a lot of weight since going on insulin (gained about 40 lbs). I have finally stabilized the weight gain, but want to start losing some weight. I wonder if stopping the Avandia might help me lose some weight. Anyone have experience with Avandia and insulin? |
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Hello, just so you know Lantus is a long-acting insulin. Meaning it is suppose to last up to 24 hours. And Novolin is a short acting insulin. It can be a balancing act...However, I believe this can vary due to the type and times of food a diabetic eats in a day. Therefore it is so important your husband checks his blood surgars before meals and at bedtime. Monitoring blood sugar is whats going to prolong his life. It lets him know how much insulin to give at each meal. Without checking his blood sugar levels is like driving a car blind folded. You eventually crash. He may not feel the damage he is doing to his body now but just like sugar can decay cavities it can decay ones organs and neverous system and blood viens. I know I am a 36 years diabetic with 2 heart attacks, 6 TIA's (small strokes), 17% kidney failure. Get your husband to take tight control now so he doesn't have any regrets down the road. |
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I am now on 40 units, but I have started taking a new insulin called Byetta. This is in addition to my Lantus. I started out taking 30 units and and then went to 60 units, When I went on Byetta my doc droped my dosage to 40. |
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I am on sliding scale of novolog 4 times a day and 35 units of lantus a night |
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hi iam taking 15 units of lantus at bedtime and i use nova rapid at meal times.....iam doing very well on it.....except if i have extra snack at night apple or peanuts.....will make it high in am around 12..... but what is the life of the vile one dr told me that after 30 days it doesnt work like it should.....has anyone noticed this........i have noticed a lot of you are taking large amounts of insulin.......i have been diabetic for 26 years..... i was on NPH and had major reactions.....i like the lantus but still courious about the 30 day life? |
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Joann...I too am on Lantus and I take 25 units a day....and I have read other members saying that Lantus has a shelf life of 28-30 days....I've never checked it out like on another website because a vial of insulin usually lasts me just about that amount of time. For sure, I don't know but I have read that. see ya. Peace,Cheryl |
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well i think they may be right...last couple of morning sugars have been 12.1 12.7.....they are usually between 5 and 7.....insulin is over 30 days so off to the drugstore and we will see what the difference is tommorow morning have a great day !!!! |
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It'll be interesting to see.....Peace,Cheryl |
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Hello All:
RE: Lantus
I was started on lantus maybe 5 years ago, by a specialist. 10 u, once a day. Over the years, I was maintained by a family doctor, who kept telling me to increase my lantus as my sugars went higher and higher. After 5 years or so, I was taking 160 U lantus, with no noticable drop in glucose. When the family doctor told me to " take more" I last my mind and went back to a specialist. He took me off the lantus-- he siad it was obvious to have high sugars with 160 U, the lantus was not working! Duh. Ya know, a medical degree to figure that out, lol. Anyway, I had developed a few antibodies to insulin.
The new specialist removed me from lantus and started me on BAYETTA ( ya know, "lizzard spit") 5ug twice a day/ It lasts for about 5 hours. Watch out, you can have some severe nausia and vomiting, but not everyone, all the time.
So, I take BAYETTA 5ul twice a day, and fast insulin with each meal. My sugars are very good, except that damned "morning rise", but we are working on that.
SIDE NOTE: I am diabetic/ working night shift and need a roommate to share a house with in Tampa. Interested, let me know [email protected] |
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