Degludec

[matthewwallis]

Been thinking about switching to this as currently on Lantus but had 4 instances where it has brought my blood sugar down dramatically within an hour and I’m not comfortable using t anymore. However, when looking it up it states ‘Do not drink alcohol while using it’ is that true?

 

[donnellysdogs]

Lantus shouldnt bring you hypo level within an hour of taking it... had you had 5 hours clear of any bolus prior to those incidents? Or are you sure your timings are right for taking it?

Most insulins.. (I cant recall instructions) would warn of alchohol intake as hypos can be mistaken for drunk and vice versa.

 

[matthewwallis]

Lantus shouldnt bring you hypo level within an hour of taking it... had you had 5 hours clear of any bolus prior to those incidents? Or are you sure your timings are right for taking it?

Most insulins.. (I cant recall instructions) would warn of alchohol intake as hypos can be mistaken for drunk and vice versa.

I know it shouldn’t, the only common thing in each instance was doing my Lantus 30-60 mins before. Yesterday I had 1 pack of quavers and 1 unit on Novorapid at 1pm with a blood sugar of 13 then Lantus at 5 and an hour later I was hypo needing 2 330ml cans of coke to bring me back up

 

[scotteric]

I know it shouldn’t, the only common thing in each instance was doing my Lantus 30-60 mins before. Yesterday I had 1 pack of quavers and 1 unit on Novorapid at 1pm with a blood sugar of 13 then Lantus at 5 and an hour later I was hypo needing 2 330ml cans of coke to bring me back up

Someone else could explain the science better than me, but the problem with Lantus as I understand it is that sometimes when it is injected in certain areas it won't bind with fatty tissue, and absorbs just like regular insulin, dropping you low. You could try Tresiba which won't have this problem, but you could also try Levemir which is made by the same company and also won't give you this problem.

 

[scotteric]

Been thinking about switching to this as currently on Lantus but had 4 instances where it has brought my blood sugar down dramatically within an hour and I’m not comfortable using t anymore. However, when looking it up it states ‘Do not drink alcohol while using it’ is that true?

I've been type 1 for 11 years, require a basal insulin in me at all times, and definitely drink alcohol! You just have to be careful because alcohol keeps your liver from being able to secrete glucose, meaning that you can have too much insulin in your system and drop low. If you switch to an insulin like Levemir you can take it in split doses more easily than Lantus (since it only lasts 10-14 hours in small doses) and take less on nights you are drinking. Otherwise, make sure you test and eat.

 

[Antje77]

Been thinking about switching to this as currently on Lantus but had 4 instances where it has brought my blood sugar down dramatically within an hour and I’m not comfortable using t anymore. However, when looking it up it states ‘Do not drink alcohol while using it’ is that true?

This is exactly the reason I switched to tresiba (degludec). I only had one of those lantus-hypo's and afterwards my lantus scared the **** out of me.

@donnellysdogs , lantus can do this. The reason that it works slowly is that it somehow chrystallizes with your fat cells (or something like that, can't rememder exactly). The breaking down of those chrystals, if thats what they are, takes time, and therefore this insulin works for about 20 hours. Should you accidentally shoot some in your blood stream (hit a small vein), the stuff doesn't have time to react with your own tissue and it basically acts like short-acting insulin.
I'm happy I'm still alive, I'm sure I've been unconcious for about an hour and a half, after eating and drinking a lot of fast carbs, undressing because of the sweating and heat, and lying naked in front of two fans on the cool floor. Last thing I remember is thinking that I shouldn't close my eyes and keep drinking undiluted lemonade and checking my bs. Closed eyes for just a minute, but in the morning saw there were almost two hours missing on my meter, which I was using about every ten minutes. I guess I had already taken enough sugar to let me wake up again. I live alone.
After I found a few others with this experience on the internet, and found they all had taken lantus shortly before their hypo from hell, I moved everything to get tresiba whithin days.

Apart from this one time, I've never had a hypo I couldn't easily fix myself, not even after accidently injecting short-acting instead of long-acting (well, that one was not easily fixed, but in the end I managed it myself anyway, after organizing people to watch me).
Tresiba works in a different way (forgot how, as it sounded a lot safer), and as a bonus it doesn't sting like lantus, and my sugars are much more stable!

@matthewwallis , About the alcohol, it will say that in the leaflets for every insulin. It's because alcohol can give you a hypo hours later, because your liver won't dump glucose when you need it, as it's busy getting rid of the alcohol. I'm a heavy drinker and I haven't noticed a difference between lantus and tresiba with alcohol.
Good luck!

 

[donnellysdogs]

This is exactly the reason I switched to tresiba (degludec). I only had one of those lantus-hypo's and afterwards my lantus scared the **** out of me.

@donnellysdogs , lantus can do this. The reason that it works slowly is that it somehow chrystallizes with your fat cells (or something like that, can't rememder exactly). The breaking down of those chrystals, if thats what they are, takes time, and therefore this insulin works for about 20 hours. Should you accidentally shoot some in your blood stream (hit a small vein), the stuff doesn't have time to react with your own tissue and it basically acts like short-acting insulin.
I'm happy I'm still alive, I'm sure I've been unconcious for about an hour and a half, after eating and drinking a lot of fast carbs, undressing because of the sweating and heat, and lying naked in front of two fans on the cool floor. Last thing I remember is thinking that I shouldn't close my eyes and keep drinking undiluted lemonade and checking my bs. Closed eyes for just a minute, but in the morning saw there were almost two hours missing on my meter, which I was using about every ten minutes. I guess I had already taken enough sugar to let me wake up again. I live alone.
After I found a few others with this experience on the internet, and found they all had taken lantus shortly before their hypo from hell, I moved everything to get tresiba whithin days.

Apart from this one time, I've never had a hypo I couldn't easily fix myself, not even after accidently injecting short-acting instead of long-acting (well, that one was not easily fixed, but in the end I managed it myself anyway, after organizing people to watch me).
Tresiba works in a different way (forgot how, as it sounded a lot safer), and as a bonus it doesn't sting like lantus, and my sugars are much more stable!

@matthewwallis , About the alcohol, it will say that in the leaflets for every insulin. It's because alcohol can give you a hypo hours later, because your liver won't dump glucose when you need it, as it's busy getting rid of the alcohol. I'm a heavy drinker and I haven't noticed a difference between lantus and tresiba with alcohol.
Good luck!

Thanks for info...

My concern was just in case there was a bolus within 5 hours before (normally 2-3hours) and checking that someone is absolutely sure it is basal...

 

[matthewwallis]

This is exactly the reason I switched to tresiba (degludec). I only had one of those lantus-hypo's and afterwards my lantus scared the **** out of me.

@donnellysdogs , lantus can do this. The reason that it works slowly is that it somehow chrystallizes with your fat cells (or something like that, can't rememder exactly). The breaking down of those chrystals, if thats what they are, takes time, and therefore this insulin works for about 20 hours. Should you accidentally shoot some in your blood stream (hit a small vein), the stuff doesn't have time to react with your own tissue and it basically acts like short-acting insulin.
I'm happy I'm still alive, I'm sure I've been unconcious for about an hour and a half, after eating and drinking a lot of fast carbs, undressing because of the sweating and heat, and lying naked in front of two fans on the cool floor. Last thing I remember is thinking that I shouldn't close my eyes and keep drinking undiluted lemonade and checking my bs. Closed eyes for just a minute, but in the morning saw there were almost two hours missing on my meter, which I was using about every ten minutes. I guess I had already taken enough sugar to let me wake up again. I live alone.
After I found a few others with this experience on the internet, and found they all had taken lantus shortly before their hypo from hell, I moved everything to get tresiba whithin days.

Apart from this one time, I've never had a hypo I couldn't easily fix myself, not even after accidently injecting short-acting instead of long-acting (well, that one was not easily fixed, but in the end I managed it myself anyway, after organizing people to watch me).
Tresiba works in a different way (forgot how, as it sounded a lot safer), and as a bonus it doesn't sting like lantus, and my sugars are much more stable!

@matthewwallis , About the alcohol, it will say that in the leaflets for every insulin. It's because alcohol can give you a hypo hours later, because your liver won't dump glucose when you need it, as it's busy getting rid of the alcohol. I'm a heavy drinker and I haven't noticed a difference between lantus and tresiba with alcohol.
Good luck!

Thanks for the response. Very worrying that it can happen, the first time was in Spain which scared me a lot. Seen other people mention it about Lantus before, told my diabetic nurse who just dismissed it ‘It’s a long acting insulin, so it can’t happen’. Luckily my doctor mentioned it the other week about changing so I’ll give them a call tomorrow

 

[Antje77]

Thanks for the response. Very worrying that it can happen, the first time was in Spain which scared me a lot. Seen other people mention it about Lantus before, told my diabetic nurse who just dismissed it ‘It’s a long acting insulin, so it can’t happen’. Luckily my doctor mentioned it the other week about changing so I’ll give them a call tomorrow

Diabetic nurses don't know everything, and in this case you can not even blame them. It's not a very well known side effect, and most of them have never experienced a hypo like this. I guess it's the experience that motivates us to dig down to the deepest parts of the Internet to find our answers!

 

[TheBigNewt]

Very scary story there. Especially alone. Glad you're OK. I think he's right, Lantus sort of crystallizes after it reacts in the subcutaneous space and sort of forms a little ice cube that melts during the day.. As I recall Levemir binds to the plasma (blood) proteins and is released from there. Pretty sure you take it twice a day. I take my Lantus in the morning and that works. We tell the veterans here at our facility to take it at night, but they're Type 2's. Something about taking insulin and going to bed just does not sit right with me. I've never had that happen though, thank God.

 

[matthewwallis]

Trawling back through old threads about Lantus this morning, it happens way too often. Managed to get an appointment tomorrow morning about changing so hopefully no more instances like this

 

[Cobia]

The lantus got me about 2 months ago. Temps went from 22 deg C to 37 overnight... i cut the rate to 40% it still was unstable. Switched to levemir and returned to nomal.

 

[Jeremy_Wood]

I'm about to switch to Tresiba. My issue with Lantus has actually been a little different...

I take my Lantus (28 units) with my evening meal, usually around 7pm. I have found for the last few years that my sugars have a tendency to rise late afternoon. I'd always put this down to afternoon snacks and general poor management but having had some really intense clinical work recently the suggestion is that Lantus actually doesn't always last 24 hours, and that I have been running on no background for a few hours a day.

Tresiba lasts well over 24 hours, more like 36, which I'm hoping will balanace me out a lot more. Plus, I'll do away with the sting you get when you inject Lantus (due to its acidic make-up, I recently found out!)

Hope you get on well with the Tesiba, let us know.

J

 

[TheBigNewt]

My friend's daughter did better on Tresiba than on Lantus. She isn't under the best of control for the most part. I tried Levemir for about a month and it wasn't as good as Lantus. I even split the dose.

 

[matthewwallis]

Well an update, I’ve got it now and start tomorrow morning! Work party tonight so getting my sugars on track will start tomorrow