Levemir or Lantus or ?

[CLP]

In a few weeks I'm seeing my DSN about moving from Novomix on to basal bolus. With reducing my carbs I've been able to keep my readings fairly stable using a mixed insulin but its so restrictive and I've lost quite a bit of weight. I'm hoping that going on to the basal bolus will give me a lot more freedom. Its such a pain having to eat at certain times and my lunches have been very very low carb (hence the weight loss I think). I don't intend to go mad when I come off the mixed insulin but it would give me much more flexibility.

However the big question is what insulin should I go on to? I don't know if I'll get a choice but if I do I would like to be able to make an informed opinion.

So .. what do you all reckon?

Claire

 

[gaynor]

My son is on Levemir, wasn't given a choice just given this. To be honest I don't know the difference.

 

[iHs]

Claire

I don't think you will go too far wrong with using Levemir twice a day as basal and for bolus using either Apidra or Humalog. I prefer Apidra over Humalog myself as I found that Humalog's action went on for too long and I had serious hypos. Apidra is slightly better and gives clearer hypo awareness such as yawning etc so tends to give you more time to deal with them.

You might find though that for a while you will still need to feed your insulin some carb every 2-3 hrs until you are able to get your basal completely right which isnt always easy to do. Its all a matter of juggling the bolus and basal in any ratio in order to get the control you want.

 

[LittleSue]

Personally I find Levemir better than Lantus. Lantus didn't work for me because of its long action - I need more during the day than overnight, which is easy with twice daily Levemir whereas with Lantus it was a choice between high in the day or hypo overnight - so much for the promised 'no more night hypos'. The downside is I need my morning Levemir at the same time regardless of work or days off, but this would also apply to once-daily Lantus taken in the morning. If you have a clear pattern to your basal needs already this may guide you, but really it comes down to trying one and if it doesn't suit try the other.