Does Levemir need a longer time to come into full power ?

[Karel]

I was diagnosed with DM 2 13 years ago when I was 45. I was treated with various PADs and their combinations. Despite increasing dosages my sugars have been about 8.5 - 9.5 mmol/l (153 - 171mg/l) during all the years.
I still keep my weight 73 kg (162 pounds).
My doctor prescribed me Levemir (only 8 units in bed-time) plus Metformin (1000 mg in morning time) two weeks ago. My sugars were 10 - 15 mmol/l (180 - 270mg/l) after one week. I increased the dosage to 10 units and four days later to 12 units with no significant effect. My sugars are 9.5 - 13mmol/l (171 - 234mg/l).
Some people told me that the insulin effect should be almost immediate (within 24 hour pattern) and some told that this kind o insulin needs several weeks to be fully effective and that I should be very patient.
What are your experiences ?

Karel

 

[Bombshell13]

Re: Does Levemir need a longer time to come into full power

I'm not an expert but levemir is a background insulin and yes you should see its effect within the first day. I think it's lantus that takes a little longer. Maybe it's just the dose isn't quite right for you yet xxx


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[Daibell]

Re: Does Levemir need a longer time to come into full power

Hi. If your BMI is above the recommended range then any insulin could take a while to work as you may be insulin resistant and hence already have a lot of insulin in the body already. The most important thing would seem to be having the right diet i.e. low-carb and keeping portion size down. May be you are already doing this in which case I guess it will take time as your insulin levels balance. I started Levemir 2 weeks ago and it worked within one day but I know I had a very low level of natural insulin.

 

[cezzle]

Re: Does Levemir need a longer time to come into full power

My daughter is type 1 and on Levemir. We were told that when we make any changes to the dose it can take 3 days to show a difference.

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[cezzle]

Re: Does Levemir need a longer time to come into full power

Plus my daughter is 7 and on 12 units of Levemir a day (split dose) so it may just be you need to up the dose some more xx

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[Karel]

Re: Does Levemir need a longer time to come into full power

Hi and thank you all for your comments. My BMI have been 23.7 for many years. When treated with high dosages of Metformin and Glyclada I my sugars were always about 8.5 - 9.5 mmol/l with no regard to my diet changes. Very low carb diet has no effect and only hard work or exercising resulted in lower readings (about 6 mmol/l). However, I sometimes experienced sudden drops to 4 mmol/l (sometimes 3.4 mmol/l), which was very unpleasant. These drops came even after a normal carb intake.o
My doctor has been worry about hypoglycemia and therefore prescribed Levemir.
The above mentioned drops seems to indicate that my body still produces some insulin but a resistence is the problem. Isn't it ?

Hi. If your BMI is above the recommended range then any insulin could take a while to work as you may be insulin resistant and hence already have a lot of insulin in the body already. The most important thing would seem to be having the right diet i.e. low-carb and keeping portion size down. May be you are already doing this in which case I guess it will take time as your insulin levels balance. I started Levemir 2 weeks ago and it worked within one day but I know I had a very low level of natural insulin.

 

[Daibell]

Re: Does Levemir need a longer time to come into full power

Hi. It looks like you have a rather difficult diabetes to treat. Your BMI is good so being insulin resistant is less likely. It's always possible that you have one or the more difficult diabetes variants such as MODY etc. It's not for any of us to try to diagnose you, so I can only suggest you carry on working with the doctor to find the right insulin type and dose.

 

[Karel]

Re: Does Levemir need a longer time to come into full power

I return back to this discussion in order to ask for your experiences with inflammation and its relation to insulin resistance.
The doctor told me that maybe some kind of inflammation can cause my problem and recommended special examination. Really, within 2 days I experienced rapidly developing problems with my lower urinary tract and laboratory tests resulted in diagnose of urinary tract inflammation. I have been using antibiotics for 4 days now and the problems with urinary tract are getting better. The doctor that diagnosed the inflammation told me that rather diabetes caused it and not the other way about.
Is there possible that diabetes contributed to development of urinary tract inflammation first and the inflammation boosts diabetes now ?
Has anybody such experiences ?