What time of day do you take your lantus?

[-Artemis-]

Hi there

So, I've just got my insulin yesterday - novo rapid and lantus.... obvs trying to work it all out - quick q; the nurse was a bit vague about when to take the lantus and in the end says it doesn't really matter when I take it, so long as its the same time each day...

I was thinking if taking it about 11am today as thoughts that's a good time between brekkie & lunch, plus I can more easily monitor it to see what it's doing for the first doses that way -- as I'll obviously not be just about to go to bed...

Sounds sensible or any thoughts?

I've seen many people take it at night and wondered if that's just preference or there's a reason?

Thank you


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[dtennant9]

Most people will take it at bedtime.
When I was diagnosed I was given much the same advice as yourself and told to take it at the same time each day.
I used to take mine at bedtime but have now moved it.
I take my main dose at 18:45 and a smaller dose at 09:00.
I find taking it a bit earlier works good for me but its an individual thing.

 

[dalem]

Hi there

So, I've just got my insulin yesterday - novo rapid and lantus.... obvs trying to work it all out - quick q; the nurse was a bit vague about when to take the lantus and in the end says it doesn't really matter when I take it, so long as its the same time each day..
I was thinking if taking it about 11am today as thoughts that's a good time between brekkie & lunch, plus I can more easily monitor it to see what it's doing for the first doses that way -- as I'll obviously not be just about to go to bed...

Sounds sensible or any thoughts?

I've seen many people take it at night and wondered if that's just preference or there's a reason?

Thank you


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i take the lantus at 8 pm. ive only just started it a few months ago i take 22 points but it seems to peak between 6-8 pm and ive been having hypos. im trying to work the nova around tha lantis

 

[-Artemis-]

Oh I interesting thanks - so you think you peak around 22-24hrs after taking it...?


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[DunePlodder]

I take mine around 6:00 pm. It's then part of my evening meal routine & I remember it.
Originally I took it before bed but often would be drifting off to sleep when I'd think "Did I do my Lantus?"...

Different times/split doses work for different people. Pick a time you are happy with, monitor it & keep an open mind about changing if necessary.

The main thing is to get the dose right, it makes everything else easier. Work with your nurse & look up "basal testing" so you understand what you are trying to achieve. Essentially it's a theoretical:
"If I don't eat & don't do any exercise how much basal do I need to keep my blood sugars level?"
Not that it's ever quite as simple as that..

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Mosschops]

Hi

Studies have shown that Lantus starts to die off after approximately 14-18 hours, so you may be better to split your Lantus into 2 equal doses and take them 12 hours apart eg 9pm and 9am

 

[-Artemis-]

Really interesting replies - thank you!

.... like all things diabetes related; it seems we all have different ways of managing / responses - and so to some degree it needs to be a bit trial and error.... I took it at 11am; but it was my very first ever time of taking it so obviously way too early to tell.... I literally only got my pens yesterday and currently am bouncing from the 5's to 13's - but think that's cos I didn't have any background at first.... Might be back with more questions but for now I guess I just gotta try it for a bit...

 

[RIKDALAD]

I am using the lantus and novo rapid pens too. I have been using them now for over a year. When i first changed over to them the nurse told me to take the lantus first thing in the morning when i get up as it is a slow working insulin and then eat breakfast and then take a small dose of the novo rapid. At the start i found the sugar levels dropping rapidly and hypos starting a lot so then the dosage of the novo rapid was lowered and from then until now ive had no bother with either pen since or hypos either.

 

[noblehead]

It doesn't matter when you take lantus as long as you leave 24 hours between injections. I use to take mine just before bed (10 - 11pm) but now take it around 6 - 7pm.

 

[jackois]

Hi there, I have my Lantus at ten in the evening. This has made it easier to tweak the dosage as there has been no food intake from the injection to waking and I use my waking blood test as an indicator of my base level.

I do find that my evening rapid has to be a bit higher...I suspect that between being less active in the evening and the effect of the Lantus wearing off causes this.

 

[Lisbet]

Always took mine in the morning to prevent night time hypos, which were a menace when I took it at night like most people do. The morning dose totally stopped the night hypos - Lantus definitely peaked for me around 8-9 hrs after dosing despite fact they say it has no peak.


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[Telgreen]

I've changed to lunch time ish , one tip I can give u is don't get v pens mixed up as I did one day 25 units of nova rapid put me on my Ars pretty quick ! I was rushing to work in v morin and grabbed v wrong pen ! I was late to work that day ! f me it took 1 hour to come right ! Split doses works well u just have to work out what your rate is ! Have a no carbs day ! Good luck


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[-Artemis-]

Always took mine in the morning to prevent night time hypos, which were a menace when I took it at night like most people do. The morning dose totally stopped the night hypos - Lantus definitely peaked for me around 8-9 hrs after dosing despite fact they say it has no peak.


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Hi @Lisbet - poss a silly question - but how do you know it definitely peaked...? Is it cos you'd drop 9hrs after taking it?

 

[-Artemis-]

I've changed to lunch time ish , one tip I can give u is don't get v pens mixed up as I did one day 25 units of nova rapid put me on my Ars pretty quick ! I was rushing to work in v morin and grabbed v wrong pen ! I was late to work that day ! f me it took 1 hour to come right ! Split doses works well u just have to work out what your rate is ! Have a no carbs day ! Good luck


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@Telgreen thank you! I've seen a few people mention about figuring out what their rate is by having a no carb day.... is that literally you have a day with no carbs and no fast acting so you can figure out how much lantus/long acting you need? Presumably I'd have to do a few days to figure out what dose keeps me in good numbers without using the novorapid....?

 

[Jaylee]

Lantus Glargine... I've been using this stuff possibly for over 25 years?
I was given a leaflet with a wave graph on how it works at the time along with the use of Novo rapid for the bolus..

I was told to inject the Lantus at bedtime, which I still do..

However "bedtime" for me can be anywhere between 11pm-3am...
Interestingly without fail irrespective of when I inject the basal if I hypo at night? It's either between 2&3am or 6&7am..? (I could inject at 1am, have a reading of 8 & still wake with a hypo at 2.40.) If this happens it can sometimes leave me like a yo yo till noon & then blood sugars consistently impeccable the rest of the day.... My understanding from the old basal graph & some of the stuff I seen online recently is Lantus is meant to slowly rise & peak as it works through the day after about 8 to 10 hours then tail off....

I can sometimes eat evening meal as late as 9.30, so even if I was tempted to bed down early? I put a "restraining order" on my basal never to come within 2 hours of the bolus...

 

[Lisbet]

Yes - monitored my blood sugar and after years of night hypos I realised that changing to mornings would at least give me the option of being awake when it got lower so I could deal with the low before I had a seizure! Simple solution to a dreadful problem.


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[DunePlodder]

@Telgreen thank you! I've seen a few people mention about figuring out what their rate is by having a no carb day.... is that literally you have a day with no carbs and no fast acting so you can figure out how much lantus/long acting you need? Presumably I'd have to do a few days to figure out what dose keeps me in good numbers without using the novorapid....?

You don't need to do a whole day at once.
Have a look at this page:
http://www.salforddiabetescare.co.uk/index2.php?nav_id=1007

 

[TattooGuru]

I take my Lantus before bed, 10pm ish... I notice that a few of you inject about 22 - 26 units. I inject 32 units down from 40! Am I still injecting too much do you think? I rarely Hypo during the night and it wakes me if I do. You'd think after 27 years I'd have it sorted by now wouldn't you!lol!


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[bonus]

I have my Lantus usually early mornings , 7 am ish then I find im often 'low' at 11am -12. I have varied my bolus (Humalog) amounts when i eat high carbs for example my cereal / porridge or big potato dinners.

 

[noblehead]

I have my Lantus usually early mornings , 7 am ish then I find im often 'low' at 11am -12. I have varied my bolus (Humalog) amounts when i eat high carbs for example my cereal / porridge or big potato dinners.

See if the following is helpful, it's an on-line version of the DAFNE course which covers things like basal insulin and getting your insulin-to-carb ratio's right:

http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/