I am currently taking Humalin M3 Insulin 30 units morning and 30 units night. I take my night dosage about 40 mins before my dinner. Last night after my dinner which was chicken and steam vegetables my blood sugar level was 7.0. I got worried because I took 28 units of Insulin before my dinner that it would drop in the night and I would get a Hypo so had a handful of unsalted nuts and 1 slice of wholemeal toast with cheese. I woke this morning and my blood sugar was 10.1. My breakfast was 2 x slice of toast and cheese. At lunch time my blood sugar level was 3.8. My doctor Has just put me on Lantus today 24 units once per day. He said that it is a 24 hour acting insulin and it will balance my blood sugars better. Does anyone have any feedback on taking Lantus. I recently started to reduce my carbs to about 60g per day but I do not know how this affect my blood sugar levels with the new Insulin. My doctor said not to change much with my diet and the new Insulin basically keep it how it is now with my 60g of carbs. I also was told to always take the Lantus at 6pm every day. I normally get home from work at 7.30 so that is a 1 1/2 before my dinner. I have been on Humalin for over 15 years so this is all new to me and the change is all new to me. I have an appointment with my GP next week on the 2nd September and my Diabetic review is on the 8th September with my Diabetic Nurse.
Please Help Me Diabetic and Confused
- Thread starter Jimmy37
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Hi Jimmy.
Lantus for a type 1 is normally a basal insulin used in conjunction with a bolus insulin such as Novorapid which would be injected at meal times to deal with the carbahydrate intake.. This type of treatment regime is called MDI or multiple daily injections.
In this case the longer acting Lantus can be injected at bed time covering a 24 hour period.
What I ask is. Were you only prescribed Lantus?
Lantus for a type 1 is normally a basal insulin used in conjunction with a bolus insulin such as Novorapid which would be injected at meal times to deal with the carbahydrate intake.. This type of treatment regime is called MDI or multiple daily injections.
In this case the longer acting Lantus can be injected at bed time covering a 24 hour period.
What I ask is. Were you only prescribed Lantus?
Yes I was only prescribed Lantus. Now I am a little scared that I was given the wrong prescription
Aginoth
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Perhaps you should consider Multiple Daily Injections (MDI). One of the other alternatives is Humalin I as Basal with Humalog as Bolus taken before each meal there are lots of combinations of various insulins though, you'd need to talk to your DSN about it. You'd most likely achieve better control with 3 or 4 Bolus and 1 or 2 Basal Jabs per day than the 2 injection model.
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Can you give a little info on your diabetes.?
Just checking first are you type one? How long diabetic? Other diabetic related medication prescribed? That sort of thing.
I will also tag in a few respected long term & more recently diagnosed Ds that have been or still are on MDI that may be able to help..
Always good to get a wide spectrum on this..?!
@Spiker @June_C @noblehead
I am type 1 and I have been a diabetic for over 20 years now. I take Remopril 2.5g once per day. I was also told in march 2015 that I have diabetic retionpathy and need laser treatment. My GP was concerned that my blood sugar levels are not stable enough when taking Insulin Humalin M3. I did explain to the GP that i think the reason for my high blood sugar levels are because of my carbs intake.
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What ever your carb consumption is.? The Lantus won't do the job of stabilising the blood sugar levels on it's own...
As a type 1 you would need to get the fasting levels right with the Lantus & get an insulin to carb ratio sorted with what you bolus for the food..? Carb counting for the apropriate fast acting dose to cover meals... That's the short "breakdown" on the basics on an MDI regime..
should i contact my GP and ask to be prescribed nova rapid also or should wait until my GP appointment next week after doing a weeks worth of blood sugar testing on the Lantus so he can then see that will need the Novarapid also
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The way I see it. Unless you can last the week not eating??? This needs clarification from a D expert ASAP.!
Or continue with your Humalin M3 until you do..
Do you have a diabetes specialist nurse you could talk to?
Hopefully more T1s have input on this topic..?
I'll tag another MDIer in that may help.. @himtoo
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I have an appointment with my diabetic nurse on the 8th September. Now I really worried and scared to sleep tonight. I took my Humalin M3 at 5.30pm this morning. My GP switch me to Lantus today he told me to take it at 6pm which I did. He did explain that Humalin M3 last for 16 hours so now I have Humalin M3 and Lantus in my blood working. Should I be worried. I did try to explain my concerns with my GP today and all he said was that I am over worrying and thinking about things too much. Will taking the Lantus and still having the Insulin Humalin M3 from this morning cause me to have a serious Hypo tonight.
Ambersilva
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Hello,
As @Jaylee has already said Lantus only works in the background to keep Blood Sugar at a constant level depending on how much you inject at the same time once a day. When we have established the amount of Lantus needed we stay with that amount only occasionally making tiny adjustments as deemed necessary.
However, when Type 1's eat we also need to inject another fast or quick acting insulin that lasts 4 - 5 hours to deal with the food. The amount of quick acting insulin is dependent on what we are eating. The regimen is known as Multiple Daily Injections (MDI).
As @Jaylee has already said Lantus only works in the background to keep Blood Sugar at a constant level depending on how much you inject at the same time once a day. When we have established the amount of Lantus needed we stay with that amount only occasionally making tiny adjustments as deemed necessary.
However, when Type 1's eat we also need to inject another fast or quick acting insulin that lasts 4 - 5 hours to deal with the food. The amount of quick acting insulin is dependent on what we are eating. The regimen is known as Multiple Daily Injections (MDI).
Ambersilva
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I see you just wrote about injecting Humalin as well as Lantus. I have no experience of injecting Humalin as I am quite happy with Humalog (fast acting) and Lantus (which should stay in the system for 24 hours).
The Humalin was injected this morning as my normal insulin routine. When I went to see my GP today and described my blood sugar levels he then decided that it would be better to switch to Lantus once per day 24 units. So for me at the moment there is Humalin M3 from my morning injection at 5.30pm today and the 24 units of Lantus that my GP told me to inject today at 6pm. That is why I am so worried and seeking advice
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I would advise on closely monitoring your blood sugar levels.. & moving the appointment with the DSN forward for tomorrow to sort this all out...
I will call my Surgery to check if I can move the DN appointment earlier I have a feeling they will tell me that they do not have any Diabetic Nurses available until my appointment. My surgery never seems to have staff available or maybe it is the NHS being under staff. I am sure they will try and make me see the GP again but I am not sure the GPs fully understands my Diabetes treatment. I am really worried now and I think i will go back to Humalin M3 Insulin twice per day dosage.
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Try not to get too worried as the will push your levels higher, stress definitely doesn't help !
If you have time available tomorrow then just turn up at your surgery and refuse to leave until you have seen a member of your diabetic team, then you will certainly get this sorted.
In the meantime test before bed and set your alarm to test again at 3am when your levels are at their lowest and this should put your mind at rest to sleep through till the morning.
If you have time available tomorrow then just turn up at your surgery and refuse to leave until you have seen a member of your diabetic team, then you will certainly get this sorted.
In the meantime test before bed and set your alarm to test again at 3am when your levels are at their lowest and this should put your mind at rest to sleep through till the morning.
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I have to admit, I have never been in a predicament like yours... If I was to phone my surgery enquiring for my DSN? She would ring me back.. I once had a problem with my online prescription order & left a note for her on the site's additional enquiries.. Sure enough the following morning I had a text informing me she had amended the script & placed the order for the item omitted!
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I wish my surgery was like that. I honestly think if I turned up they would just say that the Diabetic Nurse was in appointments and could not see me and then they would try and force me to see a GP. Whenever i tried to see a Diabetic Nurse at short notice they have always push me into the care of GP who they say has an interest in Diabetic Care
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If your not happy with the diabetes care under your gp surgery then ask for a referral over to the hospital diabetes clinic, there they are more specialised in dealing with type 1 related issues than your average gp surgery and they will work with you to get your bg levels under control, I think this is especially important now that you have been told you have diabetic retinopathy.
