• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Basaglar acting too quickly?

M@

Member
Messages
16
Location
South Africa
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Greetings
I am finding that my long acting dose of Basaglar drops my blood sugar really quickly after I take the dose. Is this normal for Basaglar (e.g., it can drop from 8 to 4 within half an hour)? If so, is there anything that can be done to stop this, because it gets pretty annoying constantly trying to get my blood sugar above 6 before sleeping? It doesn't seem to matter where on my stomach I inject it either.
Apologies if this is a stupid question, but I got diagnosed 8 months ago and I'm still trying to figure things out
 
Last edited:
I've only been diabetic since 11/21. I'm on Abasaglar too. Always try to be 7 and above before injecting. Also try to do it around the same time. No trouble for me so far. Just outta interest do you bleed after? As I've read that if you hit a capillary when injecting. The insulin works quicker than it should.
 
I was also diagnosed in November. Thanks for the reply.
So I also usually make sure its above 7 before injecting, but it tends to drop very quickly after the injection. I have actually noticed that it is a lot quicker when I hit a capillary, but most of the time it doesn't bleed and it still drops within about 30 minutes.

Would it help if I waited until my short acting insulin (Apidra) ends before injecting the long acting insulin?
 
People are usually advised to inject a basal or background insulin into the thighs or buttocks, rather than the stomach. This is because it will generally take longer to act if injected there, which is useful to someone who takes their basal insulin last thing at night, as one of the reasons for basal insulin is to avoid leaving the body without any active insulin until morning We usually want a bolus/mealtime insulin to act more quickly to deal with what we're about to eat, so the injection site is more likely to be the waist area. I would suggest changing your injection site, but be careful, as it's possible that the number of units in that injection may need to be reviewed in view of the fact that your levels have been falling so fast.

Do you have a DSN you can ask for advice about this ? Do you inject your mealtime insulin into this stomach area as well ? Sorry, I don't know how this is handled in your part of the world. Who do you go to with queries ?
 
Thank you so much. I will definitely try that.
I think my dose is right at the moment, because I haven't been getting any hypos, but I'll definitely look into that.
I was told to inject everything into my stomach a different spot for each injection, but it makes more sense injecting the basal dose in an area where there's less blood flow.
There isn't actually much in the way of diabetic support in my country unless copious amounts of money are paid so I'm hoping to figure it out without a DSN.
 
Sounds as if you're stuck between a rock and a hard place then. I recommend that you always keep glucose or some sort of fast-acting carbs somewhere close to your bed, where you can grab it easily This is vital. People can die during the night because of a hypo.
By changing your injection site, you may just cause the drop in BS to happen later, in the middle of the night. You may well have to eat the extra carb that you used to have before your basal injection much later on. The insulin will still be just as powerful, but delayed in its action. I kept a bottle of the old sugar-laden Lucozade in the wardrobe for years. I had to for reasons of safety, to ensure my survival. There is nothing worse than a night-time hypo. Please take care over this. It does matter.
 
I always have my evening meal about 6-7 pm and take basal about 10-11pm.
 
Reactions: M@
Hi.

I had this exact same issue and I was getting lows in the night. Even injecting into my thigh wouldn't make a difference. I was on glargine and I've now been switched to treciba.
 
Lrlp said:
Hi.

I had this exact same issue and I was getting lows in the night. Even injecting into my thigh wouldn't make a difference. I was on glargine and I've now been switched to treciba.
Click to expand...
Hi
Thanks for the reply. I have contacted my DSN, so hopefully they will let me change insulin or find a way to help with the problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…