Degludec And Hypos

[Miss90]

My consultant has recently prescribed degludec as my long acting insulin but since starting it I've woken up with hypos every single morning. I've been reducing the dose by 1 unit every morning until I've reached 15 units to try and stop this but I know it's very long acting and takes a while to change unlike the levemir. Has anyone else experienced something similar with degludec? Thanks

 

[kev-w]

Yes I've recently changed to Tresiba from Lantus and am finding I drop on a morning around 9am (today 5.6 at 08.30 dropping to 3.9 in the time it took to brew a coffee) I've reduced from 17u to 15u but it still seems to 'trend' that way.

Apart from that it's good insulin and looking at the Libre line I 'think' I could get around it by changing my basal time, probably moving the injection to the morning rather than night as I've done for the last 34 years. One thing I would say is I saw a small difference after 5 days from dropping a unit so hasty changes won't help!

 

[Miss90]

Yes I've recently changed to Tresiba from Lantus and am finding I drop on a morning around 9am (today 5.6 at 08.30 dropping to 3.9 in the time it took to brew a coffee) I've reduced from 17u to 15u but it still seems to 'trend' that way.

Apart from that it's good insulin and looking at the Libre line I 'think' I could get around it by changing my basal time, probably moving the injection to the morning rather than night as I've done for the last 34 years. One thing I would say is I saw a small difference after 5 days from dropping a unit so hasty changes won't help!

Thank you, that is reassuring. I am waking to between 5-6am everyday with low blood sugar which is so annoying! I will stick it out and see whether the change in dose helps at all.

 

[donnellysdogs]

Give tresiba 3 days before making further changes so that the baseline in your body has adjusted.... changes daily aren’t recommended...

 

[alphabeta]

Give tresiba 3 days before making further changes so that the baseline in your body has adjusted.... changes daily aren’t recommended...

I think I was allowed to drop my basal on a daily basis if it causes hypos.

 

[donnellysdogs]

I think I was allowed to drop my basal on a daily basis if it causes hypos.

I was told to drop by a larger amount for 3 days and then work towards tweaking the dose....

 

[Miss90]

I was told to drop by a larger amount for 3 days and then work towards tweaking the dose....

I wasn't really given any information from my consultant and I'm struggling to get through to the nurses - I fly to the states next week so if I can't resolve it by then I'll go back to levemir to avoid anything happening potentially while I'm there!

 

[alphabeta]

I wasn't really given any information from my consultant and I'm struggling to get through to the nurses - I fly to the states next week so if I can't resolve it by then I'll go back to levemir to avoid anything happening potentially while I'm there!

I'd agree

 

[scotteric]

My consultant has recently prescribed degludec as my long acting insulin but since starting it I've woken up with hypos every single morning. I've been reducing the dose by 1 unit every morning until I've reached 15 units to try and stop this but I know it's very long acting and takes a while to change unlike the levemir. Has anyone else experienced something similar with degludec? Thanks

Yes, I had the same issue. I don't think there is a lot of understanding about how this insulin works for type 1s yet. Many have to split it to get consistent results, which runs counter to how it is supposed to work. When I reduced my dose enough to avoid the hypos it was no longer lasting 24 hours. The marketing says it should last up to 42 hours and is completely flat, but I don't believe this. It either doesn't work this way, doesn't at smaller doses, or doesn't work the way it is supposed to in a significant number of people for some reason that hasn't been figured out yet.