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Help with splitting Levemir

M

Maiii1247

Member
Messages
15
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi! So I was started on 17u levemir at 9pm and 5-6 units of Novorapid with every meal.
However the 17u of levemir drop me too much at night. Especially from 12am to 3am and dont give me coverage in the afternoon. It only keeps my sugars stable from 9pm to 3pm, after which i start rising. Also, Reducing units only gives my bad sugars in the afternoon

Im pretty nervous but after a lot of meltdowns ive decided to split my levemir into 8u at 6am and 8u at 6pm corresponding to when i wake up for college and when i have my late late lunch.
Now, HOW SAFE IS THIS? my doctor doesnt agree on a split as he says its a 24 hr insulin so itd be useless so IM DOING THIS ON MY OWN.

Does splitting levemir cause any overlaps? Does it change your bolus ratios? Would this make me more prone to hypos?
For everyone that split their levemir, how did the trials and errors go and what did u learn along the way?

I have a very hectic routine and i dont wanna risk a bad hypoglycemic episode infront of my college mates.
 
I’m type 2 and cannot advise on insulin doses. However even the very knowledgeable type 1s here are not allowed to give dosage advice, it goes against forum rules. You need to talk to your health care professionals. Some type 1s might be able to suggest precisely who you should ask, I’m guessing maybe a hospital endo consultant?
 
Hi, im a medical student myself and in no way i was going to use it as a medical advice! Ive seen a lot of diabetics split their basal insulin on their own and just wanted some insight or guidance into how to go about doing it and if theres anything i should be wary of. Sometimes the people with the most experience are the right ones to ask
 
I believe Levemir doesn't generally last for 24 hours for many, I have seen a number in these forums state that and therefore split their doses so that the whole day is covered

Though note, I never used Levemir so have only seen others saying this (I used Lantus and then Tresiba until I got my pump)
 

Ok thanks! Just hoping i can find any levemir users on here
 
I use to take lanctus as my Basel insulin but was switched to Levimir years ago , I was on 24 units once a day of lanctus , but was put on 12 units am and 12 units pm on advice of consultant , I am still on split doses and it works fine I do adjust it depending on blood results I am now on 13 units am and 13 units pm I also have a friend who is on split doses to be honest I was always under the impression Levimir wasn’t a 24 hr insulin
 
Thankyou for replying! Do you take them 12 hours apart? When u first started on the split doses did u notice if both the doses overlapped or caused any hypos?
Does levemir still produce peaks after being split or does it have a flat profile? Because i noticed taking levemir all at once at night cause me to go into hypo due to its peak at the 6 hr mark
 
Maiii1247 said:
Because i noticed taking levemir all at once at night cause me to go into hypo due to its peak at the 6 hr mark
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Either that or you just need less at night, I know I need a lot less basal between midnight and 3am for instance than at any other time of the day.
 
Levemir is often split, it's a very common and safe approach!
Maiii1247 said:
I have a very hectic routine and i dont wanna risk a bad hypoglycemic episode infront of my college mates.
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You will get hypos sometimes, and you will get them at inconvenient times. Not because of splitting the Levemir but simply because you're a diabetic on insulin.
Have you had "bad hypoglyceamic episodes" before?
For most of us, most hypos simply mean you don't feel well, need to stop what we're doing to have a 15 minute break to treat the hypo and move on.
It helps a lot if your mates know you have diabetes and might need a sudden break, saves a lot of questions when you have a hypo.
 
Rokaab said:
Either that or you just need less at night, I know I need a lot less basal between midnight and 3am for instance than at any other time of the day.
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I tried to go down unit by unit and it made my nights pleasant but my blood sugars the next day around lunch time were horrible and my blood sugars kept going up 2 hours after having my lunch so im guessing it runs out too soon for me.
 

I try and I say try to take them 12 hours apart but I’m not religious about it I have found that sometimes I think it last longEr than 12 hrs I have bEen known to be + or - a couple of hours ! As we all know as diabetics everything is personal to us so what works for one doesn’t always work for another that is why don’t be afraid to experiment to find out what works for you , yes. Your bloods maybe out of range for a short period until you find what works , but don’t stress about it , there is no perfect number for every one they are all different , unfortunately it’s one of the hardest things about diabetes finding what works for you ! I’ve had diabetes for over 40 years and I’ve just about found out what works , what I will say is don’t panic about short term out of limit blood sugars , you will find out what works for you it’s a bit like life experience both good and bad will eventually get you to a place of balance
 
I appreciate your reply! That calmed my nerves a little bit but im still a bit nervous cause it seems like it probably would require me to use more brain which might be draining coupled with all the load i already have from my medical school. Im still up contemplating if i should split it cause i have until a few more hours to take my basal shot for the AM if im to split it! Sorry for the rant!
 
It will be trial and error working out what the doses are for you, and you may find you need more during the day than you do at night - but yeah different for everyone
 
Thankyou! I really needed to hear this. Sometimes i need a little push. Also I appreciate everyone on this thread that has been kind to me.

I do try not to stress but my nerves get in the way because im splitting doses completely on my own and so i have to take responsibility for everything that could happen to me. I could ride out a short period of messed up blood sugars but im not ready for the weight loss that comes with it because i drop heaves when my blood sugars are high!

Im sorry if this is turning into an emotional support forum
 

Hi, I had a similar problem with night hypos when I was taking short-acting and long-acting insulins via insulin pens. I understand why intuitively it might seem like tweaking your long-acting insulin times could be the solution, but this wasn’t the solution to my hypos which kept occurring around 3-4 am). It turned out that the problem was that I was eating and bolusing late-ish in the evening and that my last bolus was peaking at a time when my slow-acting insulin levels were also quite high, causing frequent night hypos. What helped was changing the type of MEALTIME INSULIN to a faster acting one, not splitting basal dose times. Please seek the advice of an experienced diabetes nurse as you might need a change of insulin based on your metabolism, lifestyle (mealtimes) and insulin absorption patterns rather than dosage pattern. I know it’s a bore, but if you can keep a record of injection times and the type of food (injection sites, doses and times, slowly versus quickly absorbed carbs etc), it should help to take some of the guesswork out of the best solution for your hypos. Do be careful, a professional view is your safest bet. AND be kind to yourself, don’t beat yourself up about occasional rubbish test results, none of us is perfect. Also, if you can confide in one or two college pals (or anyone sensible in your class) that you’re diabetic and that if you seem out of sorts you might require something sugary urgently, pref glucose, it will give you a safety net which is much better than the alternatives.
NB alcohol and certain drugs can cause night hypos too.
 
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A lot of useful information here for the OP, I must say. In this case, I’d worry less about additional hypos and more about nailing down the best insulin regimen for you. Had to laugh about the using “more brain” comment. You’re a med student, you will be a doctor and on top of that you’re Type 1. You’re going to be needing and using “more brain” all the time. Supposedly, we only use a fraction of our mental capacity, so I wouldn’t worry about this either.
 
Not a problem we all need emotional support from time to tie. And I will say her there are many people to give it which they do regularly , we’ve all had similar problems , and eventually we have come through them
 
Hello @Maiii1247, I have Levemir and have always split doses and have done for the last 5years. I generally do it 12 hrs apart but it's not rigid, sometimes I sleep late or sometimes I go to bed early. It used to be equally split units, the same morning and evening but I found after a few years that I was going low overnight so shifted the balance so a tadge more in the morning and a tidge less at night. It had zero effect on my bolus ratio and the hypos I sometimes had during the night stopped. The diabetic specialist consultants at the hospital have been great in their advice and it's worked. Hope this helps Suex
 
Hi Did you split your Levemir and if so how is it going? I have been on Levemir for a few years, my nurse always tells me to split it because she says it typically lasts 18hrs and therefore is best split. I take mine 7am and 7pm, doesn’t effect my bolus at all. Hope all is going well.
 
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