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

How to work out how much lantus I should be taking?

D

ddean91

Newbie
Messages
2
I have been diabetic now for going on 14 years, I am currently on Nova rapid, that's fine I carb count. I also take Lantus solostar and to be honest I don't know an awful lot about it. I was wondering how much other people take, if they spread to over 2 injections or just one. And if there were an easy way for me to calculate how much I should be taking, at the moment I take 60 units, which if I can remember correctly the diabetes nurse said was far to much. I don't ever remember them explaining this to me very well if at all.
 
Hi ddean and welcome!
As a forum we are unable to advise on drug dosages, it is against forum rules . The only thing we can suggest is that you consult your GP, diabetes nurse or consultant.
 
Hi @ddean91

I have to agree with Rachox that we cannot give specific advice on dosage.

What I can tell you is that I used to use Abasaglar which is a biosimilar product to Lantus, both are Glargine insulin.

With an evening injection I used to find that my blood glucose was drifting high the following afternoon (after about 18hrs) and for me it wasn't lasting 24hrs. So I did try splitting the dose which certainly helped.

It may involve some trial and error and of course we have to advise seeking qualified medical opinion before changing your insulin regime
 
I was more asking how I would calculate it, by weight maybe? and also the amounts that other people are taking. Just curious.


thanks for the replys
 
ddean91 said:
I was more asking how I would calculate it, by weight maybe? and also the amounts that other people are taking. Just curious.


thanks for the replys
Click to expand...

Now, to be clear, I'm neither a T1, nor do I take insulin, but I think folks sometimes do some basal testing, which, if I recall correctly, invloves a bit of fasting and lots of testing, in order to assess how well your basal is matched to you.

I wonder if @Diakat or @urbanracer , whom I think are both online, couldshed further light on that?
 
ddean91 said:
I was more asking how I would calculate it, by weight maybe? and also the amounts that other people are taking. Just curious.


thanks for the replys
Click to expand...

Sorry if I'm being a bit thick but do you mean your body weight?

When on Abasaglar I used to take 8 units in the morning and 8 in the evening. But I cannot see that my dose has any relevance to yours. Your requirements are unique to yourself and dependent on many factors.
 
Best advice I can give is to talk to your nurse.
Medical students are told T1s should have a total daily dose (all insulin) of roughly half their body weight soa 60kg person 30units. In practice this is not the case.
Are you going low between meals? That may indicate too much basal.
 
The amount needed for each person can vary drastically. Really, one person might take 50 units a day and another take 10 units. You have to do basal testing to figure that out. There is no set number for everyone.

Basal insulin is supposed to compensate for what your liver produces without eating. Bolus or fast acting insulin is for what you eat at meals.
 
Hi, @ddean91 , a starting point would be the maker's instructions for doctors on how to start new patients on it, see para 2.3.

http://products.sanofi.us/lantus/lantus.html

But it's just a starting point which benefits from tweaking it depending on how your results pan out.

I've found my weight in kg divided by 5 hits it well, but, as always, Your Diabetes May Vary.
 
The right amount of Lantus for you is the amount you need to take to keep your BG stable when you have not eaten or taking fast acting insulin such as when you are asleep.
This varies per person. If your BG is stable throughout the night, your Lantus dose is probably about right ... and not too high regardless what your nurse says and regardless what others take and regardless of what you weigh. If you BG falls through the night, your Lantus dose is likely to be too high.
 
Something about Lantus to also consider is to look at diabettech.com Lantus:Lethal or Lifesaver?
 
These days, it is a good idea to wear a FreeStyle Libre from time to time. In particular this tells you how you are trending overnight which is useful information in determining your basal needs.

From what I know, 60u of basal is quite high for Type 1 diabetes, but is not uncommon for people who are also insulin resistant. It may be the right dose for you, so don't make any changes to your dosages without advice from a medical practitioner.

Something to consider: I have heard from several people that Lantus wasn't good for them, and they much preferred Levemir. I found Lantus wasn't good for me, and I much prefer Levemir. I want to try Tresiba (the "better Levemir") but I can't get it here in Aus.
 
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.…