Hypos and Degludec

Hello @beckyhodgkins_,

Your new insulin is Tresiba? It may help if you let us know what your older insulin was and the circumstances surrounding your hypos. Although there are a few forum members who have started using using Tresiba (@robert72 and @TorqPenderloin to name a couple), if you tell us the name of your old basal insulin then some people may share similar experiences with regards to unexplained episodes of hypoglycemia on that insulin

beckyhodgkins_ said:

Hi there I've been a type one diabetic for over twenty years in the last five I've suffered from horrendous frequent hypos with no warning. My consultant has just prescribed me degludec (excuse my spelling!) and I was wondering if anyone was suffering from severe hypos and had been helped by this new insulin?

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Hi @beckyhodgkins_ I have been using degludec for about two and a half years and find it much more stable than Lantus, which I found to be quite unpredictable by comparison. I was only on Levemir for about three months so can't give a comparison to that.

I've had two attempts at using degludec, tresiba.
First time I had a very physical job and degludec couldn't cope with my extremes...

I have just gone back to it after retrying pump for 3rd time, and the cannulas failing in my skin.

This time, I am fairly stable and smooth for about 50% of time. It does not cope with my levels at night. I
I am steady 5-6 levels from eating my food at 6pm right through to 2am. No bed snacks needed etc. However it is still dropping from 2-4am. Only from
6 to 4.1 last night but the drop needs to be stopped.
Then from 4am it does not cope with DP. Insulatard for me kicked in good when I woke at 4am and an hour before getting up to inject. Even with a doubled up bolus at 4am and 8am my levels still rose last night from 4.1 at 4am to 10.8 this morn at 9.30am.

Then Despite day times eventually coming down good. It still rises back up again from 4pm
to 6pm. On a pump these times always needed double at least insulin put through before hand.

Sure its not hypoland but I cannot cope with the highs that degludec can't handle the changes in my body.

I basal test a lot due to stomach problems.. so I know this is not anything to do with bolus...

I've had levemir, lantus, insulatard and a pump.... my strange dosing at 4am, 8am and 4pm with Insulatard was better. Nothing gets over my DP without 4am and hiur before getting up problems. Insulatard also gave me more flexibility because of tge increased qty of injections! But not nice having to do 3 basal shots a day!

I've only been using Tresiba (Degludec) for about three weeks. In my opinion, that's not long enough to accurately gauge its effectiveness, but I'll share my experiences so far:

-It seems to have no issues lasting a full 24 hours. I give myself an injection around 8pm every night and the basal tests I've done have shown it's level 20-24 hrs later.

-I've noticed occasional rises around 4-6am. They're very slight (less than 2 mmol/l) usually. I've dealt with similar issues (but much more pronounced) in the past, but was able to correct it entirely when I began splitting my (Levemir) basal into a larger injection around 8pm and a smaller injection at 4am.

-All in all, it seems to be working as good as my Levemir. That's an extremely good thing considering that my last two a1c results were 5.4%. The only downside is that I feel that I've lost a bit of flexibility with Tresiba since it's more intended to be injected once a day (admittedly, I haven't tried splitting it up yet).

TorqPenderloin said:

I've only been using Tresiba (Degludec) for about three weeks. In my opinion, that's not long enough to accurately gauge its effectiveness, but I'll share my experiences so far:

-It seems to have no issues lasting a full 24 hours. I give myself an injection around 8pm every night and the basal tests I've done have shown it's level 20-24 hrs later.

-I've noticed occasional rises around 4-6am. They're very slight (less than 2 mmol/l) usually. I've dealt with similar issues (but much more pronounced) in the past, but was able to correct it entirely when I began splitting my (Levemir) basal into a larger injection around 8pm and a smaller injection at 4am.

-All in all, it seems to be working as good as my Levemir. That's an extremely good thing considering that my last two a1c results were 5.4%. The only downside is that I feel that I've lost a bit of flexibility with Tresiba since it's more intended to be injected once a day (admittedly, I haven't tried splitting it up yet).

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I cutover from Levemir in mid Sept. i was on x3 per day so was a huge relief to go to x1 jab per day. Levels are much more consistent, the levemir at lower dose levels was quite peaky in my experience. Total basal dose is down from 45u to 23u now which means I am officially now saving the NHS money compared to using Levemir!!

TorqPenderloin said:

I've only been using Tresiba (Degludec) for about three weeks. In my opinion, that's not long enough to accurately gauge its effectiveness, but I'll share my experiences so far:

-It seems to have no issues lasting a full 24 hours. I give myself an injection around 8pm every night and the basal tests I've done have shown it's level 20-24 hrs later.

-I've noticed occasional rises around 4-6am. They're very slight (less than 2 mmol/l) usually. I've dealt with similar issues (but much more pronounced) in the past, but was able to correct it entirely when I began splitting my (Levemir) basal into a larger injection around 8pm and a smaller injection at 4am.

-All in all, it seems to be working as good as my Levemir. That's an extremely good thing considering that my last two a1c results were 5.4%. The only downside is that I feel that I've lost a bit of flexibility with Tresiba since it's more intended to be injected once a day (admittedly, I haven't tried splitting it up yet).

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I asked about splitting up or adding insulatard in at 4am for my really high rises that start then.. but got told no...
Used to inject 2units at 4am of bolus and an insulatard of 4 and at 8am was pretty much 4.5 to 5.5 of bolys plus 5 or 51/2 of insulatard again... there is no way that treaiba can cope with my dp/waking p.... now up to 6 units at 4am and 6 units at 8am plus I'm
Now doing an extra bolus at 4pm as well.

Bo fear of hypo's at the moment from treaiba. I am at least levelish from 8pm to 4am. Thats the best I've achieved so far and I have changed tresiba dose too.

Sorry... the only thing I can say really is to give it a go!!