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

Lantus or levemir

searley

searley

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
2,256
Location
Southampton
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
Diabetes, not having Jaffa Cake
When i was at an appointment with my DSN last week discussing my almost perfect control over the last few months, i mention that i was having more headaches than normal, and that i thought it was the Levemir, as the headaches were more frequent as i increased the dose

we discussed that i was 100% certain there was no night time hypo's

She then discussed it with my consultant who doubts that the headaches are the levemir, but is willing to let me try lantus for a while then i can choose which i prefer, as both will remain on my repeat list

looking on the net, there seem to be a lot of people moving from Lantus to Levemir, so what are your thoughts??
 
Just give it a go searley! No harm in trying lantus as you can always revert back to levemir should the headaches continue, I tried switching from lantus to levemir but didn't have the perfect control you have experienced, after about 6 weeks I changed back to lantus.

Just a few things I would like to ask.... have you mentioned these headaches to your gp and had them investigated and have you had your eyes tested recently?

Regards

Nigel
 
My vote goes to Levemir, searley. I found it that bit more reliable compared to Lantus.

All you can do is give Lantus a go and see what happens. Like your cosultant, I'd be surprised if it is Levemir causing your headaches, but you never know.

Good luck.
 
Well, the headaches started almost as i started Levemir

and they got a little more frequent as i increased the dose from 10 to 30 units

I had an eye test in January, and my prescrition had not changed

I guess i will try the lantus, if the headaches go away then it was the Levemir, if they remain then i guess its even more visits to the doctor
 
I've not used Lantus..

But a lot of users to complain about stinging when injecting, as it's got a slightly acidic ph balance than Levimer... The profiles are slightly different in the two which suggests that Lantus has a flater profile, but in practice levimer tends to give a flater one.. Levimer also lends itself to splitting than Lantus does.. Another problem which isn't really excepted by the HCP, is that a lot of users seem to experince several side effetcs, such as foggy headness, joint pains, unperdictable hypo's, after they've been using it for several years! Oh and has a bad rep for weight gain!

Strange you say about headache's..

I'm on a pump now, but did use levimer when I swapped to it, I started to get painless migraines, get the visual disruption with flashing coloured lights in my vision, similar time I started to sleeping though nightime hypo's so when I woke up in the morning my eyes were blizted, it was like looking through a very thick dirty net curtain :shock:

When I went to my doctors and discribed these two symptoms, he had me straight over to the emergency eye clinic, as apparently these symptoms presented when the retina is starting to detach! But a full check by the eye specailist nothing found and declared I was having painless migraines! Funny though I used to get this 4-5 times or more a month while I was using levimer, but in over 3 years of pumping, I've had 3 or 4 attacts in total..
 
Well they did say they are both analog, and there is plenty of other options

I will give it a go and if I have any problems then I will see what else is on offer
 
Hi,
I have recently switched from Lantus to Levemir two weeks ago as the injections were very painful. I am really struggling to get my blood sugar down - on Lantus a normal fast-acting dose was around 4 or 5 units (of Novorapid), but now I am taking up to 12 units and it seems to have no effect. I am taking 12 units of Levemir at 10pm, and 8 at 7am. Blood sugar is consistently around 14, the lowest I have been able to get it since switching is 9.4.
I was diagnosed less than a year ago so am still hesitant about changing the doses too much without instruction from the hospital, but this is driving me mad! How can I get it down?
 
I ramped it up from 17 to 30 units quite quickly
 
Well i made the move to Lantus

and within an hour of taking it, i have one of the worst headaches i have ever had, so it it highly probable that i wont take any more!

Whats the chances of having reasonable control with only NovoRapid??
 
Searley
In answer to your question - none!
You can't control your diabetes with just a short or rapid acting insulin, as your BG levels will just swing high to low and you'll feel even worse than you do now. If you're suffering headaches and you think it's related to Lantus;as you've previously had the same problem with Levemir it sounds like you're not suited to either and I strongly suggest you try an animal variety. Please contact the IDDT and speak to your doctor about changing your long-acting insulin. It took me years to discover that Lantus was making me ill, and for some people analogue insulins are poison rather than treatment, god only knows why :? or perhaps the drug companies themselves :evil:
Don't struggle on like this, get back to your doctor asap.
Jus :)
 
Back
Top