Lantus stopped working altogether

[GuraSan]

Hello everyone.
I'm a type 1 on shots Lantus + Novorapid for 24 years, I managed my diabetes well (latest A1C 6.2%) till this point. In the past 2 weeks my Lantus just stopped working. Sugar steadily rises in between meals.

I'm in damage control mode, very strict diet (mainly boiled white rice and veggies - small portions, easy to carb count) blood checks every 3 hours. My doses gone up and can't really compensate my blood sugar. Every time after meal my blood sugar steadily rises to around 12mmol/l (218mg/dl), I compensate it with NR at that point (If I don't it just continues to rise).

This happens for the first time in my diabetic life, my doctor is puzzled and I will probably try some other basal insulin. Have anyone else had a similar condition?

P.S. I tried changing my lantus pen but with the same result.

 

[asparagusp]

Welcome GuraSan. A very unusual situation you find yourself in. Are you under stress or experiencing illness symptoms too?

I suspect people here will question that very small portion of white rice. If you must eat it - brown, which is low GI. Better to have scrambled eggs with say some chopped up broccoli or/and some fried mushrooms. A Greek yoghurt with some raspberries and a sprinkle of flaked almonds on top - Heaven! And so on ..... In short less carbohydrates.

 

[Mep]

I'm on lantus as well along with apidra as my bolus. But for me my sugars go higher than usual with other things like pain levels, illnesses, temperature changes, dehydration, etc. Could there be some other contributing factor for you? I'm not sure what rice you're eating... eg. if just the plain white rice that is high GI and you'll get a sudden sugar rise from it. When I eat rice I stick to basmati or brown rice that both are lower GI. I hope you're able to get things sorted soon though... sorry to hear you're having trouble. It could be as you say that you need to try another basal insulin.

 

[azure]

Hello everyone.
I'm a type 1 on shots Lantus + Novorapid for 24 years, I managed my diabetes well (latest A1C 6.2%) till this point. In the past 2 weeks my Lantus just stopped working. Sugar steadily rises in between meals.

I'm in damage control mode, very strict diet (mainly boiled white rice and veggies - small portions, easy to carb count) blood checks every 3 hours. My doses gone up and can't really compensate my blood sugar. Every time after meal my blood sugar steadily rises to around 12mmol/l (218mg/dl), I compensate it with NR at that point (If I don't it just continues to rise).

This happens for the first time in my diabetic life, my doctor is puzzled and I will probably try some other basal insulin. Have anyone else had a similar condition?

P.S. I tried changing my lantus pen but with the same result.

Could it be a bad batch of Lantus eg not stored properly on its journey to you? Have you tried a new pen from another batch if you can? It seems strange that these highs should come on so quickly.

Have you also changed your bolus insulin pen? If that had become ineffective that might be contributing too as you mention your sugars rising after your meals.

It's good you carb counting. Are you doing correction doses?

 

[rockape37]

Lets say it is your body changing and you need more insulin in a better controlled manor (insulin pump) why change your diet to try and solve the problem even if it does solve it?

What I'm saying is if you normally eat meat and two veg, one of those veg being potatoes and now your BG is sky rocketing because of the potatoes you shouldn't have to change your diet to gain better control if there is another treatment option out there that accommodates your diet. Its not as if its a large portion of jelly and ice cream.

Just a tbought.

Regards

Martin

 

[asparagusp]

Surely it's better if you can regain control by slight adjustments to the diet that's the better option. I;m surprised at your comment.

 

[noblehead]

In the past 2 weeks my Lantus just stopped working. Sugar steadily rises in between meals.

Do some basal testing, if your bg rises during the check then you know that your lantus dose needs adjusting, if it doesn't then you need to look at your insulin-to-carb ratio's.

 

[CapnGrumpy]

If control was OK with what you were eating previously, then a permanent shift in diet isn't necessarily the long term answer. Better to find the underlying cause, if possible. What changed 2 weeks ago? Something stressful? New batch of Lantus? Starting injecting in a different part of the body? I know I'm using about 20% more just because it's gotten colder.

As already posted, some basal testing is a start, and it's not unheard of for a whole pack of pens to be duff.