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Lantus vs levemir

Z

Zoejames

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi, I was wondering if anyone has any advice/similar experience? I was diagnosed as type 1 2 yrs ago, and prescribed Lantus, which seemed to be working fine, I had reasonably good control, with occasional lows late in the afternoon. I was scheduled to do a Dafne course, and they wanted me to change to levemir (2x day). I have been on this now for a week, and I am now experiencing high blood sugars, esp in the the morning,but generally through out the day. I have increased the dos ex slightly but that hasn't made much difference - are you meant to take a much higher dose of levemir compared to Lantus (I was taking 14unit 1x day). I have been exercising which normally helps keep my sugars at a healthier level, but not so much since the levemir? Do I need to persevere? The nurse wasn't particularly helpful, and just said try increasing the dose. But in my weird logic, I can't understand why I would take a different drug that I require a higher dose for than what I was previously taking. However, is it true that there is an associated weight gain with Lantus, but not with levemir?

I would love anyone's thoughts on any of the above! It's just incredibly frustrating as I had reasonable control until I switched insulin and now they are wayward! Ahhhhh!

Help!
 
Hey I was faced with the exact same dilemma ,
I have been on lantus since I can remember , and got advised to change to levemir like you did , once I had changed I could not control my levels what so ever on levemir I was constantly in the teens no matter what I tried , and I thought I can't do this when i had such good control on lantus , I changed back to lantus and have been on lantus for a long while now and I'm really happy with my readings my current hba1c is 6.0% .

I know different insulins work better for different people as everyone and their diabetes is different but for me levemir didn't do me any favours .
I'm very happy being on lantus .

Take care
:):):)
 
Zoejames said:
Hi, I was wondering if anyone has any advice/similar experience? I was diagnosed as type 1 2 yrs ago, and prescribed Lantus, which seemed to be working fine, I had reasonably good control, with occasional lows late in the afternoon. I was scheduled to do a Dafne course, and they wanted me to change to levemir (2x day). I have been on this now for a week, and I am now experiencing high blood sugars, esp in the the morning,but generally through out the day. I have increased the dos ex slightly but that hasn't made much difference - are you meant to take a much higher dose of levemir compared to Lantus (I was taking 14unit 1x day). I have been exercising which normally helps keep my sugars at a healthier level, but not so much since the levemir? Do I need to persevere? The nurse wasn't particularly helpful, and just said try increasing the dose. But in my weird logic, I can't understand why I would take a different drug that I require a higher dose for than what I was previously taking. However, is it true that there is an associated weight gain with Lantus, but not with levemir?

I would love anyone's thoughts on any of the above! It's just incredibly frustrating as I had reasonable control until I switched insulin and now they are wayward! Ahhhhh!

Help!
Click to expand...

I was always on levemir before the pump and well it depends on the person I guess but not everyone on levemir had a split dose I was on 32 in the morning and 34 at night....your carb ratios may need changing aswell...don't just rely on background when it could actually be your rapid carb ratios! It's a case of trial and error for the time being though! As for the weight gain no not really....I've only gained weight since being on the pump because I have a better control now...once again it depends on the person! Nobody is the same!! Good Luck! x
 
I changed from Lantus to Levemir for 3 months but didn't get on with it so well. I had to increase my total basal dose by about 25%. Obviously we are all different and I can't advise you how much you need, but if your nurse has left you to it then you need to do your basal testing and adjust as necessary.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/insulin/adjusting-basal-bolus-insulin-doses.html
 
I changed from lantus to levemir a few years back and like you I couldn't get my bg under control, my DSN did warn me that it's normal to inject around a third more insulin on levemir than you would on lantus, but despite increasing the dose time and time again I just couldn't get the balance right.

If I were you Zoe I'd ask to go back on lantus, alternatively there's a new basal insulin available called Tresiba, Robert72 who has posted above is on this insulin and by all accounts it is a very good insulin, it's said to last up to 42 hours after injecting but you still have to inject it everyday.

As you've not yet been on the DAFNE course take a look at the following, it's an on-line version of the course and cover a lot of what is taught on the DAFNE Education course:

http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/
 
Am I the only one who pretty much had no problems with levemir?? lol!!
 
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