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Lantus

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layla42

Active Member
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We went to my husband's work colleague's BBQ yesterday and there was a man there, type 1 diabetic since being age 10, now age 23. My husband had already told me that this man drinks coke (full sugar) all day and eats anything (cakes etc).

Now this man told me yesterday that the only insulin he has is one injection of Lantus a day. He was really skinny too. Can the Lantus work, specially to cover all the sugar he's having? I would have thought he'd be really high all day? This is just from my experience with my 3 year old with Type 1 so I'm no expert. She has Mixtard30 in the morning and Lantus at night, plus Novorapid at teatime if she's high, but I know she'll move onto 4 injections a day at some point.

Anybody know any other Type 1 adults with just Lantus?
 
Maybe this man is also a very active sportsman behind closed doors?! I know someone who is 19 and has been type 1 since a young age. I always used to see them eating the things that you'd think would make them ill - sweets, coke, crisps, iced-cakes and so on. However, I found out that outside of work he was a keen sportsman and, although undoubtedly not the best way to manange diabetes and exercise, said he needed all the sugar because he played so much football everyday. He had great blood sugar control too. He was on only two injections a day.

I've never heard of a Type 1 on just a single injection. Are you sure you have his full story?! I don't have any knowledge of Lantus to be fair. Sure there's lots of people on here who do. All I know, is that I'm on five injections a day and just one can of coke or an iced-cake would muck up everything for me. Everyone's different though......
 
I guess he could be though he doesn't look the sporty type! (skinny, not lean and muscley)

I probably don't have the full story, but he just said to me yesterday that "they" had recently changed him onto one injection a day "this new type of insulin called lantus", he said he didn't really know anything about it but if he can have one injection instead of multiple ones (like he was on previously) then he's happy. I didn't let on that Grace has Lantus before bed or ask him anything else, I just said "oh does that cover everything you have through the day then?" and he said he has no idea how it works.

Just sounded weird to me, I had assumed when my DH told me that this man eats loads of cake at work, that he was covering it with Novorapid or something. With my DD only having long-acting through the day (from the MIxtard), we just avoid sugary stuff unless she's really active, as she goes super high otherwise.
 
My husband said he's asked him questions about his diabetes and the man doesn't seem to know the answers (including whether he is Type 1 or Type 2). At the time I said maybe he just doesn't want to talk about it (and told my husband to leave him alone) but now I'm not sure. He started the conversation with me about it, I wasn't going to mention it. He was saying how hard it is to be a child with diabetes.
 
Lantus is a basal insulin, designed to replicate the background levels of insulin found in non-diabetics. It is absolutely not meant to cover the blood sugar spikes caused by the intake of food.
This guy is skinny because he is insulin deficient - any human or animal with insufficient insulin will be skinny regardless of how much food they eat.
If he is drinking coke and eating cakes, he is either fighting impending hpoglycemia from huge Lantus doses, or suffering huge blood glucose highs. Probably both.
He needs to get with the programme before disaster strikes.
In type 1 diabetes, Lantus needs to be paired with a bolus insulin such as Humalog or Humulin which covers mealtime needs.
I'm seriously worried for this guy.

All the best,

fergus
 
Hello layla42,

Lantus is more usually used together with a rapid mealtime insulin.
A true basal insulin is only really supposed to counter the glucose produced by the liver, rather
than glucose from digestion. However, if you were to inject an enormous amount of Lantus, you could then keep sugars up by eating little and often throughout the day(and night).

It's an unusual approach and not one that I'd recommend.

Regards,
timo.
 
It sounds to me that he must be a type 2 ,if he has been told to only have 1 injection a day of Lantus, but its rare in one so young , though it can happen . I have never in my life heard of a type 1 not to having to inject a fast acting at each meal as well as the slow at least once a day , or twice if on split doses , it just wouldn't work as we have to allow for when we eat . Lantus is only a background insulin to keep things ticking over between meals and overnight . As for drinking full sugar coke, thats just being suicidal as fergus said consuming all that sugar with only one injection of Lantus a day will make him insulin deficient as the slow acting will not be able to work quick enough to bring BGs down so they will stay high for ages, he really needs help and educating or he won't be around for much longer :cry:
 
yayyyyyyyyyy,someone else on just lantus,i have been on just lantus for near on two years and i am type 1,(altho im fighting to go basal bolus after joining this site) so fingers crossed as im fed up of just lantus
 
Maybe you and him have the same doctor as we are in West Yorkshire too! (though I guess there are a lot of doctors in the county...).

I am going to clinic today with my DD and will see if I can get some official information about it to pass on to him (maybe there's a leaflet about basal bolus that will explain that Lantus is just a basal insulin or something?). Otherwise I'm going to ask my husband to have a word with him. Not sure if he will but I feel like I should say something, but I am not likely to see him again for ages.
 
as i say i did ok on lantus for over a year ,its only since being on ere ive had courage to ask for more as i was getting lots of highs and lows,maybe we do have the same dr lol,pm me and let me know where in west yorks u are
take care amanda
 
i dont understand how you can be type 1 and be on just a basal insulin. Lantus is a basal insulin designed to cover what glucose your body produces on it's own from what i understood??

If you're just on lantus what are you doing to cover meals etc?

I suppose it *could* work if you are a really really really low carber. but that could never work for me.
 
hya stu,
i was taken off novomix 30 and given just lantus,as for meals i either have to be low carb or higher insulin n eat sameish carbs every day,i have stamped my feet and it looks like finally i can have basal bolus,if my gp agrees ,dietician and diabetes nurse have agreed so fingers and toes crossed
 
Yeh it is just a background insulin so wouldnt cover foods of this type. Although if he was eating all that and injecting for it all it wouldnt really be a problem. I tend to eat what I want and have worked out what I need for a cake or a glass of coke and my HBA1C is 6.5 and has been for the past 1 and a half. My nurse said to me dont cut out anything you wouldnt if you were a non diabetic, just act like a manual pancreas ... makes sense to me and its worked fine

H x
 
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