Levemir - stronger than a background insulin??

[DarrenG]

Hi

I have been a type 1 diabetic for 12 years (since I was 14) and I have never really shared my experiences with other diabetics so am quite happy to have found this forum.

During my recent review I was explaining to my nurse that I find the Levemir injection I take every evening quite potent and that if I do not eat before bed I will inevitably wake up low. The nurse was somewhat surprised by this as Levemir is intended only to be a very slow working background insulin. I do not find this to be the case and just wondered if anyone else is the same

 

[jeves]

Lower your dose of levemir by a unit see if that helps

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[Daibell]

Yup. You need to adjust your Levemir dose to give you a morning fasting level of 5-7mmol. I aim a bit lower but watch out for hypos.

 

[lacey1]

Levemir not so long lasting as lantus have u thought about splitting the does hafe at 8am half at 8pm this has worked for a few people i know

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[DarrenG]

Thanks for the replies. I had thought about splitting the dose between evening and morning which I suspect would be the best way forward. To be honest I have been reluctant to split the dose for the simple reason of not wanting to have to do another injection every day but I think I might just have to try it! I suppose it may be better than having to eat something substantial every night before bed

 

[noblehead]

The nurse was somewhat surprised by this as Levemir is intended only to be a very slow working background insulin.

Well it is but if the dose is set too high it will inevitably lead to hypo's, try reducing the dose or splitting it as suggested, if no luck then change to lantus which is a far better basal insulin IMHO.