Levemir Vs Lantus

[chappers123]

Hi Folks,

I have recently changed from Lantus (12 units at 7:30pm) after 11 years as I always seem to have a foggy head of late, tired all the time etc. I have changed to Levemir after reading on the net that it was a good alternative to Lantus. I must say that I pretty much feel the same. I have been on the new stuff now for just over five days now and cant see much change.

I am taking one shot per night of levemir, my nurse said not to split it at this stage.

Has anyone made the change or had any side effects on these insulin’s?

Thanks for your help.

Chappers

 

[noblehead]

First of all you have to give the levemir longer than 5 days to see if it helps with the foggy head and tiredness, I made the change to levemir a few years back but couldn't get the same control I had with lantus so switched back....this was despite split-dosing and trying alternative methods to tweak the doses.

 

[chappers123]

That's great thanks for your response. Why did you switch from lantus? Did you feel any better on levemir?

Thanks

Chappers

 

[noblehead]

Did you feel any better on levemir?

No not really as my diabetes control was very poor with my bg swinging from high to low all the time. My reasons for wanting to change were the same as yours......tiredness and fatigue but mine turned out to unrelated to the insulin I was injecting.

 

[chappers123]

So what insulin was that? That made you feel tired? I'm also on humalog

 

[iHs]

Hi Chappers

I have used both Lantus and Levemir. I dont think that Lantus on its own caused me to feel tired as such but I did experience degrees of tiredness when using twice daily insulin - Humalog Mix and then switching to Lantus with Humalog bolus. I felt a lot better using Apidra bolus with Lantus and the tired feeling went almost immediately.

I eventually switched from Lantus because of the amount of hypos I was having every day, although at the time I was using it, I knew nothing about calculating insulin using a carb ratio.... I had also gained some weight which I did not like. Levemir I found, was much better for me and my hypos got less severe.

It may be that you need to either give yourself some more time to get used to using Levemir with Humalog or if the tired feeling persists, you try using a different bolus insulin first before you switch to another basal. Levemir is a nicer basal with a smoother action to it but needs to be injected probably twice daily whereas Lantus is just once.

 

[chappers123]

Thats great thank you for the info, I will see how I go for a few more days and then maybe look at changing Humalog. I get enough sleep just sick of being tired all of the time.

Thanks again

 

[iHs]

Hi

Most people get on fine with Humalog and it doesn't cause them any problems. I only realised that my 'tiredness' was probably due it when I changed to using an alternative bolus and then found that I no longer fell asleep every night from about 7-9.30pm on the sofa. At first I thought maybe it was due to going a bit hypo but my bg tests did not show this so I just thought that the tiredness was down to getting older. For me, there is something used in the manufacture of Humalog insulins that doesn't agree with me so please don't think that Humalog causes tiredness for everyone....

 

[noblehead]

So what insulin was that? That made you feel tired? I'm also on humalog

I was (and still am) on Novorapid and lantus, my fatigue was more to do with lifestyle factors at the time which have greatly improved, some people do experience problems on lantus so your doing the right thing by changing to see if this helps with your symptoms.

 

[etmsreec]

Hi Folks,

I have recently changed from Lantus (12 units at 7:30pm) after 11 years as I always seem to have a foggy head of late, tired all the time etc. I have changed to Levemir after reading on the net that it was a good alternative to Lantus. I must say that I pretty much feel the same. I have been on the new stuff now for just over five days now and cant see much change.

I am taking one shot per night of levemir, my nurse said not to split it at this stage.

Has anyone made the change or had any side effects on these insulin’s?

Thanks for your help.

Chappers

Hi Chappers,

I switched from Lantus to Levemir for the same reasons that you did - tired all the time. I could sit down to take my shoes off and fall asleep! Lantus does have a long life in the body though, so give it time.
I'm now splitting my Levemir does, but I can't get my control as accurate as it was with Lantus. I'm going to be discussing this with my consultant at my next hospital review, but then my control is pretty far out anyway (going quite high after meals, sometimes crashing after the high at about three hours after eating.)

Steve

 

[nigelho]

Hi Chappers,
I was diagnosed with Type 1 just over 3 years and was soon carb counting on novorapid and levemir. I soon started being very tired/fatigued, fogged up head and my walking speed became very slow. I was on 100 units levemir taken 50 units X 2 per day. I changed to lantus but NOTHING changed. Had lots lot tests for things which may be making me tired...all tests came back ok. In Dec 2011 I read about 'tiredness and lantus' and found out that some people CANNOT get on with anagloue insulin...levemir, lantus and even novorapid. I'm now on animal insulin i.e.porcine neutral and porcine isophane and I'm glad to say that the 'tiredness and fogged up head' have GONE. I had a lot of trouble getting my DSN to let me have the porcine insulins.

From what you've said about your tiredness/fatigue and foggy head, there's a good chance that you DO NOT get on with analogue insulins. Speak to your DSN about a change to porcine insulins but look up lantus on the diabetes' forums before you speak to ypur DSN as many of them try to stop you trying porcine insulins.

 

[Diabetic Maca]

Hi,
I Have Been On Both And Found Lantus To Be A Lot Better For Myself, Switched Back To Lantus 4 Months Ago I Dont Feel Anything The Others Are Saying About Lantus Though, Id Choose Lantus Anyday

 

[raffajaffa]

Hm, very interested in nigelho posting.
I have already switched from Lantus and apidra to Levimir and novorapid.
Being now under an Endiocryonologist the new regime started to work.
However so did the Lantus when I started on that.?
I am now on what some people consider a shed load of insulin. 2 x 32 units Lev 2 x 16
Novo and approaching the ton up club levels per day.Been told I can even increase on this.
The bad news is that I was hovering just below double figures and we decided to try a tablet in
addition.
Previously the Januvia had been a permanant long time little helper.With no side effects.?
The foggy head tiredness has varied but is now returning more frequently and the suggestion
was I was still recovering from the Lantus which eventually didnt agree with me.
Its seems like Im also in the bad news brigade and like my sister can only manage on porcene type.
This was considered a few months ago but we opten for Levimir.
Im curious how many people are near that ton up level.Will start another thread.
Dave