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Type 1 Tresiba - how long does it take to kick in

deszcznocity

Active Member
Messages
44
Location
County Durham
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hello everyone, I have been self-experimenting with Tresiba lately and after taking it for 4 days I realized that for me it starts working after 4 hours and reaches peak in hours 8 through 12. I was wondering what was your experience like. Thank you for sharing. Also - do you take it once or twice a day and what time(s)?
 
Tresiba is one of the longest lasting basals and should last about 36 hours (give or take), so I'm not sure why you'd take it more than once a day, changes to the dosage may take a few days to show up any difference because its so long lasting.
Whilst I do have differences in my levels during the day I think that's actually due to needing different amounts of insulin rather than the Tresiba working oddly (though until I start on a pump I can't confirm my theory)
 
Hi @deszcznocity When I was on Tresiba, a long while ago I used to inject in the evening time. As Rokaab has mentioned it does stay in your system for aprox 36 hours so it would be pointless split dosing it. I was just starting on the Libre when I was using Tresiba so can not confirm your timings on it
 
I don't split doses but did once forget to inject it and didn't wake anyway as high as I would have done using Lantus, I had the jab when I woke and remembered at didn't have any problems injecting again that night, I trended low for a couple of days but that's T1 anyway

One thing I found when I first started on it was I struggled to get a good waking blood, I moved my jab from night to morning, didn't like the result (think 10am was the recommended time?) and moved forward to teatime, I didn't like that either so ended back on an a night where I first started and am mostly good now...
 
Interesting experiences above. I inject Tresiba around 9am, and I find it has very little effect for the first 12 hours. But then at around 1am, it seems to wake up(!) so that at around 7am every morning, my reading is consistently around 7mml.

Whilst on the subject, I also find that NovoRapid always takes 3-4 hours at least to kick in. Just goes to prove we're all different, I 'spose.
 
I've been taking Tresiba for a couple of years now, and before that Lantus. I find it works better than Lantus, but if I take 15/16 units I feel nauseous and bloated and lethargic. So I am currently taking 10 units at night before bed. I find that it's all about timing, i.e. the earlier I get up in the morning and take my BS, the higher the numbers, whereas if I wake up later then the numbers tend to be lower. I have just come off Farxiga tablets and am watching the change in numbers. It has gone up a little bit, so I may have to increase to 12 units to see if that can get me below 150 (US) in the morning. It has crept up to the 170s so I want to see if I can get it closer to 130s (which I did last week when I was also on Farxiga). I was getting free samples of Farxiga from previous doctor, but my new doctor doesn't seem to want me to continue, so I have discontinued.
Doctors are fixated on numbers, because when they see you that's usually all they have to go on, whereas we know how we FEEL each day - sometimes you feel bad because you're numbers are high and other days you feel good because your numbers are low.
 
I take mine at 6.30. Not sure how long it takes to kick in but I do start to get a drop overnight starting about 12 / 1 am. When I did my carb counting course they said the time you take it is not fixed since it joins a long chain (presumably of Tresiba molecules) so if you take it early it should be OK. Also if you forget or don’t take it on time since it lasts more than 24 hours again it should be ok. Agree it takes about 3 days for effects to come into place.

With regards Novorapid I find it can take anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours depending on s things like where I injected and how active I am post food. This condition is such a balancing act!
 

I was so interested to see mentions of Lantus and Novorapid because a few months ago I was changed from Novomix 30, with a top up of Novorapid if required, to Novorapid with each meal and Lantus at night. It’s taken a while but my overall levels are so much better now. However, it’s been puzzling me that I was previously led to believe Novorapid would work very quickly and that Lantus is a slow and gentle insulin lasting 24 hrs. Your comments about Novorapid being not so rapid, explain why sometimes I have been surprised my levels didn’t drop quickly after taking it, and also about Lantus taking a while to have effect, go a long way to answering why, if my levels are, say, around 11 when I go to bed, they have always dropped to around 7 by the morning. It’s amazing what we can learn from this forum as opposed to what our diabetic clinic staff tell us! It certainly is a minefield.
 
Morning!
Tresiba taken sometime between 6 P.M. and 8 P.M. Starts working after a bit more than 4 hours, and with a minimal peek action. Peek action after about 8 hours. Last for 14½ - 15 hours (for me, that is). Which means I combine as follows - Tresiba at night / Porcine at daytime - works quite OK, and does mimic to some extent, the curve that Bovine Lente had, taken twice a day...

Edited to add: A little P.S. I'm low-carbing, near keto-values with carbs, so I take only 3 IU Tresiba. But on the other hand - I tried to take only Tresiba also, but that did not really work. Had to take it 3 times a day then, and if I took bigger amounts, to cover longer times, I did go hypo after hypo...
 
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Hi, I moved from Lantus to Tresiba a year ago (after a very bad episode with Lantus).

I have found it much better. No discernable feeling associated with it starting to work (I inject 18 units at 08:30 every day) I have forgotten to take it once or twice (I use a Timesulin cartidge syringe cap which gives the number of hours since the last injection) and so it read 48hrs instead of 24. The general BG had risen by a few units - nothing massive, but it took another few days to stabilise down again.
 
Hi I have just started on tresiba (was on lantus 9units), but often would have hypos in the night on lantus. I started on 7u tresiba 10days ago but ever since I've had high sugar levels on waking. I've also started on freestyle libre sensor so can see my night time sugars. Since starting tresiba my sugar levels rise every night (even when I'm only 3 or 4 mmol before bed), my sugars still rise. I've increased tresiba dose gradually and on 9 units. Should I increase it to 10 or more until I get blood sugars in morning normal? I hate seeing high bloods (rises to 12). Although I appear to be going more hypo during the day :-( just fed up with tresiba. I inject same time every day so don't see tresiba as an advantage - I've never forgotten to inject! Any advice would be good, thanks
 

Tresiba may just not fit how your sugars go up and down on their own - you may need a shorter lasting one than Tresiba, obviously there's the Lantus but if it causes hypos overnight (it did for me too) that's not a good choice, but there are others, Levemir lasts less time so that something to consider, cos then you can definitely have differing amounts overnight compared to during the day, I'm sure there are other choices as well
 
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