• Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

What time of day do you take your lantus?

-Artemis-

Well-Known Member
Hi there

So, I've just got my insulin yesterday - novo rapid and lantus.... obvs trying to work it all out - quick q; the nurse was a bit vague about when to take the lantus and in the end says it doesn't really matter when I take it, so long as its the same time each day...

I was thinking if taking it about 11am today as thoughts that's a good time between brekkie & lunch, plus I can more easily monitor it to see what it's doing for the first doses that way -- as I'll obviously not be just about to go to bed...

Sounds sensible or any thoughts?

I've seen many people take it at night and wondered if that's just preference or there's a reason?

Thank you


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Most people will take it at bedtime.
When I was diagnosed I was given much the same advice as yourself and told to take it at the same time each day.
I used to take mine at bedtime but have now moved it.
I take my main dose at 18:45 and a smaller dose at 09:00.
I find taking it a bit earlier works good for me but its an individual thing.
 
i take the lantus at 8 pm. ive only just started it a few months ago i take 22 points but it seems to peak between 6-8 pm and ive been having hypos. im trying to work the nova around tha lantis
 
I take mine around 6:00 pm. It's then part of my evening meal routine & I remember it.
Originally I took it before bed but often would be drifting off to sleep when I'd think "Did I do my Lantus?"...

Different times/split doses work for different people. Pick a time you are happy with, monitor it & keep an open mind about changing if necessary.

The main thing is to get the dose right, it makes everything else easier. Work with your nurse & look up "basal testing" so you understand what you are trying to achieve. Essentially it's a theoretical:
"If I don't eat & don't do any exercise how much basal do I need to keep my blood sugars level?"
Not that it's ever quite as simple as that..

Let us know how it goes.
 
Hi

Studies have shown that Lantus starts to die off after approximately 14-18 hours, so you may be better to split your Lantus into 2 equal doses and take them 12 hours apart eg 9pm and 9am
 
Really interesting replies - thank you!

.... like all things diabetes related; it seems we all have different ways of managing / responses - and so to some degree it needs to be a bit trial and error.... I took it at 11am; but it was my very first ever time of taking it so obviously way too early to tell.... I literally only got my pens yesterday and currently am bouncing from the 5's to 13's - but think that's cos I didn't have any background at first.... Might be back with more questions but for now I guess I just gotta try it for a bit...
 
I am using the lantus and novo rapid pens too. I have been using them now for over a year. When i first changed over to them the nurse told me to take the lantus first thing in the morning when i get up as it is a slow working insulin and then eat breakfast and then take a small dose of the novo rapid. At the start i found the sugar levels dropping rapidly and hypos starting a lot so then the dosage of the novo rapid was lowered and from then until now ive had no bother with either pen since or hypos either.
 
It doesn't matter when you take lantus as long as you leave 24 hours between injections. I use to take mine just before bed (10 - 11pm) but now take it around 6 - 7pm.
 
Hi there, I have my Lantus at ten in the evening. This has made it easier to tweak the dosage as there has been no food intake from the injection to waking and I use my waking blood test as an indicator of my base level.

I do find that my evening rapid has to be a bit higher...I suspect that between being less active in the evening and the effect of the Lantus wearing off causes this.
 
Always took mine in the morning to prevent night time hypos, which were a menace when I took it at night like most people do. The morning dose totally stopped the night hypos - Lantus definitely peaked for me around 8-9 hrs after dosing despite fact they say it has no peak.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I've changed to lunch time ish , one tip I can give u is don't get v pens mixed up as I did one day 25 units of nova rapid put me on my Ars pretty quick ! I was rushing to work in v morin and grabbed v wrong pen ! I was late to work that day ! f me it took 1 hour to come right ! Split doses works well u just have to work out what your rate is ! Have a no carbs day ! Good luck


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Hi @Lisbet - poss a silly question - but how do you know it definitely peaked...? Is it cos you'd drop 9hrs after taking it?
 
@Telgreen thank you! I've seen a few people mention about figuring out what their rate is by having a no carb day.... is that literally you have a day with no carbs and no fast acting so you can figure out how much lantus/long acting you need? Presumably I'd have to do a few days to figure out what dose keeps me in good numbers without using the novorapid....?
 
Lantus Glargine... I've been using this stuff possibly for over 25 years?
I was given a leaflet with a wave graph on how it works at the time along with the use of Novo rapid for the bolus..

I was told to inject the Lantus at bedtime, which I still do..

However "bedtime" for me can be anywhere between 11pm-3am...
Interestingly without fail irrespective of when I inject the basal if I hypo at night? It's either between 2&3am or 6&7am..? (I could inject at 1am, have a reading of 8 & still wake with a hypo at 2.40.) If this happens it can sometimes leave me like a yo yo till noon & then blood sugars consistently impeccable the rest of the day.... My understanding from the old basal graph & some of the stuff I seen online recently is Lantus is meant to slowly rise & peak as it works through the day after about 8 to 10 hours then tail off....

I can sometimes eat evening meal as late as 9.30, so even if I was tempted to bed down early? I put a "restraining order" on my basal never to come within 2 hours of the bolus...
 
Yes - monitored my blood sugar and after years of night hypos I realised that changing to mornings would at least give me the option of being awake when it got lower so I could deal with the low before I had a seizure! Simple solution to a dreadful problem.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 

You don't need to do a whole day at once.
Have a look at this page:
http://www.salforddiabetescare.co.uk/index2.php?nav_id=1007
 
I take my Lantus before bed, 10pm ish... I notice that a few of you inject about 22 - 26 units. I inject 32 units down from 40! Am I still injecting too much do you think? I rarely Hypo during the night and it wakes me if I do. You'd think after 27 years I'd have it sorted by now wouldn't you!lol!


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I have my Lantus usually early mornings , 7 am ish then I find im often 'low' at 11am -12. I have varied my bolus (Humalog) amounts when i eat high carbs for example my cereal / porridge or big potato dinners.
 
bonus said:
I have my Lantus usually early mornings , 7 am ish then I find im often 'low' at 11am -12. I have varied my bolus (Humalog) amounts when i eat high carbs for example my cereal / porridge or big potato dinners.
Click to expand...

See if the following is helpful, it's an on-line version of the DAFNE course which covers things like basal insulin and getting your insulin-to-carb ratio's right:

http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…