Celsus
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 483
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Insulin
The 'old school' tradition of taking long-acting insulin in the evening before bedtime is actually no longer relevant with the modern glargine types of insulin (e.g. the Lantus). And especially not if you are no longer a teen/young adult and need to counter the dawn-effects from growth hormone being released in your early sleep phase. I am maybe myself one of the lucky ones, but tested that the Lantus typically stays active in my body for 22-26 hours. So I can do perfectly fine with just one daily injection of this. And I changed 7+ years ago, to take this in the morning instead. I have virtually not had one single night-hypo since then! What a world of a difference that makes to quality of life, for yourself and but also for your nearest and dearest that alternatively would have to deal with getting some sugar into that brain-fogged lunatic. Yeah, those hypnotic night-hypos could really take us on some 'LSD-inspired trips' in the good old days.
And the advantages of taking the Lantus in the morning are many, beyond most important mentioned above (No more night hypos during sleep!):
1. You take then the Lantus typically at home, and do not need to bring the extra pen with you at night going out.
2. You take it then typically together with your morning fast-acting shot. So you do not forget it either. And its typically then also always at the same time every day.
3. When you take it in the morning, then any peak that you might experience in effect will then typically come 4-6 hours after injection. Meaning that you will always be awake (compared to if you took it at night time), and thereby are conscious if you need to counter with sugar or not.
If your Lantus does not give you full 24h coverage, then you may need to split it up in two shots per day. I would then suggest morning shot with breakfast, and combo shot for dinner. So no shot just before going to bed. If you can avoid the habit of eating bednight snack, then that will still be very manageable and you still get advantage of no hypo during sleep. When dosed correctly, then your basal rate of Lantus will give you a completely flat bg curve during the day and night. Meaning that after e.g. 10pm at night (dinner all digested, and no late night snack before bedtime), then I am in perfect steady state till I wake up. I measure my bg just before bedtime, just to make sure I am at perfect level. (alternatively I adjust with a few grams of carb or 1 unit of fast acting insulin).
And the advantages of taking the Lantus in the morning are many, beyond most important mentioned above (No more night hypos during sleep!):
1. You take then the Lantus typically at home, and do not need to bring the extra pen with you at night going out.
2. You take it then typically together with your morning fast-acting shot. So you do not forget it either. And its typically then also always at the same time every day.
3. When you take it in the morning, then any peak that you might experience in effect will then typically come 4-6 hours after injection. Meaning that you will always be awake (compared to if you took it at night time), and thereby are conscious if you need to counter with sugar or not.
If your Lantus does not give you full 24h coverage, then you may need to split it up in two shots per day. I would then suggest morning shot with breakfast, and combo shot for dinner. So no shot just before going to bed. If you can avoid the habit of eating bednight snack, then that will still be very manageable and you still get advantage of no hypo during sleep. When dosed correctly, then your basal rate of Lantus will give you a completely flat bg curve during the day and night. Meaning that after e.g. 10pm at night (dinner all digested, and no late night snack before bedtime), then I am in perfect steady state till I wake up. I measure my bg just before bedtime, just to make sure I am at perfect level. (alternatively I adjust with a few grams of carb or 1 unit of fast acting insulin).
Last edited by a moderator: