Just started degludec (Tresiba)... any experiences?

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Cobweb1979

Cobweb1979

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Type 1
Hi all, my first post here. Long time since I've been on a diabetes forum! However, I changed from levemir to degludec a few days ago and wondered if anyone else was using it?

The first couple of days I was getting lots of hypos so I reduced my dose by a unit last night and hAve spent the whole day high :-/ I guess I may have to tweak my ratios.

My main query is about the actual insulin/injection. Does anyone else get pain afterwards? I get a really sharp pain under the skin at the injection site about 10 minutes after injecting. So bad that I can't lie on that side to sleep. Is that normal?

Many thanks.
 
Hi Cobweb

I switched from levemir to Tresiba (degludec) a few months ago. I noticed any changes I made didn't seem to be as instant as the levemir and took a while to filter through although others have said they thought changes were quick (possibly moving from lantus though). After giving it a few months now I think the control on twice daily levemir suited my lifestyle better and I'm probably going to ask to change back unless I get confirmation of the pump. What were the reasons for the change?

I haven't noticed any pain after the injection. I take it in the morning when I wake up so I'm usually then up and about doing stuff.
 
Hi Cobweb1979, welcome to the forum 🙂 Haven't used degludec myself, although I know we have one or two members using it, so hopefully they will be along to share their experiences 🙂 I don't recall anyone mentioning stinging though, particularly so long after the injection - where are you injecting?
 
Hi cobweb I don't have experience with any other basal so cant comment on differences etc but I'm fine on it, how many units are you taking? I take mine at about 10pm and have never experienced any pain, I use the top of my bum for my Tresiba x
 
Hiya Cobweb1979.🙂 I'm just about to switch to Degludec - probably tomorrow - we can let each other know how we're getting on.😛

I posted a question about Tresiba a couple of weeks ago and received some excellent replies. Why not have a look at my old thread and others? Kookycat especially has said a lot of interesting stuff on the subject.:D
 
Kaylz said:
I use the top of my bum for my Tresiba x
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LOL. I don't think I could reach the top of my bum to inject, Kaylz. Might do some irreparable damage. 🙄:confused:
 
Well actually I've only done it about 4 times as I had an incident where it came out too soon and the doc had me check my bs every hour throughout the night, so here's the big admission my mum actually does it for me 😳 lol x
 
Kaylz said:
Well actually I've only done it about 4 times as I had an incident where it came out too soon and the doc had me check my bs every hour throughout the night, so here's the big admission my mum actually does it for me 😳 lol x
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ROFL - nearly wet meself!:D😛:D
 
Bloden said:
ROFL - nearly wet meself!:D😛:D
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Hey I have a stranger nurse inject my bum every 3 months so I don't mind my mum doing it too :D haha x
 
I was having regular hypos at the peak of the levemir so my Dr suggested trying the degludec.

I inject in my thighs. I've got lumps and hollows from injecting so I'm hoping dropping to one long acting injection per day will help a bit.

I'm taking 22u (started on 23) when I go to bed.
 
Cobweb1979 said:
I was having regular hypos at the peak of the levemir so my Dr suggested trying the degludec.

I inject in my thighs. I've got lumps and hollows from injecting so I'm hoping dropping to one long acting injection per day will help a bit.

I'm taking 22u (started on 23) when I go to bed.
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I only use my bum as the DSN said it was the best place to use, but I've never had any problems with my Tresiba I take 8 units before bed and can lie on that hip without any problems x
 
Cobweb1979 said:
I was having regular hypos at the peak of the levemir so my Dr suggested trying the degludec.

I inject in my thighs. I've got lumps and hollows from injecting so I'm hoping dropping to one long acting injection per day will help a bit.

I'm taking 22u (started on 23) when I go to bed.
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Hopefully it will help with the hypos as it is more of a flatter profile than levemir.

Got a few lumps myself although I've tried to rotate sites over the years - obviously not well enough. 🙄 Hope it helps. 🙂
 
The pain could actually be because of the scar tissue - it doesn't stretch and absorb like it's supposed to - though whenever I accidentally find yet another bit of me that ruddy hurts to jab, after withdrawing the needle once the actual hole to the outside has closed up, if I massage gently round and round the site it relieves the pain.

Or - it could be the 'carrier' solution that's part of the insulin itself, but there again I'd expect you to feel that as soon as the insulin came into contact with the inside of you - like Lantus, which always stung like hell as soon as I started pressing the plunger on the pen.
 
I don't think it's the scar tissue - I generally find it hurts LESS to inject into the lumps - which is why they get so bad. I never had this pain with levemir.
 
Hello Cobweb, and welcome 🙂

Sorry to hear you're having problems with Tresiba. I switched from Lantus to Tresiba a few months ago - and one of the reasons I wanted to come off Lantus was that I had a slight adverse reaction to that (or more probably to the carrier solution). So far I've been fine with Tresiba, but it may be you are having a similar reaction to that: a type 2 allergic reaction (as opposed to the more dangerous immediate type 1 allergy) is often delayed.

There's a thread here about my change To Tresiba - it doesn't answer your main question but if you want to compare notes you can see how it's effected me and also @KookyCat . There are some older threads somewhere too - if you search the forum for Tresiba (search box is top right of the page) you should find them, hopefully.
 
Hi Cobweb
I don't get any pain with injecting Tresiba, Lantus used to cause me major issues with local irritation and stinging and a few hives on occasion but nothing like that with Tresiba. It's not acidic like Lantus so should be less irritating. You could be reacting to it though so perhaps ask your DSN or consultant? Just as an aside also check the needles you're using, if they've recently changed it could also be those. One other thought, if you've got a lot of scar tissue on your legs that impacts on the nerve formation around the scar too so you could have developed hypersensitivity in that area. Injecting into scar tissue is likely more comfortable because the scars are usually devoid of nerve endings. Have you tried injecting in another location to see if you get the same level of pain?
 
Thanks all. A month on and the pain is less. I've tried all sorts of locations, and it's not at the moment of injection - it comes on a couple of minutes later, but definitely at the injection site. But it is fading now, which is interesting!
 
Cobweb1979 said:
Thanks all. A month on and the pain is less. I've tried all sorts of locations, and it's not at the moment of injection - it comes on a couple of minutes later, but definitely at the injection site. But it is fading now, which is interesting!
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Hello again, Cobweb.😛 I've been using Tresiba for about 6 weeks now and haven't had any problems with pain (when you first posted in April, I was about to swap to Tresiba). I'm so glad your pain is less and fading...we've got enough on our plates without the added stress of painful jabs! :D
 
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