Lantus and diarrhea

[Stoner Graeme]

i've had chronic diarrhea for the past year and a half, i've got no control of it, i'm pretty much incontinent when im sleeping and have basically been housebound for fear of any (more) accidents. i've been tested for crohns, gastroparesis etc but all i've been told is what i havent got and no doctors have got back to me since
its lately dawned on me that this all started roughly when i switched to lantus and novorapid insulin, i was poorly controlled before moving on to it and its done wonders for my diabetes control but im curious if anyone else has had these side effects

 

[margie]

Hello and welcome to the forum - sorry that you are having such a horrid time.

I can't say that I have noticed anything like that.

One thing to consider is do you have a lot of things with sorbitol in it? It can have a laxative effect. I am not sure about other artificial sweeteners but it may be one thing you can change.

 

[Robster65]

Hi stoner graeme. Welcome 🙂

That sounds like an intolerable situation. I presume you've cut out any foods/drinks that can cause upsets, eg. dairy, etc ?

Some people are allergic to analogue insulins and have to revert to animal ones. We have a couple of members who've done this, who may be able to advise.🙂

Rob

 

[trophywench]

Hiya - this must be horrible for you.

I've never heard of Lantus or Novorapid - I'm somewhat inclined the other way (even before I was diabetic) and was on Lantus for years - it made absolutely no difference in that respect, nor does Novorapid to this day. But I am me and not you. And stranger things have happened ....

Are you on any other medications or do you have any other health probs that you know about?

And - what do you actually eat?

And - presumably? - you've already had a colonoscopy and endoscopy?

Stress/problems of the mental health variety?

Irritable bowel syndrome?

- just trying to rule out anything at all, that might give another diabetic a nudge in the ribs .....

 

[Stoner Graeme]

i've tried different diets, all i've figured out so far is that caffeine, alcohol and smoking exacerbate it (pretty devastating when a cup of tea, a joint and an occcasional night out with friends are my favourite things) i've had diabetes for 15 years and this was never a problem until i switched to lantus. other symtoms are stomach cramps and excessive burping. at one point i quit smoking and caffeine and my bowels were still a problem even after a few months without. it only occured to me this morning that this started about the same time that i switched and i came across this earlier http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/lantus/diarrhea
i know that smoking and diabetes never mix well but after years of poor control and months in hospital (it took me a looong time to adjust to diabetes and the regime with mixtard never really worked out for me) so my general attitude is that if anything but diabetes takes me then i'll die with a smirk on my face

 

[Northerner]

The problem is that smoking will just encourage the diabetes to 'take you', and probably make for a pretty miserable time in your future - not only does it affect control but it will hasten the hardening of arteries, reduce circulation, affect blood pressure etc. all of which will speed up retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy and most other -opathies associated with diabetes

When you switched to lantus, what did you switch from? Have you tried levemir?

 

[Stoner Graeme]

i've always been a bit sickly, runt of the litter, always dreading finding out if my family have any illnesses knowing that i'll probably end up with, but apart from an eye condition its only diabetes i've got and take medication for. my diets pretty normal, meat carbs veg etc. i dont take any artificial sweeteners, i'd rather a little of the real stuff than as much fake stuff that i'd want. i snack, but not too much, dessert after a meal or a biscuit with my tea kinda thing. i've had the cameras shoved up and down, not a very pleasant experience but the docs were pretty much stumped. i'd probably say i was depressed, but not majorly, it comes and goes, dont bother with taking meds for that. i prefer the highs and lows compared to the emotionless robot that anti-depressants turn me into

 

[Stoner Graeme]

only ever been on the lantus and novorapid, and before that it was mixtard 30 but i never could do the whole inflexible 2 needles at the same time every time

 

[Robster65]

Hi graeme.

You mention joints. Have you considered that they could have had some lastign effect on you ?

Are your doctors aware that you've smoked them ?

Rob

 

[Stoner Graeme]

the docs are fully aware of my recreational drug use, most of em said theyre more concerned about the tobacco than the weed for all the opothies it causes like northener said. i switched to a vaporisor at one point when i quit smoking just to see if it was weed itself or the tobacco that caused problems but it didn't make me feel worse so i reckon its the tobacco thats not helping. the only effects i've felt with weed and diabetes is it lowers my blood sugars slightly, and i've heard this from other diabetics as well (a possible explanation for the munchies?)

 

[Northerner]

only ever been on the lantus and novorapid, and before that it was mixtard 30 but i never could do the whole inflexible 2 needles at the same time every time

In that case it might be worth giving levemir a try. It's never easy determining the cause of these things, but I suppose there's a possibility that it could be an interaction between the insulin and the cannabis. Obviously you can't stop taking your lantus, but have you tried a period of being smoke/cannabis-free to see it there is any possible link?

 

[Copepod]

Also worth discussing non analogue long acting insulins, such as Humalin I or Insulatard.

In the meantime, worth trying a tobacco and cannabis free period to see if that relieves symptoms. Due to long action of cannabis, would have to be at least several days and preferably over a week.

 

[FM001]

Never heard of glargine causing diarrhea but that's not to say it couldn't. Just checking the patient info and there's no mention of diarrhea listed, given that this has come about since changing insulin I would try changing to an alternative just to see if things improve, if it doesn't then you can always change back to lantus.