Lantus doseage

Status
Not open for further replies.
Lauren8443

Lauren8443

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi,

When I was diagnosed with T1 nearly 4 years ago I was put on 19 units of lantus. I don't ever remember having stable blood sugars on that doseage.

I recently went onto a 'diabetes self management' website that gave me the calculation to work out how much lantus I should be on, the result came out at 15.25!! Much lower..... since changing I have had much more stable blood sugars throughout the night, but I spike dreadfully at breakfast and lunch time, I have been injecting a lot more novrapid as a result. Also, even if I have a cup of tea after 8pm it effects my blood sugars a lot?!

My ratio at lunch time I would say is about 3units/10g.... does anyone else have a ratio like this??? everything I look at, seems to be around 1unit/10g or there abouts ????

Advise please
 
I am not Insulin but I have seen people saying their ratios are different at different times of the day.
 
Lauren8443 said:
Hi,

When I was diagnosed with T1 nearly 4 years ago I was put on 19 units of lantus. I don't ever remember having stable blood sugars on that doseage.

I recently went onto a 'diabetes self management' website that gave me the calculation to work out how much lantus I should be on, the result came out at 15.25!! Much lower..... since changing I have had much more stable blood sugars throughout the night, but I spike dreadfully at breakfast and lunch time, I have been injecting a lot more novrapid as a result. Also, even if I have a cup of tea after 8pm it effects my blood sugars a lot?!

My ratio at lunch time I would say is about 3units/10g.... does anyone else have a ratio like this??? everything I look at, seems to be around 1unit/10g or there abouts ????

Advise please
Click to expand...
You use what you need. On the forum here I've seen people quoting ratios between 1:1 and in excess of 1:20
 
Lauren8443 said:
Hi,

When I was diagnosed with T1 nearly 4 years ago I was put on 19 units of lantus. I don't ever remember having stable blood sugars on that doseage.

I recently went onto a 'diabetes self management' website that gave me the calculation to work out how much lantus I should be on, the result came out at 15.25!! Much lower..... since changing I have had much more stable blood sugars throughout the night, but I spike dreadfully at breakfast and lunch time, I have been injecting a lot more novrapid as a result. Also, even if I have a cup of tea after 8pm it effects my blood sugars a lot?!

My ratio at lunch time I would say is about 3units/10g.... does anyone else have a ratio like this??? everything I look at, seems to be around 1unit/10g or there abouts ????

Advise please
Click to expand...
Just wondering what the web site was? I am afraid I can't help with ratios as no idea what mine is! Good luck with everything and glad your blood sugars are more stable.
 
Have you experimented with skipping breakfast (or lunch) and testing your levels hourly? It could be that your lantus doesn't provide enough basal consistently over the 24hrs. However, if your BGs stay nice and stable when you're not eating, then you'll know for sure it's the novorapid that needs adjusting. Everyone's doseage needs are different - in my son's case he has a different ratio for breakfast, lunch and dinner (currently 1:9, 1:15, 1:17, but we review regularly and tweak if needed). Are you spiking and then dropping back to normal? That would be a timing issue rather than a dose issue, ie you'd need to inject perhaps 20 minutes before eating - especially with high GI foods.
 
I had no idea that that was how you worked out whether your dosage was right or not.... (BG remaining stable when not eating)....

I think I need to go back to basics with carb counting. I test far too much aswell I think and chase highs and lows all day... makes me very moody also!

How often should I test after eating ?? 1 or 2 hours after? If they are high then... should I correct or just see what happens....?? Have the libre monitor now so can see what they're doing.
 
I take a fairly low basal dose and a high ratio for bolus (my consultant informed me that I was abnormal, but can't argue that it works!) Libre is fantastic for getting your basal dose right (in my opinion!) My diabetes team have always said the start of a fasting test should be from a point 4 hours after eating/bolus. How soon you should test after eating depends on what you are trying to do. Its normal to have a bit of a spike for 1-2 hours, but your insulin is still working within that time, so be careful if you have a correction dose in that period, or your sugars will plunge!
 
I do that all the time, see a high and correct it... need to stop. Have you ever got into a habit of doing that?
 
Oh yes! Think I'm beginning to learn to judge it better though - practice makes perfect! It's hard to have patience when you see your sugars going up. I've found its a matter of learning your rise and fall patterns - my sugars always look like they've stabilised mid way through a rise/fall, but usually after 10 mins they'll start changing again. My first 2 weeks on libre, my sugars were completely haywire. I'm now on about sensor 5 and control is soooo much better!
 
I would def do a spot of basal testing I'm currently on zero basal but getting your basal right lets you fine tune your bolus ratios and hopefully you reduce the need to correct for highs and lows.
 
Not wishing to pick flies Lauren - but the page and section of the website you posted the Link to - refers to adjusting insulin doses for Type 2 diabetes. There does not appear to be a similar page for Type 1s ! Some of our issues are the same no matter what Type we happen to be - but by no means all of them - so I don't think we can simply assume all the advice will be the same.

Basal testing is the best way to do it of course as already stated (there's a sticky somewhere on the forum how to do it) and having a Libre is certainly an easier way to see what's going on when we don't want to test all the while - whether it's overnight or eg when we're at work.
 
No I know, it's just someone asked which website I had looked at. I'm not suggesting anyone look at it.
 
Lauren8443 said:
I had no idea that that was how you worked out whether your dosage was right or not.... (BG remaining stable when not eating)....

I think I need to go back to basics with carb counting. I test far too much aswell I think and chase highs and lows all day... makes me very moody also!

How often should I test after eating ?? 1 or 2 hours after? If they are high then... should I correct or just see what happens....?? Have the libre monitor now so can see what they're doing.
Click to expand...

This is a pretty good overview of basal insulins and how you can go about checking whether they are working well for you. It's a bit of effort, but once you've got it 'nearly right' once you should only have to tweak it a little - even if you have to tweak every month or so!

http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/info/?page_id=120

I find if my basal is out my much all my meal doses and corrections just stop working well, but a small basal adjustment is often enough to get things a bit more settled - well... as settled as then can *ever* be with type1!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top