• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Lantus glargine vs levemir detemir?

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
T

Twitchy

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi all, question on behalf of a friend:

Anyone know if lantus / levemir has significantly different actions / durations etc, or had any experience of trouble with moving from one to the other? Anyone had probs with levemir pre filled pens?? :confused: I'm asking because I know someone who's been switched on to levemir; they were on a split dose of 16 : 10 (am/pm) but now up to 16:20 & still running in high teens without obvious reason like a virus etc. pen seems to be working ok etc & they're not doing anything differently from before... Thanks for your help in anticipation!! Xxx
 
There are differences in the mechanism by which they act as long acting insulins, and I think officially levemir isn't a 24 h insulin, which is why most people split it.

I had huge problems with levemir. I switched during a dafne course, and I went from 20 units of Lantus to 56 units of levemir (via increases over about three weeks), I had doubled my meal boluses, and I was still waking up in the high teens every morning. Similar thing happened to another girl on the same course - dsn said some insulins just don't work for some people. I swapped back to Lantus, and ended up on a pump six months later!
 
Aah, that fits... Can't believe they just dumped her on it, told her to start on old doses & tweak & didn't mention that it might not work for her or what to do if it didn't! :(
 
From reading people's experiences here levemir can be much more suitable than lantus once the doses are set correctly. It has a duration of 12-18 hours as opposed to lantus' 18-24 and changes in dose generally take effect more quickly than lantus (one day as opposed to the three that lantus changes often take to show their true effect).
 
I know many people who much prefer Levemir to lantus exactly because it has a slightly shorter duration and is very suited to split doses.

It's speed of response also means that some people find they can adjust dose in advance of a particularly busy day (eg some sporty marathon or major DIY slog) rather like setting a 12h 'temporary' rate on a pump.

This snazzy graph might help your friend with likely duration/peakiness:
http://www.diabetesdaily.com/wiki/Levemir_Speed_Versus_Dose
 
I had exactly the same problem as randomange - my basal dose trebled but even so, I never got any readings under 10 and was comp. bolusing every 2 hours just to stay vaguely level. While anyone should expect doses to change along with their insulin type, really dramatic changes probably indicate it's just not the right insulin for that person.
 
DeusXM said:
I had exactly the same problem as randomange - my basal dose trebled but even so, I never got any readings under 10 and was comp. bolusing every 2 hours just to stay vaguely level. While anyone should expect doses to change along with their insulin type, really dramatic changes probably indicate it's just not the right insulin for that person.
Click to expand...

I agree. I persevered with it for longer than my DSN suggested - mainly because it seemed to be working so well for everyone else, and I liked the idea of the flexibility of it. My understanding is that it's fairly unusual for it to fail quite so spectacularly - the DSN on our course was really surprised that two of us had such issues with it, but said you have to go by the numbers, and ours showed that levemir just didn't agree with us!
 
randomange said:
I agree. I persevered with it for longer than my DSN suggested - mainly because it seemed to be working so well for everyone else, and I liked the idea of the flexibility of it. My understanding is that it's fairly unusual for it to fail quite so spectacularly - the DSN on our course was really surprised that two of us had such issues with it, but said you have to go by the numbers, and ours showed that levemir just didn't agree with us!
Click to expand...

I wonder if it has anything to do with the different ways it releases into the bloodstream?

http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/...nd-levemir--whats-the-difference/?section=200

Perhaps there is some genetic/chemical/whatever difference involved? They must have observed something similar in trials, I would have thought, although rare.
 
I'm utterly gobsmacked, I honestly haven't heard before of anyone having trouble with Lev - it saved my sanity cos lantus is pretty awful for me!

Just proves we ARE all different.

One question .... If it ain't broke - why on earth would you fix it? Complete idiocy.
 
Thanks all...think she's decided to give it the heave ho & go back to lantus...incidentally, do any of you who had problems with detemir have issues with insulin resistance too? Thanks x
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top