levimir advice

[Flutterby]

following my TIA ive bin put on levimir instead of lantus. got rid of that crap autopen!! when do others take their jab? do you stick rigidly to a 12 hour split? if im high in the morning do i increase the teatime levimir? do u have a bedtime snack? sorry about typing. hand still weak. going to eat lunch. will check back later.xx

 

[Northerner]

Hurrah for getting rid of the autopen! Can't help with levemir, but was wondering why they changed you from lantus? (I'm on lantus). Is it just because the lantus wasn't working very well for you?

 

[shiv]

Flutterby have they not given you any advice?! I would get on the phone pronto!

I'm going to be switched to levemir sometime soon, so the following is NOT advice, but how I plan to handle the situation. I plan to begin by taking the same amounts at the same time as I did of lantus, and then seeing if I need to make any adjustments. If your levemir amounts are right, you shouldn't really need a bedtime snack unless you find you are going low through the night - which in theory shouldn't happen if you have your levemir amounts are correct (again this may take a few days to work out).

If I saw high levels in the mornings I would consider 2 things: a hypo in the night (causing my liver to chuck out glucose in the night) or the need for more levemir.

Definitely get in touch with your team first thing on Monday morning, I can't believe they've left you hanging with all these questions!

 

[Flutterby]

Flutterby have they not given you any advice?! I would get on the phone pronto!

I'm going to be switched to levemir sometime soon, so the following is NOT advice, but how I plan to handle the situation. I plan to begin by taking the same amounts at the same time as I did of lantus, and then seeing if I need to make any adjustments. If your levemir amounts are right, you shouldn't really need a bedtime snack unless you find you are going low through the night - which in theory shouldn't happen if you have your levemir amounts are correct (again this may take a few days to work out).

If I saw high levels in the mornings I would consider 2 things: a hypo in the night (causing my liver to chuck out glucose in the night) or the need for more levemir.

Definitely get in touch with your team first thing on Monday morning, I can't believe they've left you hanging with all these questions!

had quick chat and they said they'd change insulin, assumed theyd come back but they didnt! then got discharged. will ring local team mon. considered both things as you say. checkd sugar 2.30am 11.1 but by morn was 17.1 😱 had been 7.3 b4 bed so had 2 digestives. will try a piece of oaty toast tonight see if any improvement. let u know how it goes.

 

[Flutterby]

Hurrah for getting rid of the autopen! Can't help with levemir, but was wondering why they changed you from lantus? (I'm on lantus). Is it just because the lantus wasn't working very well for you?

wasnt working at all for me and id lost faith in it. dose now split as well so quite a change. will have special burial ceremony for autopen, got novopen now.

 

[Northerner]

wasnt working at all for me and id lost faith in it. dose now split as well so quite a change. will have special burial ceremony for autopen, got novopen now.

Haha! I LOVE the idea of the autopen ceremonial interment! Hope that the levemir works well for you 🙂

 

[D_G]

Hey flutterby

I am on levemir and i take mine at 12 hour intervals at 9am and 9pm, of course sometimes i do forget and end up taking it half an hour later but this doesnt really affect anything 🙂

 

[Monica]

following my TIA ive bin put on levimir instead of lantus. got rid of that crap autopen!! when do others take their jab? do you stick rigidly to a 12 hour split? if im high in the morning do i increase the teatime levimir? do u have a bedtime snack? sorry about typing. hand still weak. going to eat lunch. will check back later.xx

C has only one jab at 9pm. It should be at the same time every day, but I'm sure a few minutes either side won't do any harm.
And no, she doesn't NEED a bedtime snack. Of course, if she wants one, she can have one😉, but if it's more than 10g carbs she'll have to inject for it.
I won't give you any advice on increasing the levemir, I think it's best if you ask your DSN about that.

Good luck with your change of insulin. x x x

 

[Flutterby]

Hey flutterby

I am on levemir and i take mine at 12 hour intervals at 9am and 9pm, of course sometimes i do forget and end up taking it half an hour later but this doesnt really affect anything 🙂

Thanks for that Ive now set a reminder on my phone and will try it at 12 hour intervals. the hospital said it could be an hour out and have it with tea but I really want this to work so am giving it my best shot.

 

[Flutterby]

C has only one jab at 9pm. It should be at the same time every day, but I'm sure a few minutes either side won't do any harm.
And no, she doesn't NEED a bedtime snack. Of course, if she wants one, she can have one😉, but if it's more than 10g carbs she'll have to inject for it.
I won't give you any advice on increasing the levemir, I think it's best if you ask your DSN about that.

Good luck with your change of insulin. x x x

That was so helpful thanks! I went to bed without snack and set alarm for 2.30am to test. was 6.8 I panicked a bit in case it dropped b4 breakfast so ate half digestive and was 11 this morn. It seems I didnt need that biscuit but its trial and error and loads better than the 17.1 yesterday morn.thanks again.xx

 

[richardq]

Hi...

I take mine at 11.30pm, which if I want an early night is a bit of a pain to be honest, as I have to wake up for it again, but I also work a lot of evenings, and if I take it any earlier, I'm going to end up being due for the injection when I'm half way down the M62 or something. Can't suggest anything about changing insulins, as I changed to this from the pre-mixed novomix, which was rather inflexible (and didn't deal well with working evenings).

Morning readings were about 11, so I upped the dose by 1unit, and found that they had dropped down to about 7. They are climbing again a little, so I'm toying with the idea of putting them up another unit, but will talk to the DSN about the general doses first.

Have also just started carb-counting for the novorapid, so probably best just to fiddle with one thing at once...

R

 

[Flutterby]

thanks richard, the times they have given me are not terribly convenient but no doubt can be shuffled once Im up and running again. Am somewhat shaken by the TIA right now and not having my usual hectic life. Am waiting to see if I have appt at TIA clinic tomorrow and once I know what Im doing I will ring the DSN.

 

[novorapidboi26]

When I first went to MDI I started on one Lantus jag, but it was not lasting the full day........

Thats why I went on Levemir as the dose can be split, all to do with on set times, peaks and duration of the insulin. Another advantage of Levemir is the dose can be changed and the effect on BG can be observed straight away, with Lantus a few days must pass before any effect is observed......

Essentially there are the same insulins, they just start, peak and last different times..........I say peak when really there is no significant one, it justs hold you steady...........so with that you can inject before bed at 6.5 with no food and you should wake roughly the same......if thats the case then the dose is right...........then you just have to deal with the daytime dose......

Hope that helped

 

[MIsmail]

Transfered to Levemir lst yr. They gave me a 12 hour split. It helped.

My split wasn't a perfect 50:50.

I also found that if I overslept and took the Levemir a couple of hours late, this inevitabley led to morning highs and tough adjustments for the morning ratio.

I definately fiind it better than lantus

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

the times they have given me are not terribly convenient but no doubt can be shuffled once Im up and running again...

Just bear in mind (if you start tweaking things away from a 50:50 dose split to allow for different daytime/nighttime basal needs) that the duration of an insulin's activity is often influenced by the dose. The lower the dose, the shorter the duration seems to be. Typical duration seems to be 12-23 hours though the range in the Levemir prescribing leaflet goes from 5.7 hours (smallest dose) to 23 hours (largest dose). If your dose needs to be 30:70 (or whatever) you might need to adjust your timings a little too.

M

 

[Northerner]

Just bear in mind (if you start tweaking things away from a 50:50 dose split to allow for different daytime/nighttime basal needs) that the duration of an insulin's activity is often influenced by the dose. The lower the dose, the shorter the duration seems to be. Typical duration seems to be 12-23 hours though the range in the Levemir prescribing leaflet goes from 5.7 hours (smallest dose) to 23 hours (largest dose). If your dose needs to be 30:70 (or whatever) you might need to adjust your timings a little too.

M

A very good point Mike. I've often wondered how splitting a basal would affect its action - but never quite reached any conclusion! Certainly seems logical! 🙂 I'm only on 7 lantus, so a split would leave me with very small doses. Regarding timing of injections, I can vary my lantus injection by hours sometimes (e.g. 10:30 one night, 1:30 next) and it doesn't really seem to affect me adversely. I suspect I may have some residual pancreatic function though, given that my basal is only 20% of my total daily dose.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Northener - It may also be the standard 'lantus-lag' If I alter my Lantus dose, it usually takes about 3 days for the effect to become established. While this is very frustrating when basal needs change and you are trying to work out the current correct dose, it can also protect you from the occasional wobble in dose timing 🙂

I would expect if you continually took your Lantus at very different times, you would start to notice some slightly more chaotic bgs.

I've tried splitting Lantus myself (as I seem to need less basal overnight) but didn't find it very reliable, and have since switched back to taking it in the mornings, so that the fall-off of activity matches my reduced requirement.