Should I switch from Levermir to Lanctus?

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martindt1606

martindt1606

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 3c
Hi became Type 1 in May this year following removal of pancreas. Have spent the last 5 months eating fairly normally in conjunction with the 4 injection regime. Have had no serious Low or High blood sugar readings BUT have also had no real control meaning only 30-40% of readings within the 4 to 8 range.
Saw the diabetic nurse yesterday and she is recommending switching the long lasting insulin from Levermir to Lanctus. Will this help or will I just have another "x" months of variable blood sugar levels whilst I get used to the new insulin?
Also recommended to start considering carbs in a meal and varying the NovoRapid at meals to reflect carbs and pre meal blood sugar. I think this is possible if I stay on Levermir but to do so and change the long lasting insulin seems a lot at once.
Any advice appreciated.... 🙂
 
The two insulins are pretty much the same, lantus lasts longer meaning one injection a day, but that doesnt always work out with everyone..........it wouldnt hurt to try, means one less injection and it might hold your sugars steady better, also counting carbs is definetly the next step to take....

Search the forum for discussions on these insulins...........:D

And Welcome.............🙂
 
Hi Martin, welcome to the forum 🙂 Did the nurse explain why they were considering the change? Lantus is often preferred as it has a longer 'action' than Levemir so can generally be delivered in one injection per 24 hours, whereas Levemir is often given in 'split' injections i.e. twice a day.

There will be a period of time whilst you establish the correct dose of lantus, as this will not necessarily be the same as your levemir dose. During this period you could do something called 'basal testing' to determine if you are getting the dose right, so you should discuss this with the nurse.

It should be possible to apply carb counting rules to your novorapid injections at the same time - in reality you are just looking at things the opposite way around and changing your insulin dose to suit your food rather than eating more or less to suit your insulin doses. It may appear complex, but it's not that difficult and you will come to learn to just 'eyeball' meals (take an educated guess!) and determine the required dose.

It always seems tricky at first as it takes time to determine what is right for you, and a lot of it is trial and error and fine-tuning. I used to be on 20 lantus which was way too much, I now know, but it took a while to establish that - now I am on 7 lantus.

Hope this helps! 🙂
 
Hi MArtin.

As NRBoi says, carb counting is your best hope for good control. The insulins you use will just dictate your regime and how many units.

I'm on Lantus and have just gone from one injection per day to two to acheive better control. I'm also on Humalog instead of your Novorapid. They all do similar jobs in slightly different ways.

I'd get the carb counting side of things sorted but if your DSN thinks Lantus is better for you, give it a try. We're all slightly different and react differently to all the insulins.

Rob (born and bred in Middx!)
 
Hi Martin i cant help out the insulin question but I wanted to welcome you to the forum.
 
I'm on Levemir and asked my DN about the possibility of changing to Lantus as my brother is on that and I thought it may help me but she said there is no point, they are practically the same and wouldn't help with my control. Let me know how you get on if you do change.

Welcome to the forum.
 
Thanks everyone.

Northerner - I have a single levermir injection before bed - 24 units. Have never considered splitting the injection. Reason for change is high readings before evening meal / bed and though was Lanctus lasts 24 hours levermir 14 to 16 hours. DN recommends lanctus with a dosage of 20. Seems high given you are on 7....
 
martindt1606 said:
Thanks everyone.

Northerner - I have a single levermir injection before bed - 24 units. Have never considered splitting the injection. Reason for change is high readings before evening meal / bed and though was Lanctus lasts 24 hours levermir 14 to 16 hours. DN recommends lanctus with a dosage of 20. Seems high given you are on 7....
Click to expand...

I'm a bit unusual, in that my lantus requirements are quite a small percentage of my total daily dose of insulin - I did go down to 3 at one point! From what you say, I think it is definitely worth discussing splitting your dose to get better coverage on the levemir before changing insulins and see how it goes.
 
I find that lantus does not last 24 hours for me. i took it at night and like you found my pre evening meal readings were high, so i split the dose and it works somewhat better for me. So lantus may or may not last 24 hours for you. If it was me I would try a split dose of levemir before switching to lantus, but thats something to talk to your nurse about.
 
I tried lantus when it was first on "trial" and didn't like it at all - I've found that having levemir twice a day is much more helpful - I have 16 units of Levemir at 9pm and 9 units at 8am (just before I leave for work). It has certainly given me much smoother BGs throughout each 24 hour period and I've now been on it for several years
 
martindt1606 said:
Hi became Type 1 in May this year following removal of pancreas. Have spent the last 5 months eating fairly normally in conjunction with the 4 injection regime. Have had no serious Low or High blood sugar readings BUT have also had no real control meaning only 30-40% of readings within the 4 to 8 range.
Saw the diabetic nurse yesterday and she is recommending switching the long lasting insulin from Levermir to Lanctus. Will this help or will I just have another "x" months of variable blood sugar levels whilst I get used to the new insulin?
Also recommended to start considering carbs in a meal and varying the NovoRapid at meals to reflect carbs and pre meal blood sugar. I think this is possible if I stay on Levermir but to do so and change the long lasting insulin seems a lot at once.
Any advice appreciated.... 🙂
Click to expand...

Welcome martin I would just like to say I went on a Carb Counting course in September, it was really interesting and helpful, I would definitley recommend it. I used to take Insulatard but the nurse said I would have to change to Levemir for carb counting, but the nurse did say it's best to go on the course after a year ofbecoming diabetic, because of the honeymoon period. Change can be daunting and things don't always go smoothly at first. I know you will get lots of support and advice on this forum. best wishes Sheena
 
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