Why is lantus given at night
Common Questions and Answers about Why is lantus given at night
lantus
You can use both Novalog and Lantus, but not in the same syringe and not at the same injection site. Lantus is usually administered at night to bring your glucose levels down to normal in the morning. If you have abnormal glucose levels at bedtime, one philosophy is to bring them down to normal using a small amount of short acting insulin and then use the lantus to make sure they will be normal in the morning.
I recently read on here somewhere that Lantus is usually given at bedtime because it lasts 18-24 hours and that by the time it is dwindling the dinner injection is given kind of as the bridge between the first Lantus injection and the next one the following evening. Thus making a steady regimen. However I quite frequently fail to give myself injections at dinner. I am just careless sometimes.
I have just switched from Mixtard/Actrapid to Lantus/Actrapid 3 days ago due to very poor blood sugar control at night and in the morning. The current dosage of Lantus is 15 units in the morning with additional 15 units of Actrapic before evety meal i.e. breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Blood sugar level in the morning shoots up to 15-16mmol (fasting), by noon it will remain at 9-12mmol (before lunch) and will gradually comes down to 4-5mmol before dinner.
When you were taking your Lantus at night, I noticed you mentioned you would carb load late at night to try to prevent the lows.
Did you include adequate protein/fat with your carbs? These items reduce the rate at which carbs are metabolized, and might serve to mitigate the lows you were experiencing.
and weights well over 230 pounds only takes 34 units of lantus at night and up to 16 units of humalog if he eats pizza. I have told him that the lantus dose is governed by weight and since I weigh 220 and take 33 units a day, he isn't taking nearly enough. I think he is compensating with the humalog, which runs a higher risk that he will and does have insulin reactions. I also started out taking lantus at night.
So imediject has a valid point if you are taking Lantus in the morning. Many diabetics split their doses of Lantus and take some at night and some first thing in the morning so that peaking is minimal (for some of us, there IS a slight peak about 4 hours after injection) and the petering out of it as it wears off is also minimal.
Hi,
If this low dose of lantus twice daily is working for you without any problems, there is no reason to change it. Lantus is written as once daily but many doctors(including myself) and patients split the dose because even though it is supposed to be "peakless", it is not for some people. At low doses it works especially well as a split dose. Levemir can be used instead, and is more commonly written as twice daily.
Yup, if you are taking it at night, then it should be at its strongest while you sleep, so the Lantus shouldn't be the problem. Maybe the best solution for you is to increase your Novolog with the evening meal, and make sure you eat fairly early so you can catch any lows that happen if the Novolog peaks before the carbs in the meal digest. I personally find that I do much better with early dinner meals.
One more idea...
This has happened in early afternoon and after dinner. She is on Novalog and NPH before breakfast and Novalog and lantus in the evening. The fact that it has happened two different times in day is why I "hoped" this was a diluted reading rather than actual blood glucose reading. This is all new to me and now I'm fearing the bath. ho hum...Thanks.
I was told to use 8 units at bedtime no matter what my reading is at night now i have notice at night when my reading is 9.7 and give myself 8 units of lantus my reading is very high in the morning 13.8 or more now when is lantus then suppose to kick in . my mealtime insulien is 2 to 3 units at mealtime, Surely I have to give myself more lantus at night maybe 12 units.
She has been taking Lantus at night and she dreads taking it because it causes her to scream from the burning in her arm. She uses the smallest needles available for the pen. Her diet is very limited and on a daily basis she usually eats about 2 bowls of cucumbers with vinegar and a bit of olive oil and some type of protein, such as chicken or salmon. Her sugar is never consistant. Sometimes her sugar level reads 430, 525, 290 and so on through out the day and sometimes hits way low around 50.
I have read about folks taking their Lantus shot in the morning or at night or a partial dose at each time. If you were taking the Lantus in the morning and "crashing" overnight, then talk to your doc about taking it at night instead -- then the timing of any drops would be while you're wide awake and able to test & treat. If you had been taking it at night (which is what I'm guessing, given the timing of your "drop"), then shift to the morning.
The high levels at night are probably happening because the evening Lantus is not truly lasting 24 hours. See if this makes sense to you... Lantus is marketed as a 24-hour insulin, but it doesn't work full force for exactly 24 hours and then -- poof -- suddenly quit. If you read the paperwork in your Lantus box, you will read that it lasts anywhere between 20-24 hours.
as I never heard of these problems with Lantus. Lantus is a 24 hour basal insulin that starts to work in an hour after injected and lasts most of the day without peaking. Also, I have never heard of a Lantus pen but have a call into our local rep to ask. My teenage son has Type 1 diabetes and there is never a dull moment with diabetes, is there.
Gary,
High morning blood sugars normally mean one of two things : inadequate insulin during the night or a re-bound.
The dawn phenomenon often causes somewhat elevated morning blood sugars. But, especially because you inject your Lantus at night, it wouldn't normally cause the blood sugar to go as high as 350-400. Up to 200 would be more in line with the DP effect.
A re-bound occurs when your blood sugar drops during the night to the point where your liver comes to the rescue.
The only insulin that I am aware of that cannot be mixed with others is Lantus -- it ALWAYS must be given as a separate shot. But the other insulins can be given by themselves or mixed. It shouldn't change a thing. The reason that they are usually mixed is so the diabetic person only has to have one shot rather than two. Giving them separately should not change the dosage in any way. It is wonderful that your daughter can have this special time with her grandma.
I just started on Lantus and Humalog and my blood sugars seem to keep going up, I take 30 U at night Lantus and I take Humalog 10 before meals if my bs is 180 or higher, does this sound right, I was diagnosed a Type 2 about 6 years ago, but the Glipizide and Metformin I was taking has been stopped, but my fasting bs has been 270 or higher any suggestions I know control my diet I get that, I also weigh 239 my Dr's say to loose weight, and I am going to try.
I am type 2 on insulin, I take lantus and have had several times around 12-4am where my sugar suddenly drops. It has dropped 75 in just two hours. I start freaking out. It won't go down all day until late at night. The doctor says it doesn't peak but why this sudden drop? I rather take a small dose of Humalog at night. I know that my Humalog would stop after about four hours and didn't have to worry about it overnight.
I did not start any other meds with the Lantus. I also became proactive last night and stopped the Lantus. I went back to my NovoRapid, Novolin NPH routine. Will see how I feel in a couple of days. Today went well. I want to find out before discussion with the dr. if this could be the problem, otherwise they will have nothing to compare it to because as I am finding out there are many different reactions as there are people.
I am just so tired and frustrated.....the doctor has me on lantus at night....he started me out taking 10 and now I'm up to 44 at night and I'm still waking up with 315...I stayed 315 all day aftr taking 44 last night....the doctors want me to slow walk the lantus into my system...went to ER on Sunday because my fasting Bs was 404 They are confident that my BS is going to drop..I was taking hemalog 50/50 my new doctor feels it was wrong for me...at least i had lows...
many type 1 folks who are prone to night-time lows (myself included) find that taking the bulk of their Lantus in the MORNING rather than at night helps prevent lows while asleep. The reason is that Lantus, while advertised as a 24-hour insulin, does not have a magic 24-hour shutoff button, but actuallly sort of disappears in your body in a range of 20-24 hours, gradually sort of wearing off.
I had it in my head that I should be taking Lantus in the morning and at night. I have been having great readings. Watching what I eat and just now getting into a regular exercise routine. I had to take a new pen out of the fridge today and looked at the directions... says to take at night. So essentially I have been taking double the dose per day. Can this be bad? My readings do not drop below 80 and I feel great. I also take a small dose of Humolog with my meals.
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