Lantus and cats
Common Questions and Answers about Lantus and cats
lantus
I have a diatetic kitty on Lantus, and yes, you can use the human glucometer. I use the Alpha Trak meter, which is an animal meter, but it is quite pricey, and it reads 30 points higher, so her range is anywhere between 70 - 160. The human meter ranges would be lower. I home test her - it is important to know what the blood glucose is before giving insulin, as you know. I learned everything about home testing from the people experienced with diabetic kitties on this site. Just type in www.
Hello. I am T1 since Oct 2004, and switched to Lantus in Feb. Most of my BG numbers are very good (A1Cs 6.0 and 5.5), but since switching to Lantus, I have experienced 5 episodes of sudden and extreme drops in BG. They happen late morning, not related to breakfast, novolog dose or exercise. My BG is usually above 150 when it starts, and I must consume 150-200 grams of carbs (as juice or gel) to get it to stabilize, usually in 20-30 mins.
About a month ago, my doctor changed my long acting insulin from Novolin NPH to Lantus. This completely threw me off and I ended up being woken up by paramedics 3 times in 1 week. My blood sugar would be normal before bed and then by morning it had gone to 1.8. When I would eat a snack before bed to keep my blood sugar from dropping, I would go high - 13.0-15.0 on average. My doctor has now switched me back to my Novolin NPH and I am still having a hard time getting back on track.
I have been type 1 diabetic for 24 years now (female), and I am using lantus(once a day) and humalog(3 times) for the last 5 years.
between bedtime and breakfast I am having a drop in BGs of around 10-13 mmols. and then in the mornings, after breakfast BGs shoot up, so my normal carb-insulin ratio doesnt work well.
I cannot understand why this overnight drop is happening, which is becoming scary. I tested BGs during the night and there seems to be a drop of 2 mmol/hour.
I have tried correlating it with high doses of H due to high carb intake and then a possible mixing of the H with the Lantus. Neither theory panned out. Does anyone have any similar experiences? I was warned by nurse that I might have reactions to the Lantus, but have not been able to get back to the clinic to find out if this is a normal reaction that will go away. So far, it does wax and wane so my motivation is confused. Will this go away after awhile?
The main concern I would have about the addition to Lantus 20 units daily would be the risk of low blood sugar, especially in combination with glimepiride. Both Lantus and glimepiride can cause low blood sugar or hypoglycemia. Just make sure you're watching for the signs of low blood sugar, which are, sudden headache, feeling shaky, and weakness. There are many more signs of hypoglycemia and I encourage you to research it more yourself.
I have been on insulin for nearly 38 years and am lucky enough to have no complications so believe I have managed my control pretty well. However since starting to use Lantus (and I was one of the first users in the UK) I have stopped having real problems with hypos but have had great problems with consistency of delivery. I want to find out whether this is just me (and I do not think so) and how many other diabetics are having similar problems and what they are doing about it.
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 use a short-acting insulin, Novolog, and a 24-period insulin, Lantis. I give Novolog with each meal, and Lantus when I go to bed. I am having troubles with my sugars in the morning. I wake up at 7am, and eat breakfast. I give my shot immediately after eating breakfast, around 7:20. I test my sugar before I eat breakfast and it is normally good. Then at 8am, I head to school. When I arrive at school around 9am, I test my sugar, which is usually pretty high (200-300).
One week later, he started eating, then just sat there motionless and glassy eyed, I picked him up, he peed and pooped and then started panting and his heart or breathing was very rapid and irregular. Took him to vet, he was totally back to normal in less than 20 minutes. Is he having seizures or heart arrythmia? Is it bad reaction to lantis?
The reason lies back to the pH value of the Lantus and the pH value of your body. Values of pH simply describe how acidic or how basic a solution is, the closer to 1 the solution is more acidic and the closer to 14 the solution is, the more basic. Your body resides at a neutral pH of 7 and the pH value of Lantus resides at about 4, which explains why it stings when it comes into contact.
Not only have I gained 30 pounds, I started having mood swings and irritability since starting Lantus and lately now in the past month I had two severe lows right after taking the Lantus (within 30 minutes of taking my shot). Each time I did draw blood as I removed the needle but the doctor and diabetic educator insist that I cannot hit a vein and even if I went into a vessel it would not cause the insulin to react so quickly.
And as for the sweats about a half hour after taking Lantus, there IS a slight peak action with Lantus, although this peak action for most people is several hours after taking the Lantus. In my case, I usually take my Lantus at about 6 am, and I notice a peak that causes my glucose levels to drop by about 8 am. This happens even if I have not taken any Novolog or eaten breakfast (sometimes I wait until I get to work to take Novolog and eat breakfast), so it has to be the Lantus peaking.
Just remember that the more insulin you shoot, the more weight you gain. Try cutting back on your carbs and that will cut down on your Lantus and that will cut down on your weight.
Remember that human insulin, like Lantus, is not like switching from tylenol to advil. There are more significant signs your body will give you. It's like it's telling you that it noticed you have made a very serious change.
The mood swings are common in female diabetics.
I get my supplies from the Military Hospital because I am a retired service member and they do not have the lantus solostar flex pen but they do have the levimer flex pen. I also noticed with Lantus I get hungary allot but I do not give into the temptation of eating and I only eat twice a day but a heck of lot less then I had in the past. Will levemiere insulin get rid of that hungar pain and can I just use it like I use the lantus by taking 36 Units at night???.
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