Lantus dose range
Common Questions and Answers about Lantus dose range
lantus
other wise my sugar levels are in 
Because excess heat can activate Lantus post injection, patients are being warned against things such as saunas and hot tubs due to the possibility of severe hypoglycemia. But I've also seen 'hot showers' included as well. I've been wondering - how hot is 'hot'? In the winter I'm always freezing, and a hot shower was great before bed. I've been hesitant to enjoy such a pleasure since starting Lantus though.
Does anyone know a formula for amount of Lantus needed for a basal dose vs how many units fast-acting you take per carb? I have major swings. Yesterday was told by a nurse that the Lantus I take is really low compared to amount of Humalog I take, but she never told me HOW much she thought I should be taking.
I take 1.5 u Humalog per carb for all meals (for last 3 weeks - has changed many times). I'm supposed to take 11 u Lantus in am. My morning BS is usually 300-500.
My 23-year-old nephew who is 6'2" 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.
Many of us who take Lantus and who are prone to night lows opt to do this morning dose instead of the evening dose.
Obviously you would need to discuss this with your doctor. And of course you cannot just change one night, for you either would be doubling the dose by taking the Lantus the next morning or you would be going without Lantus for a half a day if you wait until the 2nd morning to take it.
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.
The 72-hour glucose monitor is used often by doctors to attempt to ascertain what kind of glucose patterns a patient is having or how certain foods or activities affect that patient's glucose readings. If you are having trouble fine-tuning your insulin regimen, then your doctor may hope that using this device for a short period of time will help him or her try to establish a better combination of basal dose and mealtiime bolus to keep your glucose levels more even-keeled than they are now.
Most patients require only about 80% of their old NPH dose when they switch to Lantus, so the fact that you are having to INCREASE your insulin dosage seems to indicate that the root problem may be insulin resistance. The fact that you write that your weight is normal and you eat a low-carb diet seems to make this the only logical explanation for the constantly increasing glucose readings. You may want to do some reading on this problem and current treatments for it.
I am a type 1A diabetic with normal insulin sensitivity and predictable bg responses to insulin doses. Until now. I went on a reducing diet (high protein, next to 0 carbs, increased exercise) but never decreased my once daily PM dose of Lantus (10 units.) Immediately my AM bg's jumped to over 200 and stayed there. No hypoglycemia during sleep (I never woke up, anyway.)I could bring my daily bg's down with my shortacting insulin.
I take 40 units Lantus (long acting), and sliding scale Novolog (fast acting) insulins. My bg is always so high in the mornings, I have to take Novolog and wait for sugar to come down to eat. I've had diabetes for many years, but never knew for sure which one! My dr would switch my diagnosis all the time. But went to endo and they did a blood test, and said I'm type 1. I'm angry my dr. never did anything about this.
So adding strength training will probably use more carbs so lowering your dose of Lantus would be the correct thing to do. But in this case you might want to try to use the Actrapid to lower your highs instead as you are currently doing.
You should be able to figure out what your carb/Actrapid ratio is pretty simply. Take a reading and then take a specific amount of Actrapid and wait for it to have its full effect and then take another reading.
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.
If I were to switch I would ask my Dr. if I could skip 1 dose of Lantus and just start on a new schedule. In other words I would skip 1 evening dose and not take another dose until the following morning 36 hours later. This would seem to be the easiest to me but you would have to bolus a lot that one day to compensate. Like I said see the Dr. this can be really complicated.
Long answer to a short question. Hope it helps some.
Some of us prefer to split the Lantus dose, taking some in the morning and some in the evening to equal the complete dose. That way, only half is petering out after 20 hours, and the sugar levels stay more even throughout the day.
The Lantus shouldn't work quickly, for it crystallizes in the injection site and slowly dumps tiny bits of insulin into the body all day. So the quick-acting insulin is what you want to use to lower a high reading.
When I started using 2u Lantus in morning, 2 weeks ago, I'd go low in the late afternoon/early evening, and then my morning sugars would be elevated ... 140s, 150s. So I split the dose: I'm now using 1.5u Lantus AM & 1u Lantus PM. It definitely works better than 2u QD, and I've checked the middle of the night - not a problem. The drug sheet for Lantus doesn't mention BID dosing, but my internet articles do. What are your thoughts, and is Levemir better for BID dosing?
She is taking a large dose of Lantus, and if she slows down how she pushes the plunger, it will keep the bruising from being as bad, for the insulin can be absorbed into the tissue better than when it is pushed too quickly and causes a bubble of sorts. I also have been told that the abdomen is usually one of the best spots to inject... most endocrinologists encourage their patients to use this area because the insulin is absorbed quicker there.
Sorry, my comment should have been directed to Suzanne.
Keeping good records showed me that I got 18-20 hours of coverage At Most from the Lantus, and when I hit that blank spot between 4 and 8 AM, there was just nothing left. I ended up splitting the Lantus to a 2/3 dose in the AM, and 1/3 in the evening. That covered the 'no Lantus left' spot that was causing the mystery highs.
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