I have recently changed to new insulin. I am now taking Levemir in the morning and at night taking Apidra. Since I have changed to this insulin my blood sugar is going upby alot. I was at 176 this morning and within a few hours it was at 296. This has never happened before and I have not changed anything in my eating. Why is it going up so much and how can I make this stop?
When you eat, you need the fast acting insulin like Novolog to act quickly to cover the meal. For some, Lantus and Levemir act the same. For me, Levemir seemed to work better in that it provided more consistency to my blood sugar levels. I like Levemir. I have switched to 2 shots per day (morning and night) instead of just taking the 1 shot at night, because the 1 shot at night may not cover the 24 hours.
It was working well for a year. Then blood was becoming high, Doctor gave me LEVEMIR. If I take 10 units of humalog, after two hours sugar drops 4 points, I think this is the right dose for humalog for what I eat. I eat 60 gram Carb every meal. But 3 hours, sugar tries to go low, but insead, it bounces back and proceede to values and I start to feel hypo, though I never see sugar 9. It is not hypo value, why sugar bounces up, why feel shaky, fear etc. I use LEVIMIR as base insulin.
So, in essence, you make it even more difficult to insert an injection. So, by alternating your sites, you lesson that possibility, because you give each area a longer recovery time.
I can understand the difficulty in trying to give yourself the shots on the back of your arms, or on your backside hips. If my wife (who is afraid of needles and normally passes out at the sight of a needle) did not give me those shots, I couldn't do it myself.
d appreciate experienced opinions. My Support Services weekly injection map/planner has only 4 sites for each arm, 8 for the hips, 10 for the thighs and 19 in the abdomen. That seems excessively burdensome for the arms and not using the abdomen enough. For some of us, sadly, there is SO much adipose territory in the abdomen I'm tempted to consider the upper and lower row of the abdomen two separate 8 site zones and go there twice in a rotation.
The Levemir is NOT on a sliding scale. It is a given does once a day Or twice a day. 12 hours apart.
is his 224 after eating or first thing in the morning before food or drink?
Some diabetics I have spoken with about injection sites mention that, after years, some areas develop either a slight raising of tissue (almost like a large lump) or in some cases, some tissue atrophy in areas where injections are given. In order to give each area a rest, most doctors do recommend rotating injection sites. However, if you are not comfortable doing this, just watch carefully for any changes, and if you see changes, alter your pattern. Rotating around the area is a good start.
If you really cannot tolerate it, you may ask your Dr about alternative long acting insulins such as Levemir (injected twice a day) and Tresiba (injected once a day), which may be alternatives to Lantus.
Does the skin or underlying tissue of your injection sites look or feel any different now than it did when you started? Have you been rotating site location regularly? Massaging the sites (starting 24 hours after use)?
If it is a new problem that involves all sites you may need to ask your injection training nurse or your prescribing doc to take a look at what is going on. I'm not aware of any recent changes in the equipment. Please let us know what you find out.
I have clearly discoloured skin patches where my injection sites were. I thought they might go away eventually but approx 18 months post treatment, it's clearly not going to happen. They haven't faded whatsoever. Looks like they are here to stay. The left side is about 1-1/2 " in a ragged circular patch and the right side is blotchier and larger but same thing. Not going to look pretty if I ever get myself back into a bikini (hey, a girl can dream) but I'll live.
My injection sites on my abdomen are about 1-1/2" in diameter and the skin has lost it's pigmentation there. It's noticeably lighter and appears it will stay that way - two roundish shaped and lighter skinned "sites" on my abdomen. Along with the surgery scar, my poor abdomen isn't looking so pretty these days. Are those injection sites going to stay that way? Not a big deal ... just asking.
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