Lantus
Hi guys,
My daughter was on Lantus for about seven months, and it worked very well for her. But, we had to take her off of it in February because it burned so bad going in that it was a fight each and every night to get her to do that shot. She had some kind of reaction evidently and it burned more than “normal” according to the doc. Sarah was the first patient he has had to pull off of Lantus. Some things we did to try to help her with less burning were keeping it at room temperature, instead of refrigerating it. Sarah felt like the colder it was, the more it burned. I also tried a little ice to the area before the shot, thinking it would burn less. For some people this helps, but for Sarah — with the Lantus — it didn’t. She was doing a large dose too, 50 U at bedtime, so it was a big shot. In the end, it just wasn’t worth all the big real elephant tears this almost 18 year old would cry every night with this shot — was making her more noncompliant in the end. So, we
have switched to R and NPH, which doesn’t seem to be doing the trick for her either. Hopefully, she’ll be pumping within a few months.
All the best,
Kelly
Mom of Sarah, 17 1/2, dx’d with Type I at 15…
Kelly’s Homepage
April 22nd, 2003 at 12:44 am
Hi,
Sarah was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes just 1 1/2 years ago, shortly before her 16th birthday. We struggle a lot with insulin resistance, with her being a teenage girl with hormones, etc. She started on 40 U of Lantus at bedtime then it was bumped up to 50 U at bedtime, along with Humalog with every meal. She was doing about 25 U of Humalog with every meal, it was a sliding scale, plus carb counting and covering what she was eating. She was doing well over 100 U of insulin a day. Most kids aren’t as insulin resistant as Sarah is. She also has what they call a “fragile metabolism” and goes into DKA very rapidly. She has been hospitalized 6 times in the last year, two of those times in ICU, because of DKA that developed quickly during flu, sinus infection, during her period, etc. That’s my Sarah, can’t be typical at anything she does, lol. Right now she does 26 U of NPH in the am, along with a sliding scale of R (usually about 22 units). She does a sliding scale of
R at dinner, then 14 U of NPH and small sliding dose of R at bedtime. Her numbers are still way too high. Sarah consistently runs in the high 200s to 300s, has since her diagnosis. Her last A1C was 14.2. Her doc has been reluctant to put her on a pump because he doesn’t feel she checks her bg’s enough, but we are changing doc’s next month, to one that is more willing to put her on a pump. We have got to get these numbers down before there is any long term damage done. That’s my biggest fear — what my nightmares are made of — her having kidney failure or retinopathy by the time she’s 30. She got this hideous disease at a horrid age. 16 yr olds think they know everything, that they are invincible, and that everything their parents say is stupid. It’s been a rollercoaster ride, that’s for sure. But she’ll be ok, she’s a very smart girl.
Ok, now I’m babbling, lol
All the best,
Kelly
Kelly’s Homepage
April 23rd, 2003 at 6:33 am
70 units a day? Wow my daughter only takes 18 units a day. She is on NPH, reg, and humalog.
April 30th, 2003 at 8:09 pm
Elizabeth,
Lantus is a insulin that acts as a long-acting medicine that lasts through
the night for you… for some during the day and at nighttime. It has been
wonderful for me when I was first DX with diabetes. Talk to your dr about
it.
Eileen
May 1st, 2003 at 11:17 pm
The main defining feature of Lantus, also called Glargine, when
compared to other long-acting insulins, is that Lantus is not
supposed to have a profound “peak.” It is supposed to be abosrbed at
the same rate, and keep a constant level of background insulin in
your blood, for the whole time it is in your system. Other long-
acting insulins will start with very little absorption, gradually
build to a peak at which most of the dose is entering your blood at
the same time, then trail off over several more hours.
Jerry
December 7th, 2004 at 5:59 pm
Hey everyone,
I visited a new Endo about a month ago and she put me on Lantus
(which I have wanted to try for a while now) I thought it would be a
great improvement but ever since I started the Lantus I have been
constantly hungry and can’t stop eating. I finally got sick of being
hungry all the time so I switched back to the NPH today and am
feeling normal again. Has anyone else experienced this or heard of
anything like this? Thanks for any insight you guys may have!!
Liz
December 8th, 2004 at 9:08 am
Hi, Liz!
I have experienced it 50 pounds worth. LOL
Still wouldn’t go back to the NPH, though, because I was always bottoming out at the MOST inconvenient times.
Joan
March 11th, 2006 at 7:26 pm
when we were at CHOP yesterday, they counted the total as the total, 20. But to figuer out the basal amount for the pump they reduced by 30% and then did something else as well.
Rhonda
March 13th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
I know that exercise can make insulin work better. But I have
noticed that Lantus ONLY works if I have been going to the gym
regularly. When I first started on the Lantus I did not think it
worked very well with me but then after going to the gyn almost every
day, it worked great!! Well, for the last 2 weeks I’ve been a bit of
a bum becuause I haven’t been feeling too great and it seems as
though the Lantus is not working at all. I am taking a lot more
Humalog while eating the same or less then my usual amount of carbs.
Has anyone else experienced this?
March 15th, 2006 at 3:09 am
your Lantus goes thru the pump as well? if so, that would be sooooo cool