[Grif110]

I haven't been using Lantus to long and have a question. Tonight I just checked my BG and got an 87. It's time for bed AND my nightly injection of 35 units. With a reading this low, what should I do? Eat a snack and inject? Skip the injection or cut back on the dosage? I'm kinda confused.

Also, what do you consider to low (enough to make you consume some glucose to counter) of a BG reading?

 

[bionic615]

Hello Grif110, I myself take 35 units of lantus and when my glucose levels are less than 90 I still inject the 35 because lantus is long acting and may not event start to work till early morning

 

[Grif110]

Hello Grif110, I myself take 35 units of lantus and when my glucose levels are less than 90 I still inject the 35 because lantus is long acting and may not event start to work till early morning

Bionic

What are your normal fasting levels? Mine have been running 70 to 90. This morning it was 62. I guess that's why I'm concerned.

 

[bionic615]

Grif110 yeah 62 is quite low my fasting level usually run 90-110. I always ensure I eat a snack before bed. I'm no doc but yeah you should eat a snack and inject the 35

 

[lia]

Personally, 80 to 85 is normal and that is what I aim for. It is not low. I had a 62 and a 42 in the last few days and quickly ate something. That is lower than I like but not alarming.

I try to adjust my Lantus dose so that I do wake up with 80 to 85. I am just finding out that it is a bit tricky. It doesn't seem to survive the night as well as it survives the day. I'm just in the process of doing a lot more testing than usual to try to get this right.

best wishes, you learn with every thing you try

 

[diabetes86]

42 is getting into the dangerus low.
your wake up numbers look good.
Lantus is a basel insulin meaning works slowly over a long time, that 35 IU is used over a 24 hour time frame. Not like takeing 35 IU of fast insulin like NovaLog which would use the same 35IU in about 4 hours.

So to anser your question I would take the 35 IU of lantus and a small snack and see what my numbers are in the morning, before lunch, before dinner. thase are the numbers to use to adjust your lantus dose. the problem with using your wake up BG to adjust the lantus is DP. DP is not a fasting BG it is your body getting ready for the day and dumping BG.

 

[Joshua Shorter]

If your fasting levels are consistently low, it might be a good idea to start backing off the dose of lantus. By that I mean reduce it by 2 units and inject that for a few days to see how that impacts things. Like it has been said, lantus is a long-lasting insulin and you shouldn't skip it at all. That doesn't mean you aren't maybe taking too much.

 

[LarryT]

While I am not using Lantus (will change near future) - you are getting some good suggestions from my experience with the Intermediate Insulin. Should you need a nightly snack string cheese works well for me.
Yesterday I did subscribe to an on-line Lantus How-To-Use class. If you are in the US the sign-up URL is https://www.lantusandapidrahelpteam.com/ Not sure about international classes.

I know fairly recently my night numbers were dropping to low and I had to reduce my night injection accordingly to avoid the hypo
Actually the Lantus prospect 'bothers' me less than the rapid NovoLog, I seem to be quite sensitive to it. About 3 years ago tried Levemir and NovoLog with poor regulation overnight. Of course many others say opposite, we all seem to be different

 

[Grif110]

I ate a snack (almonds) and raised my bedtime number to 98. I then injected 30 units of Lantus (instead of 35 units). My numbers today are:

08:20AM Sugar 72 mg/dL (Morning) wake up
09:34AM Sugar 82 mg/dL (Morning) after breakfast
01:27PM Sugar 71 mg/dL (Afternoon) after lunch

I think I may need to make an adjustment or two.

At t 2:40PM (about two hours after lunch) 92 mg/dL

 

[Joshua Shorter]

You need to give the new dosage several days of readings before adjusting it again. Your body needs a few days to figure out the new doses.

 

[diabetes86]

Lantus is not for controlling meal BG that is the job of fast acting insulin like Novalog. for managing lantus the time to measure your BG is BEFORE you eat

 

[Grif110]

Lantus is not for controlling meal BG that is the job of fast acting insulin like Novalog. for managing lantus the time to measure your BG is BEFORE you eat

I am aware of that. My concern was waking up low. The fasting reading of 72 followed by the 71 just after eating lunch (suggests it may have been lower BEFORE eating) are what I was worried about. Neither reading was that low so I am not very worried about it now. Today's later readings were similar to last night, so I still think I need to stay with the reduced 30 units of Lantus and maybe even lower it a little more after a few days if need be.