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What time do you take long-acting insulin

3K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  mbuster 
#1 ·
I don't know why but since I've been using insulin I take it at 6 p.m. every evening.
My wake up fasting BG is never less than 100. It's always pretty high. Maybe it's 150 one morning, 160 it could be 190 when I wake up. I do better during the day and it will usually be, if I eat right, less than 140.
What time should I be taking my daily insulin dose?
My next problem is... some days I'll eat the same as I ate the day before and my BG will be really high the whole day. And then it seems like if I stay on very very low carb eventually those highs will come down in a few days. Is this just the way things are?
I eat a very low carb supper and then at bedtime when I take my BG it'll be like a hundred and eighty-nine. Is this just the way things are? Will this always be a guessing game as long as I'm overweight?
I've lost about 10 lb in the last 3 months. I'm eating low carb. Some days I fall off the wagon but I get right back on and I don't gain any weight. But I know that's not good for my BG. It is hard for me to lose weight. It just doesn't want to come off. From the way I've been eating for the last 3 months you'd think I would lose 30 pounds but I haven't.
When I say that I'm eating low carb I am staying between 20 and 50 carbohydrates per day.
Thank you for listening to me vent and I appreciate all the help that you can give me. 🌿💐🌿
 
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#2 ·
I don't use insulin so can not offer any advice on timing or dosage. I have read many post on the forum though about people splitting their basa (long lasting) dosages into 2 doses a day instead of just once to get better round the clock coverage. Here is an old link (2007) to Dr. Bernstein's reasoning for splitting basal insulin. I don't think there is a time or times to take insulin that would apply to every situation and it may just take trial and error testing on yourself to determine what works best for you. You can use the Search Community box at the top center of the page to look for what others may be doing, using terms like "basal insulin", "splitting basal insulin", basal dosage", etc. You should also be able to find info about this searching the WWW with your favorite engine.

I do know that controlling carbs will certainly help with controlling BG. Carbs are the major source, the liver is another as it stores glucose in the form of glycogen that it can change back to glucose and put back in circulation for use as needed by other cells of the body, As carbs are reduced, BG should begin to come down, slowly for some, quicker for others. It may remain high for a while as the stores in the liver are slowly reduced.

Understanding why BG is different when nothing else changes or why it is the same when other things changed is complex. There are so many things going on in our bodies at all times that can affect our metabolism. Even the variety of foods we eat require different amounts of energy for them to be processed for immediate use or stored for later use. I don't think being overweight necessarily means you will have higher blood sugars until it is off. Losing weight is most often losing stored fats. They are triglycerides and will be converted to energy for the body to burn when glucose is less available. You would more likely see increased triglyceride levels until the weight loss stops, That is not a bad thing if you are controlling you carb intake.

I think if you try to control your BG by just your insulin alone, you would have probably have to increase insulin. This could cause your weight loss to stop and actually cause weight gain. Before doing that you should consult with your medical team. I think looking at diet and further reducing carbs would be a better approach in the mean time and monitor your BG as you do., it may require a reduction in insulin.

When you say you are eating between 20 and 50 carbs a day, are you talking grams of carbs or units of carbs? There is a big difference.
 
#3 ·
When I say low carb I'm talking about grams. I was taking 64 units of insulin per day but couldn't lose a single pound. I began eating low carb and reduced my insulin to 40 and now I am losing weight.
While my numbers are sometimes running High I do get some low numbers. So I guess I'll just continue and eating low carb. There are days when I don't eat any carbs but those days are far and few between!
Thank you for your help. 🌿 🌷 🌿
 
#4 ·
That's a pretty large reduction. Did you reduce this after discussions with your provider?
I do take basal and I split mine into 2 doses. I strive for taking it between 7 & 8 am and pm. It's because any later and I'll probably not get to it. It's surprisingly easy to miss when it's split into 2 doses.
Hormones, activity level and many more things can affect your numbers day-to-day. I was taking a med that raised my levels over time and because of that I lost weight but it was not because of any diet it was because my A1C was rising and if it's high too long it will cause weight loss in me but it's not a good weight loss, it's muscle loss.
Looks like you've reduced your carbs and that's a great start. It took me a while to get down to 40. Great job.
 
#5 ·
I was having many lows in the am after taking long acting Insulin at night so I just started taking it in divided doses, am and pm. My blood sugars are in the normal range in the am, now that I am doing that.
Also just started on Trulicity after trying three other of this once a week meds. Had bad side effects with the others. Hopefully this one, I am successful with.
Diabetes is a round the clock concern isn't it?
 
#6 ·
Diabetes is a round the clock concern isn't it?
It absolutely is! Fortunately, there are people like you and the other posters here trying to make it a little easier.

Welcome to our site, TooFarNorth! I'm also north (Minnesota) though I would not call it "TooFar" for me (don't like the heat). Would you pop over to our New Member Introductions forum and introduce yourself?
 
#8 ·
TooFarNorth, you posted in New Member Introductions exactly right. We like individual threads because that way they can take whatever direction they take. Glad to have you aboard.
 
#10 ·
Trulicity is a DDP-4 inhibitor, it indirectly stimulates the body to produce more of their own insulin.
 
#11 ·
I take Lantus. 1/2 in the morning when I get up and 1/2 at 8 pm. I discovered that a raised BG at night contributes to insomnia. It feels good to be getting better sleep.
 
#14 ·
Lantus is a long acting insulin. It is supposed to start taking effect about an hour after you take it and last for up to 24 hours. Some people don't see the 24 hour effects and have split their dose, taking 2 smaller doses instead of one bigger dose. Some take it 50-50 split and others may take a larger ratio dose in the morning or the evening depending on how their blood sugar fluctuates thru the day and night.
 
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