[Lizzie G]

Hi everyone

Im wondering if anyone can help. Im on Lantus which I presently take around 8 or 9 in the evening, and I am pretty sure that a)it's activity is peakless in me and b)it pretty much lasts out 24 hours. My problem is that my basal needs vary vastly. Through a lot of testing and calculating I have established that during the day my blood sugars are held steady by what would be 8units for 24 hours, whilst the equivalent night would be 14units for 24 hours.

So, I have a problem that I either a)take 8 or 10 units but wake up higher than I would like, or b)take 14 and have my blood sugars 'sucked' all day, making boluses difficult to calculate because of all the excess insulin floating around, and b) cause me problems when exercising and make driving hazardous.

Im not going to be able to see the specialist now until October due to our fantastic service here in the UK, and General Practitioner is unable to alter my insulin prescription, so adding a lump of medium acting at night isnt an option for me. I also think splitting the lantus will not help at all since it all lasts 24 hours so unless I vary the patterns to give me uneven coverage theres no difference (and thats also complicated and bound to get it wrong).

My only thought of how to go on (which is currently what I am starting to do) is to wake myself up at around 2 am when my amazingly strong 'dawn phenomenon' starts kicking in, and give myself a unit of novorapid.

Does anyone else use this type of method in this situation or would you say no dont do it? Im very adamant about not having the high basals in the day yet I dont wish to compromise my night-time control either....any thoughts?

Liz