Levemir

[DeusXM]

As promised, here is my initial report on Levemir.

Unfortunately, it's definitely not good news.

Currently for me, Levemir is an absolute unmitigated disaster of an insulin. I have yet to see my bg in normal circumstances drop below 13mmol/l.

My previous Insulatard dose was 28 units a day. I am (on the advice of my care team) injecting the same amount. I can't help but think I'm wasting my time. I inject regularly at 6pm everyday. My usual dosages prior to Levemir were the following:

5u Novarapid, 14u Insulatard at breakfast.
7u Novarapid at Lunch.
12u Novarapid, 14u Insulatard at teatime.

Now they're more like the following:

3u Novarapid at breakfast if I'm NOT eating, 10u if I am
14u Novarapid at lunch
Another 5u Novarapid about 3 hours later if I would like to see my bg even approaching anywhere near 10mmol/l
25u Novarapid, 28u Levemir at tea
7u Novarapid 3 hours later if I want my BG in single figures.

I cannot stress how phenomenally p***ed off I am right now. Levemir was supposed to be this amazing insulin that offered incredible bg control yet for the last 4 days I've yet to see my bg drop below 13mmol/l, even after the massive increases in insulin. It's almost as if I'm not even injecting a basal insulin anymore. I'm giving this another week before I go straight back to Insulatard and issue a formal complaint to Novo Nordisk.

Bottom line? Levemir is quite possibly the worst insulin I have ever used, and that includes Lantus, which robbed a year of my life. I am incredibly angry that I'm now having to inject basically every 2 hours just to maintain a vague illusion of control. I've never EVER had to inject purely to cope with the Dawn Effect. I've never EVER had to inject more that 15u of bolus insulin, even when eating incredibly sugary foods. As I said, I'm going to give Levemir another week before I lose all patience with it, but I strongly recommend that everyone stay well away from this total biological disaster. I haven't felt this awful since I was diagnosed and I am very, VERY angry and upset.

[Harold]

Hey Deus, sorry to hear your having a hard time with the new insulin. I have heard others say some insulins do not work for them. Then maybe it takes time for the body to reconize it, but in that case I would not call it ideal by any means. Good Luck!

[Katjic]

oooh, I'm so sorry you're disappointed Deus, I know how excited you were about starting on Levemir :(

Maybe it just needs time to starts working properly? I hope that is the case. Even if not, at least you tried right?
Hope your sugars get back where they were before.

Take care

[gettingby]

Hey Deus!! I'm sorry the Levemir is not working like you had hoped or been promised that it would. I don't know what kind of problems you had with Lantus but I've been on it for a year now and haven't experienced any problems. Hope things get better.
Cin

[am1977]

Deus, did you mention that you were upset...I didn't pick that up...sorry, bad joke. :rolleyes:

I am really sorry that this insulin didn't work out for you better, but at least now you know. Now, maybe you can go back to doing what you were doing prior to trying this out. I'm sure you will be back in control in no time.

Hope that things improve for you!

Take care. :)

[Willow]

Sorry to hear that, I'm experiencing similar problems with NovoMix. My bs last night before tea was SCARY & the jabs are still the most painful ever.

[Andrea]

Hey Deus, Sorry to hear that the Levemir is not as you had hoped. Goes to show that we all have different needs when it comes to insulins! How long have you been on it now?

I don't want to knock your diabetes team's advice, but given the fact that you feel like you aren't even injecting any long acting insulin, wouldn't it make sense to up the dose a bit? I have never seen any insulin change that hasn't necessitated a dose change as well.

Other than erratic blood glucose levels, how do you feel on the insulin? Do you have any weird symptoms other than the ones of high blood glucose levels?

I hope it gets better quickly!

Andrea

[LauRa Lu]

Originally posted by Willow
Sorry to hear that, I'm experiencing similar problems with NovoMix. My bs last night before tea was SCARY & the jabs are still the most painful ever.

I supose each insulin effects different people in different ways. Novomix is fine for me, the jabs are quite painful so I'd be interested to see if another kind would be less pianfull for me.
I should be trying lantus soon, but it seems to be taking a while to sort.

Deus, I can't get over how much novo rapid you use :eek: I can't imagine injecting 12 units of it ever :eek: Blimey! :p

[Willow]

That’s interesting to know that you are on NovoMix & your injections also hurt. Sometimes I have to push the insulin in as fast as possible just to get the jab over & done with.

[HeatherP]

Sorry to hear it Deus.

[Lorna]

Sorry to hear that, are you going to stick with it or ask to get changed back?

[DeusXM]

Ooops now I've gone and done it.

Before my evening meal of pasta I had a bg of 11.2 (202).

Having had just about enough of this, I had a Levemir jab of 34u (up from 28u) and a Novarapid jab of 20u (up from 14u).

3 hours later I've now got a bg of 1.7 (31) which I suppose is a sort of improvement. :p

Oh well....I wonder what my bg tomorrow morning's going to be like?

On the plus side, this is the first time in a week I've been able to go for more than 2 hours without having to inject more Novarapid. You haven't lived until you've had to inject 8 times a day just to keep your bg on the right side of 12 (216). :D

[Lorna]

At least you now know what is too little and what is too much, mabey you could work from that to reach a compromise and find the amount that works for you? All the best Lorna

[Andrea]

Yikes! I haven't seen a 1.7 mmol/L for a long time and i don't care to either. Hope you were able to come back up quickly!

But i agree wtih Lorna, now at least you know the insulin works. Now it is just a question of finding the right doses.

We're rooting for you, Deus! Please keep us updated!

Andrea

[DeusXM]

Right, that's it. I'm sick and tired (literally) of not seeing my bg go below 10, and I'm fed up of having to do 8-9 injections a day, since the reason I transfered to Levemir in the first place was to REDUCE the injections I needed to do.

Once again, I've had to come a long-acting analogue and go back to Insulatard. Hopefully I'll be feeling a lot better soon. Thanks to everyone who's put up with me and my variably angry and depressive moods this week. Once again, you guys have been absolute legends.

[lgvincent]

I hate to see you're having such trouble with the insulin. I hope thing will be better soon.

[Oradev]

**** Deus. I was going to try that stuff out too. But I am also one of those people who can't tolerate Lantus. If you're having trouble, I'm sure I will too. Looks like I'll be staying on NPH until the Pump. Thanks for the info. Hope you feel better.

[Mark1968]

Ok the new guy on the block wants to add his 10 cents first and formost I wish you health and success Dues, I am sorry to hear of your issues in regard to maintaing a good BG level.

My question is will I ever need to use insulin with my diabetes? I am currently on medication which seems to be working A ok. Can I live my lifetime using medication?

Mark

[HeatherP]

It's entirely possible you may never have to use insulin Mark. There aren't any guarantees though. Diabetes is a progressive disease and it can stop responding to oral meds and need to be treated w/ injections.

[gettingby]

Hey Deus. That's what I thought we were here for. I hear alot of gripping at work, hearing it from you is no problem. Try listening to approximately 10 women a day gripping!!!!!!! You've been there for others, now its our turn to be there for you.(sorry, syrupy moment there). Hang in there!!!!!!!!!!
Cin:DThanks to everyone who's put up with me and my variably angry and depressive moods this week. Once again, you guys have been absolute legends.

[DeusXM]

Well, I've been back on Insulatard for 24 hours now. To recap:

Levemir routine (yesterday):

Breakfast: 3u Novarapid if not eating, 10u if eating.
2 hours later: 5u Novarapid if eating
Lunch: 14u Novarapid
2 hours later: 5u Novarapid
4 hours later: 5u Novarapid
Dinner: 40u Levemir, 20u Novarapid
2 hours later: 7u Novarapid.

Throughout the night: Novarapid as needed - typically require another dose of 5u at around 2am, sometimes need other top-ups too between 11pm and 8am

Bg fairly constantly between 10 and 15 (180-270)

Insulatard routine (returned to today):

Breakfast: 13u Insulatard. Also 4u Novarapid if eating breakfast
Lunch:7u Novarapid
Dinner: 13u Insulatard, 14u Novarapid

Bg yet to stray from 3.5-8.2 range (58-148)

Levemir routine:
Total basal dosage: 40u
Total bolus dosage: 59-66u
Total number of injections per day: 9-10

Insulatard routine:
Total basal dosage: 26u
Total bolus dosage: 21-25u
Total number of injections per day: 5

Suffice to say, I'm not going to be taking Levemir anymore. I'm just so glad that the change from Levemir back to Insulatard has had an instant effect - for the first time in two weeks I don't feel tired and my appetite's come right back too!

[Willow]

Good to hear that Deus.

[sweetness]

glad to here things are back to normal for you deus. based on what you said, you obviously weren't getting enough basal insulin. Is it possible that you needed even more than 40u (like 60-70 or something)? But who would want to inject that much if he didn't have to?

maybe something else promising will come along...

best wishes,

gretchen