Changing from Insultard to Lantus/Levemir

[Sarmar7]

Hi,

Im taking Insultard (due to TTC/pregnancy) but after having baby I am thinking (and nurse in agreement if I decide to) of changing to Lantus/Levermir.

The main reason is because of occassional night-time hypo's and evening highs. My A1c is fine at 5.9.

What do you think of this and if so any advantages/disadvantages to either?

Sarah

[BlueSky]

It sounds like your Insultard is peaking during the night, and you are running out of insulin by the following evening. Lantus or Levimer should help flatten things out. That certainly was my experience when I switched from NPH to Lantus. But to get it to work properly, I needed to split the dose between bedtime and morning shots. With me, it doesn't last the full 24 hours. As always, it is a case of test-and-measure until you find what works best. ;)

Lantus and Levimer are both good basal insulins. I haven't used Levimer - Lantus works fine for me. But according to the research nurse who was doing clinical trials at the local clinic, you need larger doses of Levimer and you are more likely to need two shots a day.

[REDLAN]

I'm on Levemir, and like Blue sky, I had to split the dose to get it to work. On the dosage I'm on, it works for around 18 hours (possibly a little more since I increased the dosage).

You may get a longer duration - there is quite a bit of variability between individuals.

Lantus/glargine is similar to Levemir. It is a peakless basal insulin, which typically lasts longer than Levermir, and so is closer to being a true 24 hour basal. The disadvantages is that it can sting when injected and it is much more heat sensitive than Levemir.