Lantus question, need answers quick,please.

[christie]

I take 2 lantus shots daily, i take 18 units in the morning and 3 units at bedtime. well just now I was thinking about other things(mainly my daughter's bday on tues) and I spaced out when drawing my lantus units, so not thinking I took my morning dose just now and not my 3 units i always take at bedtime. so I have no clue how to handle this and how many units should i take now in the morning. thanks for any advice.

[relyt]

I take 2 lantus shots daily, i take 18 units in the morning and 3 units at bedtime. well just now I was thinking about other things(mainly my daughter's bday on tues) and I spaced out when drawing my lantus units, so not thinking I took my morning dose just now and not my 3 units i always take at bedtime. so I have no clue how to handle this and how many units should i take now in the morning. thanks for any advice.

You need to call your endo's office ASAP! It sounds like that big of an increase is going to make you go low over night. So seriously call the doctor on call and they will tell you what to do.

[christie]

the endo's office only has a recorded message of hours and if any medical problems go to nearest er.

[relyt]

the endo's office only has a recorded message of hours and if any medical problems go to nearest er.

I do not want to scare you but if you were suppost to take 3 units and you took 18 that is 6 times your normal amount. I am no expert, but I would watch your blood sugar levels and if they drop more than normal I would go to the er. A big increase in Lantus could bring you really low for the 24 hours it works. I dont know about you and your diabetes but if your bg drops considerably more than usual for this time of night, I would play it safe and get help.

[christie]

i have hypo unawareness, so most times i don't know i'm low. but during the night i never wake up, my son hears me and helps me. its going to be a bad mom's day now. well i know now don't zone out when drawing your insulin.

[Jan B]

Christie,

In this case, it would be better to run high than go low. How about eating a bunch of carbs before going to bed? And set your alarm for the middle of the night and test. Gee, it's happened to a lot of people. It's a good thing you know what you did.

[relyt]

i have hypo unawareness, so most times i don't know i'm low. but during the night i never wake up, my son hears me and helps me. its going to be a bad mom's day now. well i know now don't zone out when drawing your insulin.

Watch your blood sugars and if low get sugar and probably go to er because lantus lasts 24 hrs and you might continue to go low. If you want to read here is some advice from a website on LAntus and Lantus problems-

If you take too much (overdose) - Hypoglycaemia, a "Hypo"
If you accidentally use too much Lantus your blood sugar level may become too low (hypoglycaemia).

Immediately telephone your doctor or the Poisons Information Centre (13 11 26 in Australia; 0800 POISON or 0800 764 766 in New Zealand) if you think that you or anyone else may have used too much Lantus.

Do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning.



Here are 2 websites on Lantus overdose-
Consumer Medicine Information (http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/consumers/cmi/l/lantus.htm)
(from above)

Lantus Overdose (http://diabetes.emedtv.com/lantus/lantus-overdose.html)

[Jan B]

Relyt is right . . . you could have problems for a whole day. Some of the worst lows I've had have been due to Lantus.

I was just thinking that if you won't/don't get immediate help, you need to consume a lot of carbs to be safe.

[christie]

i too have had lows on lantus. my problem is if i set the alarm and i'm low i won't hear it. i just hope my night is ok. and i'm just going to have to try to check my sugars a lot tomorrow.

[Subby]

Yes, low hypo situations can be the worst. You're gotten some good advice here. If this happened for me:

I would not go to sleep for at least 8 hours to see what kind of severity the dose had on me.

I would test each and every hour to catch lows before they occur and observe the effect of the extra Lantus.

If there are signs that my BG is dropping faster than normal, I would eat a consistent stream of medium acting carbs. Such carbs might be smallish amounts of fruit, biscuits, cereal, etc, the sort of thing that has punch but will not leave the body quickly like glucose might in certain circumstances.

I would only go to sleep if I was confident the effect was not drastic and that some carbs could prop me up for some hours. I would eat a medium amount of medium to slow effect carbs before sleeping, if my BG is still relatively stable. I would have had organised for someone to definitely wake me up after I had gotten an absolute minimum - maybe 5 hours. Then on waking resume testing hourly or semi hourly.

If at ANY stage I saw a more rapid drop that I felt might create a problem I might not be able to deal with or catch, I'd go to ER.

At all times I would have someone up and checking on me. It's a pain to ask someone to stay up at might for this, but that's what families and friends are for, I guess.

That would be my approach, and not medical advice for you. I highly recommend you go to an emergency clinic if you are not confident or when you see a low trend you just did not expect.

[relyt]

i too have had lows on lantus. my problem is if i set the alarm and i'm low i won't hear it. i just hope my night is ok. and i'm just going to have to try to check my sugars a lot tomorrow.

Good Luck and be weary. An increase in your Lantus could drop you low over and ruin your mothers day plans. If the side effects of you taking too much Lantus are severe enough, you could go into a coma before you even wake up. Severe low blood sugars are bad during the night and just for safety I would have lots of sugar near me at all times and try to check bg every hour or 2 to make sure it doesnt drop alot. And if the alarm doesnt wake you, if another adult lives with you, see if they will help you. I Hope you dont have any bad problems with this error.

[Jan B]

I want to know how you are doing Christie. I am very concerned about you. I hope you didn't take this too lightly.

[Dan Gato]

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY CHRISTIE !!

Let us know how it went.