Lantus question

[kid_fears99]

Okay, this is going to sound like a weird question but, here goes...
If you are taking the correct amount of Lantus (i.e. your fasting BGLs are in a good range), can you take Lantus in the morning, not eat all day (and not take humalog), and stay at a normal level? Or will the Lantus make you low? I know this sounds weird, but I'm trying to figure out my morning carb-ratio, and I'm wondering if I have to take Lantus into account. I hope this question makes sense - sorry if it's confusing. If I can clarify, let me know.

[poodlebone]

Okay, this is going to sound like a weird question but, here goes...
If you are taking the correct amount of Lantus (i.e. your fasting BGLs are in a good range), can you take Lantus in the morning, not eat all day (and not take humalog), and stay at a normal level? Or will the Lantus make you low? I know this sounds weird, but I'm trying to figure out my morning carb-ratio, and I'm wondering if I have to take Lantus into account. I hope this question makes sense - sorry if it's confusing. If I can clarify, let me know.

In theory, I think that if your Lantus dose is set correctly you should be able to fast all day and remain steady. Of course, how many things concerning diabetes work perfectly? Do you normally take Lantus in the morning, not evening? There's no harm in trying it out. I'd stop the experiment if you find yourself going too low or high, and I'd check BGs every hour at least during the test.

Lantus is supposed to have a flat curve but I found it to be peaky and I probably would not have been able to fast for long before going to low or high. I ended up splitting my dose into two shots because of that.

[JediSkipdogg]

There's two things to consider.

1) Insulin is designed to lower BG levels. Unless you have it set 100% perfect, Lantus will take you low throughout the day. The thing most don't consider is that there is always food being digested by our body, even 3-5 hours after we eat sometimes, depending on how much fat is in it. And Lantus has a slight peak, so that has to be taken somewhat into consideration, although many the peak is so small it doesn't matter.

2) The second thing to consider is your body's own fat and what causes DKA. Now, I'm not saying you are going to go into DKA, but the same theory works here. Without food in your body, your body will burn your fat for energy. In this process, some glucose is created in a sense and may raise the BG levels. I'm not sure though how long without food before this starts happening enough to see a raise.

Again, both points may not happen to you. But it's really not sure until you find out.

[perkeyo]

For me it depends on my activity level. Some weeks I am really active and i wouldnt be able to not eat all day and not go low, other weeks when i feel lazy i would probably even go up a little during the day.

[Ailsa]

I take Lantus in the morning. I think the only way to answer your question is for you to try it & find out.
For myself I have found that the Lantus seems to kick in about 4 hours after the shot, but is only lasting 20 hours. That means when I get up & take it at 7.30 my BG is fine, but will start to rise until the new shot kicks in. I now bolus an extra 2 units with my breakfast shot to cover that, but then go a bit low around 11.30am, so need to eat about 20gm carb. From then on I can go right through till about 4pm. The Lantus has a slight peak at that time for me which I need about 10gm carb to cover & I'm pretty right till dinner.

[Cyborg]

Without food in your body, your body will burn your fat for energy. In this process, some glucose is created in a sense and may raise the BG levels. I'm not sure though how long without food before this starts happening enough to see a raise.

I've personally seen this happen with food and without food. If I've been on a lower calorie diet, my body will make up the difference by burning fat, in fact I will be losing weight. When this occurs I can be eating, even high carb meals, and the fat burning will still occur and contribute to increased bg levels. For me, it's not so much a lack of food, it's more a lack of calories that can cause this effect.

[rzrbks]

kid_fears99

Okay, this is going to sound like a weird question but, here goes...
If you are taking the correct amount of Lantus (i.e. your fasting BGLs are in a good range), can you take Lantus in the morning, not eat all day (and not take humalog), and stay at a normal level? Or will the Lantus make you low? I know this sounds weird, but I'm trying to figure out my morning carb-ratio, and I'm wondering if I have to take Lantus into account. I hope this question makes sense - sorry if it's confusing. If I can clarify, let me know.

I use 18 hour fasting to periodically check to make sure that Lantus level is at the correct dosage.

[Mick]

Like rzrbks, I periodically fast to check my basal dose for correctness. I take my Lantus in the evening, but the theory is the same--IF your basal dose via Lantus is correct, then you should stay at a fairly constant level for the next 24 hours. I take my 10:30PM Lantus, check my sugar, and go to bed. If i am low in the morning (as I often am, regardless of basal dose--that's another story...), then I will take only sufficient glucose tablets to bring my level to 100. Following that, I check about every 2 hours. IF I'm good, that 100 should stay pretty much constant all day. If it goes up, my Lantus dose is too low, and if it goes down, my Lantus dose is too high. There is a more complex formula for figuring the drop or rise per hour of blood glucose and how to use that to figure exactly how much to raise or lower the dose.

Michael
T1 since 1966

[dnamertz]

Okay, this is going to sound like a weird question but, here goes...
If you are taking the correct amount of Lantus (i.e. your fasting BGLs are in a good range), can you take Lantus in the morning, not eat all day (and not take humalog), and stay at a normal level? Or will the Lantus make you low? I know this sounds weird, but I'm trying to figure out my morning carb-ratio, and I'm wondering if I have to take Lantus into account. I hope this question makes sense - sorry if it's confusing. If I can clarify, let me know.

The main intent of Lantus is to only counter the glucose that your liver releases into your system, which can vary during different time of day. A "correct" Lantus dose should theoretically keep you blood sugar level throughout the day if you didn't eat, or take fast acting insulin, or excersie, or get stressed, etc, etc.

However, because Lantus doesn't have a perfectly flat effect in all people and because once you inject it lasts for around 24 hours, you can't adjust it. I have tried many different Lanuts doses and have also switched to two Lantus shots during the day and have never found a dose that keeps my blood sugar level...I just stuck with the dose that got me closest.