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02-01-2008, 06:18 PM
| | Junior Member
I am a: Type 1 | | Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: El Paso, TX
Posts: 2
| |  Is my doctor an idiot? (Changing from Humalog/NPH to Levemir ONLY)
I'm 26, a type 1 diabetic (have been for..18 years) and I went to a new doctor because I just moved and was curious about Lantus/Levemir replacing my NPH because I heard it would be healthier (my A1C was 5.7 though) My doctor said that I could replace my 3 shots a day with 1 shot of Levemir in the evening...and that's it.
This didn't sound right to me, but I switched to the Levemir and night and continued taking Levemir. I went back 2 weeks to him saying I still had to take Humalog, he said I was doing it wrong, I wasn't listening to him and that Levemir took awhile for my body to adjust.
This sounds ridiculous to me, I even asked him if he thought I was Type 2, he said he'd worked with lots of diabetics before and didn't understand why I didn't trust him.
Has anyone heard this before? I don't see how levemir could work the way he says. I'd love to be on 1 shot a day, but it doesn't sound realistic. |
02-01-2008, 06:24 PM
|  | Senior Member
I am a: Type 1 | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Kent, WA USA
Posts: 2,767
| | | Yes your doctor is an idiot. Levemir is basal only insulin, it doesn't have any fast acting in it.
Get a new doctor, quickly!
__________________  Rikki @--'--,--'--
Diagnosed in 1989
A1c 6.4 - Mar. 08 
Currently pumping Novolog in my PURPLE MM722!
Every time you Can Has, God kills a LOLcat. My Blog My WW Blog |
02-01-2008, 07:02 PM
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 30
| | | Hi- I also think your doctor needs to go back to school. Lantus is a long lasting insulin. It lasts twenty four hours for me. Humalog or Novolog is a fast acting, short duration insulin. I test my bs before each meal and take the appropriate amount of Novolog, in my case 4 to 6 units. I do not understand how he could think you do not need to take the fast acting insulin, what is going to cover your meal?
Good luck and use your common sense.
Simons |
02-01-2008, 07:11 PM
|  | Senior Member
I am a: Type 1 | | Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,084
| | | Get a new doctor. |
02-01-2008, 07:18 PM
|  | Senior Member | | Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Manassas, in the Old Dominion
Posts: 6,539
| | | Before you get a new doctor, I'd ask this one for two things: Your treatment plan in writing, and a copy of his diploma so you can call the Medical School he graduated from and ask if he really attended...
Just in case:
For all intents and purposes, there are two types of insulins: Basal (sometimes called "long lasting") and fast-acting insulins. In today's market, the basal insulins are Lantus, Levemir and still to a large extent, NPH.
The fast acting insulins are Novolog, Humalog and Apidra, with Regular insulin being a bit slower acting (but not a basal insulin).
Basal insulins are used to cover your body's "basal" metabolic needs. Most people don't realize it, but the human body releases glucose all day long in differing amounts for various reasons--this is part of the basal metabolism. Therefore, even if you didn't eat all day, chances are your fasting blood sugar levels will increase and continue to increase if you did NOT take insulin. The convenience of basal insulin is that you take one shot (in theory) to cover your basal needs. Could you use "fast acting" insulin for your basal needs? Yes, but you'd be taking A LOT of shots (insulin pumps actually use fast acting insulin as the basal insulin).
Fast acting insulins in this line of thinking are used for two things: to "cover" food intake, and to "correct" highs. Fast acting insulins are more predictable toward the end of their activity, making them ideal for this purpose.
What your doctor is asking you to do can potentially kill you, and certainly will make you sick As far as I'm concerned, you can print this thread out and take it to him for his consideration...he can berate a dude who calls himself "duck" on an internet forum, but ask him to get a second opinion from ANY other doctor, and he'll see the error in his ways.
__________________
I'll mend myself before it gets me...
Last edited by Harold : 02-02-2008 at 02:20 AM.
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02-01-2008, 07:50 PM
|  | Senior Member
I am a: Type 1 | | Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Southern USA
Posts: 1,500
| | | A doctor who thinks a type 1 can survive on basal insulin ONLY? Now I've heard it all. Get a new doctor. Fast.
__________________
~Holly~
Incorrectly dx'ed type 2 7/00 
Correctly dx'ed type 1 5/01
MDI
Lantus 2x daily & Humalog
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02-01-2008, 07:55 PM
| | Senior Member
I am a: Type 1 | | Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,583
| | | Let me guess...he's not an endo, right?
But, regardless, that's a pretty significant boo-boo on a doctor's part...
Do you think he's so used to treating Type 2's (the majority) that he overlooked your Type 1 status? Who knows, but I agree with everyone else...find a new doctor, hopefully an endo. |
02-01-2008, 09:25 PM
|  | Senior Member
I am a: Type 1.5 | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 7,846
| | Sounds like he's using you as a guinee pig! If it ain't broke, why fix it? 
__________________
You may call me Locutus  |
02-01-2008, 09:27 PM
|  | Senior Member
I am a: Type 1 | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Bucks County, PA, USA
Posts: 1,065
| | | Yes, your doctor is an idiot. Get a new one ASAP.
__________________ 
Unless otherwise stated, the opinions expressed here are my own and are in no way intended to be considered as anything other than my opinion. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. |
02-01-2008, 09:32 PM
|  | Senior Member
I am a: Type 1 | | Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 8,367
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by Keezheekoni  Get a new doctor, quickly! | Quote:
Originally Posted by Simons70 Hi- I also think your doctor needs to go back to school. | Quote:
Originally Posted by Scratch Get a new doctor. | Quote:
Originally Posted by duck What your doctor is asking you to do can potentially kill you, and certainly will make you sick | Quote:
Originally Posted by grace girl Get a new doctor. Fast. | Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyborg Sounds like he's using you as a guinee pig! | Quote:
Originally Posted by Alice ...find a new doctor, hopefully an endo. | Quote:
Originally Posted by owlyn Yes, your doctor is an idiot. Get a new one ASAP. | How do I say it better myself? Gosh, I don't think I can besides making it bigger.... GET A NEW DOCTOR ASAP
__________________
●Blue Ash, Ohio Police Dispatcher
●Type 1 diabetic for 25 years (11 months old)
●Animas pumper since December of 2002
~IR 1000 (Dec. 2002-Jan. 2005)
~IR 1200 (Jan. 2005 - ?)
●LifeScan OneTouch UltraSmart Diabetes is an Art, NOT a Science. You must master the control by skills and not by knowledge alone. |
02-01-2008, 09:48 PM
|  | Senior Member
I am a: Type 1 | | Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Hastings Melbourne Australia
Posts: 3,110
| | Yes Alice, See that you get an Endo. Doctors are so nieve to diabetics.   |
02-02-2008, 04:32 AM
| | Member
I am a: Type 1 | | Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 113
| | He is an idiot and he doesn't know what hes talking about. Like everyone else has said in this thread, get a new doctor!  |
02-02-2008, 04:59 AM
|  | Member
I am a: Type 1.5 | | Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: in the irish sea!
Posts: 371
| | | another 'new doctor' vote here too!!
__________________ Sharon |
02-02-2008, 05:18 AM
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 43
| | | Amen to the other responses plus another point:
Even if you do use Levemir as your basal insulin you probably will find, as most of us who do have learned, that although Levemir is promoted as a 24-hour basal, we find we have to take two injections, one in the a.m. and on in the p.m. Plus bolus insulin. Get thee to an endo! |
02-02-2008, 05:36 AM
|  | Senior Member
I am a: Type 1 | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Universe, Planet Earth :P
Posts: 1,038
| | Yes, that doctor is an idiot, or wait... It's an IDIOT 
Lantus/Levemir is as said numerous of times only basal insulins, but a type 1 can never JUST have a basal insulin- as all of us know... Need to cover the food with bolus...
__________________ 
22 years old, diagnosed T1D on october 14th 2004.
On MDI, Novorapid and Levemir, using the NP4 
Currently back to pumping with my IR1200, April 2008.
Been using D-tron and Animas IR1200 but prefer the pen |
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