- Lantus Vs Humulin N -

[Delphinus]

I have only ever used Humulin N(NPH) for my basal insulin, and I use approximately 50-60 units a day.

If using Lantus, in your experience, would the usage units be similar?

I guess it varies from person to person, but I am wondering, typically, if it would go up or down.

I know NPH insulins don't last as long, and they have a peak, but I am wondering how much of a difference it would make.

[Delphinus]

Of course there is cost.

If I am using less Lantus, even tho it costs more, I may same a few clams.

[DanG]

If I am using less Lantus, even tho it costs more, I may same a few clams.

Saving clams is a good effort.

It seems that the general impression that I recall from persons here on DF who have used NPH is that it is an old fashoned basal and that lantus / levemir is the new tech in terms of basal insulin. I have no experience with NPH.

May I piggyback onto your thread? I would also like to hear from those that know, what difference there was between lente and NPH. I used lente as my only insulin for 30 years. Another person that I worked with 35 years ago was using NPH, I believe. Maybe that person was using NPH and Regular? I always thought it might be nice to use lente and have regular for some quick fix, but never did that. Is today's humalog similar in use and effect to regular? I guess I will google lente to see how it was supposed to be used. I know several years ago here at DF, others told me that lente was not to be used the way I used it - oh, well.

[Delphinus]

Saving clams is a good effort.

It seems that the general impression that I recall from persons here on DF who have used NPH is that it is an old fashoned basal and that lantus / levemir is the new tech in terms of basal insulin. I have no experience with NPH.

May I piggyback onto your thread? I would also like to hear from those that know, what difference there was between lente and NPH. I used lente as my only insulin for 30 years. Another person that I worked with 35 years ago was using NPH, I believe. Maybe that person was using NPH and Regular? I always thought it might be nice to use lente and have regular for some quick fix, but never did that. Is today's humalog similar in use and effect to regular? I guess I will google lente to see how it was supposed to be used. I know several years ago here at DF, others told me that lente was not to be used the way I used it - oh, well.

Piggyback away... I am curious as well.

[DanG]

Piggyback away... I am curious as well.

Here is a link I found that is quite informative.
The top part of the page describes diabetes.
About half way down the page, they write about insulins.
I found a good explanation of lente - not unlike NPH, it seems, but it seems lente did not play with R?

isletsofhope.com/diabetes/information/print/history_1.html

Are links to other web pages allowed?

[Jan B]

I used Humulin L up until I switched to Lantus a few years ago. I also used Regular along with the Humulin L.

I went directly from those two, to Lantus and Humalog. I used to take 20 units daily of Humulin L, and ended up at 15 daily units of Lantus.

In a pinch (out of town or didn't have script so bought Regular over the counter), I bought Regular to replace Humalog, and I used the exact same amount of R as Humalog . . . it just took longer to work.

Personally, I'm curious about NPH action compared to Lantus. I don't understand why someone would go back to NPH. For me, even Lantus has it's predictable little peaks during the day. Here on DF, there is a T1 taking NPH and not even bolusing . . . at all.

[poodlebone]

I know that when I switched from NPH to Lantus I was taking less. Then again I was probably taking too much NPH to begin with, trying to combat dawn phenomenon. I don't think the difference in the amount of insulin was enough to make up for the cost. I have insurance and my co-pay was the same for all insulins.

For me, Lantus was a whole lot better than NPH but it did not live up to the hype. It only lasted around 18 hours so I had to go back to taking two injections, morning & night. It still had peaks but they weren't as bad as NPH. I felt a lot better on Lantus than I did on NPH.

[TommyC1]

Hmm,
I was taking two 26u shots of NPH each day. No bolus insulin.
Went to 22u Lantus/day plus roughly 10-20u of Novalog for bolus.
So if you just count my total daily dose I am using 10- 20u less.
But I'm also eating less carbs.
But I also have much better daily numbers and A1cs as well as far fewer and more manageable hypos.

Hmmm?

[shiftzor]

Here goes:

Intermediate Acting Insulins

Lette - Made by Lilly, Novo Nordisk - Introduced in 1951

Starts in 2-4 Hours
Peaks in 6-12 Hours
Gone by 16-24 Hours

NPH - Made by Lilly, Novo Nordisk - Introduced in 1946

Starts in 1-3 Hours
Peaks at 6-12 Hours
Gone by 16-24 Hours

Long Acting Insulins (with little peak)

Lantus - Made by Aventis - Introduced in 2001

Starts in 2 Hours
Peaks at 6 Hours
Gone by 18-26 Hours

Detemir - Made by Novo Nordisk- Introduced in 2003

Starts in 1 Hours
Peaks at 8-10 Hours
Gone by 18-24 Hours

Comparison Of All Insulins

Controlling your bg using an intermediate insulin (requiring two doses a day) is very difficult, mainly due to the unpredictability in action especially from the NPH (know very few people who use Lente). Using Lantus or Detemir as a basal insulin is preferable as it has a steady action. Lantus or Detemir are known not to last the full 24hours which is why many people split their dose in half (AM & PM jabs). Further reading and reference for info: Using Insulin by John Walsh.

[owlyn]

I was quite happy when I switched from NPH to Lantus. The NPH peak was really tough, as it caused many lows and forced me to eat off-hours. Lantus was much better, but it really clicked in for me once I split the dose. My A1Cs are slightly lower now than when on NPH, but I attribute that to the more even distribution allowed by splitting the Lantus- not just the Lantus alone.