Lantis not working for me

[Taine]

Hi,

I had been having terrible hypo's and was theerfore recently put on to Lantis (1 dose in the am) with Novorapid (meals), but it does not seem to be working for me. I was not getting into single figures on the dose pescribed and upping it (now by 2 units) has not helped. Novorapid sort of keeps it under control at meals but my base rate is simply not adequate. When I eat I eat incredibly healthily, I exercise daily, and I am not drinking alcohol, but at present I find I am hardly eating at all in the day to try and keep things under control. I am headachy and worried. My specialist can't see me until next month, can you advise what might be goinmg on? Are some poeple resistant to Lantis?  

Thanks.

[JDRF-VOL-SG]

No, I am not aware of any people who have contacted us with any kind of resistance to Lantus. I do know that Lantus must be replaced at the end of a month on one bottle. The expiration date is really important, for near the end of the month, some of us find that it no longer crystallizes properly. Some people notice that when the Lantus bottle is about one month old, it doesn't work well. But if you just started the bottle, this is probably not the problem. In my case, it takes a bit less Lantus than it did NPH when I was on it. It sounds as if you do need to increase your dosage... I personally don't notice a huge difference between one or two units more or less. I would suggest that you don't wait for your appointment, but call your doctor and tell him or her what your sugars are running (write down the results so you have a record) and ask if you should increase by another 2 units.

I personally love Lantus... hypos are much less of a problem since there isn't a strong peak action. And if the Lantus causes a low, it happens very slowly so you have plenty of time to react.

[JDRF-VOL-RL]

I have heard of people having resistance to lantus, it is rare but it can happen.  If you continue to see issues, I'd suggest you ask your endo about the possibility of getting a Levemir prescription.  It is an alternative long acting insulin.

[mishj]

My daughter seems to be having the same problem.  She's 15 and takes 68 u of lantus at nite and supliments w/novolog pen when she's eating.  They just keep increasing her dosage, but nothing seems to change.  She eats pretty decently (for a teen), but she always seems to be high.
I also wondered if she might be resistent to the lantus.  We've tried new bottles, etc. How many units do you take per day?