I just recently started Levemir. I had Lantus initially, took advantage of their “free trial” offer, but evidently Lantus is NOT the drug of choice with my insurance and they want me to use Levemir. OK I thought I’ll TRY it. Had really good results with Lantus after splitting my dose, and my numbers leveled out nicely. NOW since switching to Levemir my morning numbers are REALLY high …240-250 @ the same dose I was on with Lantus and getting 80-90’s with Lantus. I have NOT changed the way Im eating. I was only taking around 3-4 u Humalog for carb coverage and most times with less than 1 unit for correction. NOW 7-8 units total for Carb coverage/correction…Im REALLY NOT liking Levemir. Damn Inusurance Im calling this week to see WHAT It takes to get them to pay for Lantus.
Whenever you change brands you have to tweak doses.
And Lantus vs Levemir is not just a brand change. They’re similar but not identical. So maybe the tweak has to be even more.
I would be at least moderately pissed if I had reached a good stable bg and had to switch brands.
I switched from Lantus to Levemir because of lows when Lantus peaked. I used split doses of Lantus. My doses were the same on both. Are you taking Levemir in two doses? If you’re not, that could be the reason for higher readings.
Hi yes Im taking the Levemir in split doses, unfortunately I tend to get very hypo at night and I have a really hard time doing large amounts in the over night hours. I found that 18 u of Lantus was darn near perfect, for morning numbers, but I def needed more throughout the day. Of course it being the weekend the insurance company is closed, but I needed to get strips today anyway and the people at my Target Pharmacy are just amazing and very helpful. The lady thought it was probably because Lantus in the pen form is not their prefered drug however IF I wanted to use vials they MIGHT pay for it that way. I really like the convenice of pens but at this point I dont care, I just want to be back on what was working. So Tues its off to the endo for check up and Im calling the insurance company before going to see if they will pay for it in vial form. Its just thrown EVERYTHING out of whack. My two hour PPs are out of whack now too. So Im STILL having to correct even after 2 hours. Its crazy.
Most insurance companies have their formulary on their website so you could probably look and not have to wait to call them.
I’m surprised to hear that Levemir is not what I’ve heard it to be. Makes me very glad that I’m on the pump!
GREAT just found their formulary for Lantus…according to them it LOOKS like i need to be on Levemir for SIX months with a failure before prescribing Lantus.
http://notesnet.carefirst.com/formulary/formulary.nsf/3817824e34de6ee585256f40004e6cf1/c7496c4fc48d0de285256af600693c06/$file/lantus.pdf
There are a lot of people that love Levemir Sue - a couple people that don’t doesn’t mean that is the case for everyone. I love it.
Not sure what that means…do i have to be on Levemir for 6 months with failure…or am I going to have to suck it up and pay for Lantus for 6 months and prove its a success. Wow, either way it seems they have u screwed.
Why cant you try increasing your dose a few units at a time at night. ??? I went from Lantus to Levemir and had to increase night dose. Lantus peaked on me (like Gerri) and also the sting was awful. I love Levemir, smoother and more predictable for me.
You can go 1 unit at a time until you get sugars where you want. Basal isnt suppose to lower your bloodsugar…basal test is needed. Good luck to you. 
Sue,
I’m one who prefers Levemir. Had staggering lows from Lantus. Levemir is more level for me. Levemir doesn’t sting & an open vial is potent for 6-7 weeks. I had to toss Lantus at day 27. Glad we have choices.
Yeah I know and that’s what Im doing, its just frustrating when Lantus was working SO much better with less all around. Im just NOT impressed with Levemir, it’s causing EVERYTHING to run higher and needing more basal AND bolus.
I GUESS it will eventually level out I HOPE but so far Im NOT liking it.
I guess bumping my NIGHTIME dose of Levemir to 20 is NOT an ideal dose, was at 93 around midnight before going to bed. Had a couple of mozerella string cheeses. Woke up this am at 40, I kinda suspected I was not going to be able to go higher at night with the Levemir. I just cannot do high doses at night. I was at 18…I guess I can try 19 but Im just not going to be able to go higher than that at night safely. My only other option is upping my morning split. I can seem to do that safely cause I do not seem to drop as BAD during the day. Trying 15…but think tomorrow I might bump it up to 16. I think also Im going to have to up my carb coverage with Humalog…Im currently at 1 unit for 10 grams of carbs and that worked great with Lantus almost requiring very little correction coverage, and I could safely eat around 30 grams of carbs, per meal, and even snack too and bolus for that and be fine.
Question for everyone about the carb coverage, Im currently using the Humalog Kwikpen, and its only in whole units, not haves. Would you try lowering the carbs to maybe 1 unit per 8 grams…or maybe bump up the humalog to 2 units per 10 grams. Thats my frustration with Levemir, it seems Im not getting nearly as good of control, and its causing me to have to up ALL my insulin needs. I can just see me after 6 months of dieting and dropping 50 pounds, gaining it all back PLUS some. I will NOT do that.