Lantus Injection Site

I have no comment on what area works faster…I honestly have no idea. My kids take their Lantus in the booty or the stomach.

My daughter’s endo told me that different areas do absorb insulin faster than others. Absorption from slowest to fastest: butt, thigh, arm, stomach. Her Lantus injections are always in her bottom. Her morning Humalog is in her thigh (because she eats breakfast slowly). Lunch is the arm and dinner is the belly. There really is less variation in her BG readings doing it that way. I do the right side one day and the left the next and rotate sites in each area.

Someone mentioned about cold insulin stinging … my daughter thinks it does too. I don’t like leaving the bottles out of the fridge, so I just draw it up cold and warm the syringes in my hands before I inject it.

That sounds like a good system!

I have never noticed a difference in the absorbtion rates though.

Cold insulin really stings!!! You may cosider pre-filling the syringe and leaving it out for at least a couple hours. My insulin takes an hour to “warm up” and warming it in my hands doesn’t help. I took cold humalog and it didn’t bother me, but I let my Lantus warm up before injecting.

I inject the both Lantus and Novolog in the stomache. I always use one side for one and the other side for the other and switch every time I have to use both.

I inject the LANTUS in my stomach. I prefer my stomach. On odd days I inject on the left side. On even days I inject on the right side.

I hate the tummy injections, im so slow i bruise a lot and it gets sore. I use my leg for all my shots (4 a day)

I always inject the Lantus into my thy and the humalog I now only inject into my tummy (even when I am out at a restaurant, I just roll up my shirt swab the area and inject - tired of the looks I got doing it in the washroom while down in the US, easer to just do it out in public, I dont care if they look then)

It goes into my tummy grease. Divided it into 8 sections, 4 areas to the right and 4 to the left. I rotate the areas day to day. Not always perfectly, but balances out over time. No (forgot the word) hard areas or ripples from over using a particular spot as of yet.

I always use my needle in the stomach, I dread going to inject in my legs, It is just mind over matter.

If the injection site is irritated you should have it checked out. It is a possibility that you may be allergic to Lantus? Best to check it out with your doctor and/or an allergist physician. I switched to Levemir after using Lantus for many years. I have much better control with the Levemir. It does depend on the individual, however.

We should all change injection sites regularly; this is a MUST if we want the best results. If we use the same site too often scar tissue can/may develop and thus the insulin will react slower or not at all!

The abdomen has the fastest reaction for any time of insulin. The upper arms and thighs are the next fastest, and the buttocks are the slowest reaction. I used Lantus for years but switched to Levemir with much better results. There is always a chance that there will be some variance regardless, depending on the individual.

Lantus probably does not react fast regardless of where injected. It is a long acting insulin. I would guess that the type of carbs and food choices has more influence than anything else.

I use a Ratio of Insulin to Carbs; no sliding scale which has given me the best results after years of using older methods for control.

Emmy, you might want to try Hibistat/Hibiclens… Hibistat is an alcohol and CHG towelette… Chorohexidine Gluconate… use this in place of the swab on areas you tend to or have an infection on to prep your site for injection (wont help with the bruising but will prevent/lessen the chance of infection).
You can use Povidone Iodide wipes but 1. they are messy and 2. many people are allergic to iodine…

Hope that helps
as always YMMV… but I started using the hibistat with my infusion sites a few months back and it has helped.

Also I have had reasonably good results with Lantus injections in the thigh, and Humalog/Novalog in the abdomen area… This might be an option…

I inject in my belly, switching sides and locations. This for both Lantus and Humalog.

ok question i only read the first page of replys but does any body use the upper leg/ but cheek to take there lantus my other half says it takes effect faster effect there than every where else he has tried any body else find that or just use that spot because they like it?

Hi Angie - I have not read the other posts either so I may be repeating what others have already said.

The thighs and buttocks, say the medical professionals, to inject insulin is slower than the abdomen or upper arms. Of course, if one wants the Lantus to react slower, then the location could d be considered. However, saying all of the this, it really depends on the individual a great deal as to how insulin will react. For me, the thighs and buttocks areas just do not work well at all. For others, well, try out each location and see what works the best! Good Luck!

my most used site is my tummy–I take my lantus on one side and my humalog on the other and I vary it each time. I have no problem with burning of the insulin.

Lantus I always inject into my thy its what I find works best for me - just have to watch where I inject or as I did last night I’ll wake up with a lovely bruise at the site of injection (hit a blood vessel and didn’t know it will I took the needle out and blood started pouring out, knew then that I’d have a good size bruise in the morning).

I Always rotate with each thigh. I Prefer my thighs because its a lot less painful for me .its A matter of personal prefrence and what ever is easy for that person. I Really think thighs are less painful!