I`ve noticed every time I take my levemir my levels just go up no matter what I eat and everytime I tell the nurse about this they say that it cant be the levemir because its not a strong insulin.
am I going crazy???
I’m not sure what the nurses mean by it’s not being “a strong insulin”. What they might be saying is that it is a long-acting insulin so it wouldn’t have any effect right after taking it. Do you just take it once a day? I was having that problem with Lantus, my own basal insulin that I was taking at bedtime, and when I took my blood sugar right before taking it the numbers were high. I concluded this is because the Lantus wasn’t really lasting 24 hours like it’s supposed to so I was high when I was due for my next dose. I split my dose in half and now take it twice a day which has solved that problem. Maybe others who have a longer experience with insulin will have a different take on your question, but that was my experience.
Zoe yeah I take one dose after dinner and I am high before I take it but sometimes Iam in range and whenI take it I go high.
Making me feel down to be honest.
That is very easy to explain: Levemir does not last for 24 hours. So you are going high because there is no active Levemir left in your body. You should split your dose and inject every 12 hours. It is unconvenient, right? See, that is the reason why they are claiming that it will last for 24 hours. Other manufacturers claim that too and patients prefer comfort. So Lantus and Levemir stretch the truth a bit and surprise surprise we are not on the winning side here.
So if you are injecting 20 units of Levemir after dinner you should switch to 10 units in the morning and 10 units after dinner. I guess you will end with a total dosage of Levemir that is a little higher than before.
Please ask your doc how to do the split if you are unsure. It is really worth a try.
When you are “in range” before you take Levemir, did you do any correction bolus “Humalog” injections earlier that day? I don’t want you to split your dosage immediately because there are people whose Levemir lasts for atleast 23 hours. I’m one of them. My Levemir lasts for about 23-24 hours in me (which is why I haven’t split my dosage yet)
I did feel really sick when I was on Lantus, but I can’t recall what the exact effects were. I know that Lantus made my BG PLUMMET during sleep cycles no matter what time of day I injected it- but you may want to try switching basal “Levemir” medications. Just to see what happens.
Just as a “check” on your description: Have you tried NOT eating when you inject Levemir to see if your BG still goes up? Is this an every day thing?
Do you inject at EXACTLY the same time every day? It’s possible that your BG was already on its way up because your body had gone through the 24 hour cycle already, but when you injected Levemir, it seemed to have the effect of raising your BG. For example: if you inject Levemir at 5pm one day, and then don’t eat dinner until 6pm the next day- it’s possible that your body used the Levemir that was available until 5pm, then started to climb slowly because you didn’t have any insulin in you anymore. But you might not have noticed the slow climb until AFTER you injected Levemir at 6pm (an hour late). Does that make any sense? haha. Sorry.
Different people have different reactions to medications. No two diabetics are the same.
If you haven’t tried it, try checking your BG before dinner, injecting Levemir, DON’T eat dinner and then check your BG about an hour after Levemir injection. Just to see if it’s the basal. I would do this a few times before making my final conclusion.
Keep us posted!
I would say: even if Levemir lasts for over 20 hours there is no harm in having the splitted dose in two shots - one every 12 hours. All the potential gaps will be covered nicely. When I am injecting 8/8 I could also inject 16 at once but with the risk of having a gap in coverage. But this is not about being right or wrong. I am just in favour of exploring the potential space 
Holger- I actually have a question for you that my Endo could not answer (I had an appt w him last week).
If my Levemir is lasting for 23 hours, then how would splitting my dosages work out?
For example, I’m taking 48 units at night. If I split it 24 units in the morning and 24 units at night, won’t there be an overlap? Some hours I’ll have more insulin in me than others? Won’t that be inconsistent?
For example: Injecting 24 units at 6pm and another 24 units at 6am would mean that from 6am til 5pm I would have 48 units in me, but at 6pm, I would have only 24 units in me.
Does this make sense?
Thanks guys for your feedback I was starting to think I was mad or something to be honests Marps will do that tomorrow
checking my BG before dinner, injecting Levemir and not eating to see if thats the case or not.
Holger I spoke to 2 different nurses and they are not willing for me to split it for some reason,even though lots of people I have come across are on split doses.All that seems to be happening is I am going up and down in number yesterday I was taking 12 units and tonight I am taking 10 units after speaking to my nurse.
I dont think long acting insulin is ment for me as I had similar issues with Glagin.lol
You can’t do without long-acting insulin, Osob. It’s the background insulin that a normal pancreas produces on its own, but ours doesn’t. We need both background insulin and then our bolus at mealtimes to cover the carbs we eat (and that a normal pancreas would put out a spurt for).
In my opinion it can be simplified. Just assume that Levemir works ideal and this means 24 hours. You inject 24 at 6am for the first time. Now for 12 hours you will have less insulin than you need - you will get high. Then at 6pm the next shot of 24 units. From now on the shots will combine as if 48 units are active. It is a rolling combination without gaps because of the 12 hour rhythmn. In reality you will have zones with less active insulin but in comparison to the previous situation this will likely pass without being recognized.
Osob,
I argued with my doctor about taking two doses of Lantus. It certainly didn’t last close to 24 hours for me. He said I’d have hypos from Lantus stacking. They believe the pharm literature & info from pharm reps, but we know the reality.
I split my doses on my own with better results. Then, used Levemir with even better results (Lantus had peaks).
I may be weird in that I use less basal during the day then at night. I’m running around too much during the day & have severe dawn phenonmenon.
Have a new endo who supports what I tell him. My regiment for basal is immediately before bed & then in the morning. For me, basal at night is gone by the morning. Realize this is contrary to what we’re told about the long acting nature of basal, but there’s no doubt how it works for my body. I don’t take large doses (5 units in the morning, 7.5 units before bed), so perhaps that’s part of the reason.
Levemir didn’t work at all for me… and my CDE suggested that a lot of type 1’s have had a similar experience with it… maybe you should try Lantus.
In the following diagram I try to visualize how the splitted Levemir shots combine:
Didn’t work often means: it has not lasted 24 hours.
It is really bad that Levemir was set by the marketing to compete against Lantus. In my personal opinion it has been technically designed to replace the outdated Novo Protaphan. If Novo would officially recommend to apply Levemir in two shots we would see many happy diabetics with it. Its unique binding pattern to haemoglobin makes is very reliable and peakless. As always some people exist that have problems with the haemoglobin binding and this may have been the case for you, Sarah.
Osob has tried Lantus (Glargin) and she experienced similar problems. This shows that her metabolism has a unique reaction to basal insulin. If this can only be solved with a splitage then Levemir is the basal insulin to choose in my opinion.
Holger
Thank you. I was thinking about it last night after I posted (and after I walked away from my computer) and it makes sense what you’ve written. I figured there would be a lack “down time” during the inital phase of splitting Levemir and then it would be “normal” full basal dosage. It makes sense.
Still nervous, but will consider it.
I have another Endo appt end of February. I’m really working hard to lower my A1c so I’ve been going to the Endo once per month instead of every 3 months.
I’ll keep ya’ll posted. 
Hey Holger,
I am thinking I do need a split dose after looking at my numbers I am thinking that it runs out around lunch time I might be wrong but someone can correct me when I check my level before lunch I am within range and then I eat count my carbs and take the dose of novorapid but then I go high.
Before Dinner I am still high.
So what happens if the levemir runs out?Do the sugar levels go up or down?
Your body always needs insulin and it is the purpose of the Levemir to assure that. If the Levemir runs out then the blood glucose will go up.
Here is an example. The diagram shows the mean glucose values for every hour of the day by looking back at the last 30 days. The user is injecting Protaphan - a long acting insulin - only in the morning. The problem is that this insulin will degrade in its effectiveness in the afternoon. You can see the rise in the red blood glucose line. This user will not achieve better numbers until he is switching to another insulin or will start to inject Protaphan two times a day. Levemir is more stable than Protaphan so the rise is just coming later if you happen to be one of those patients where Levemir will not work 24 hours.
Yeah thats how it kind of is the diagram brings it alive I guess.
Yeah I will create an account and seeing as I have so much numbers it will be great to talk about it.
Thanks a lot for answering my questions.
Osob- Please also consider that your bolus “short acting” might need different dosages at different times of the day too.
For example: My carb ratio is 1 unit per 6 carbs in the monring, 1 unit per 5 carbs at lunch and then 6 units PLUS 1 unit per 4 carbs at dinner.
(which is why I pretty much stopped ALL carb intake for dinnertime and after)
… my issue might be solved by splitting doses too. I dunno. I’m pretty tired out from all the guesswork I guess.
(haha, “Guesswork I guess”)
IM having trouble s also but mine are its making me dizzy and tingling all over my body and my Dr says its not true. I didnt take my night time shot tonight at 5 and the tingling and numbness is way down. She has had me increasing it to fast I think. Im looking for another endo dr as soon as I can find one that takes my insurance. Im worried of how much to tak in the morning though.