Metformin does another thing in addition: it partially damps down the liver's response to high insulin levels so that it releases less glucose into the bloodstream.
Rob, I hope the levimir works for you. For me it did absolutely absolutely nothing, until late in the afternoon when I would crash totally. Everyone here talks about how insulin is the way to go, but it wasn't for me, and my doc wouldn't prescribe the short-acting ones you take through the day, so I have no idea if they would work. For me, Victoza turned out to be the answer. Clearly I'm still making insulin, but I just needed more help using it. AND it quiets down my sugar-producing-crazy liver in the early morning hours.
Ellie, your experience isn't all that unusual. Everyone reacts to a drug or medication according to their own individual physiology. For example, Humolog is the fast-acting insulin of choice for many people. For me, it might as well be a placebo: it seldom does anything at all, and when it does, it's unbelievably slow to act. But there are thousands of people who get excellent results from it and who depend on it absolutely. We're all different.
David, thanks for your response. I had never heard of anyone else having the response I did to both Lantus and Levimir, and I was so depressed that even insulin was not helping me that I was mentally putting my affairs in order, assuming I'd have a short life. Till I got on the Victoza.
So far it's working. Not at the optimum dose yet, but almost there. When I started 2 weeks ago, I was averaging about 3oo, down now to a 150 average. Hoping by this time next week I'll get to the 90-120 range. I do check my BG 6 times a day. Wake up, before each meal (I eat 4), and before bed. Where I started with huge swings in a day, it's now about 25-50 between my High and Low. I also make sure each meal has 26 grams of carbs (give or take a few). So I think that's helping too. I used to skip meals, and over do it in others. I've also lost 6 pounds in the two weeks, so I'm excited about that.
I’m a Type 1, and now pumping, but when I was injecting I was a levimir user. I found that splitting the dose gave me better results. Good job being proactive! Remember you can’t take a Type 1’s treatment and try to fit it on you Type 2 body! Your pancreas can still do a little production… You don’t have to be super aggressive with the insulin therapy when you start… It’s a process and a learning curve! You will get there!
Sometimes it's good not to test only before meals, but both before and after 1,5 hours. You could do it with 6 measures doing each other day lunch and dinner ... Just to see if your pancreas keeps BG low soon after meals or it takes hours