Tonight I start Insulin...any tips?

Hi my name is Ian, and here’s a little background:

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in December 05. I had started with Metformin, and Lipitor, to help with my high cholesterol. I was serious, although a little reluctant, to dive in to fight my diabetes. Soon after I was given Januvia and Glimpiride (Amaryl). It is now 2008, and I just went in for my 3 month A1C blood glucose check up, and my A1C was 9. Since I was diagnosed, I have never been able to drop it down to 7 or below. My blood glucose can reach as high as the 300’s (usually in the am when I wake up), and can drop as low as under 100, though very rare. I’m HYPERglycemic. The insulin I start tonight is Levimir.

Does anyone else take Levimir, and if so, do you have any tips for a newbie? I am type 2 and will start with 6 units. I would really appreciate some feedback. Thanks!

Ian

Levimir

Ian,

Do you see an endocrinologist or a General Physician? If you are not seeing an endo I recommend you do because I am willing to bet you are NOT a type 2 but a Type 1 or sometimes called LADA (Latent autoimmune diabetes of adults) . Please read the forums on LADA and ask your doctor or CDE about it especially if you do not have any of the risk factors for Type2 other than your age.

Levimir is a long acting or basal insulin and should help with your fasting BG readings and help keep your BG “normal” throughout the day; later, you may need to include a fast acting insulin with meals. I take Lantus for my basal insulin and shoot for a fasting or morning BG of below 120… Just remember below 70 is considered hypo and should be treated as such. There is so much to learn so just keep posting questions…the good news is you have found TuDiabetes!!

Hi Ian,

Welcome to Tu D! Hope you’ll feel free to post often & to check the archives. So much great info & equally great people. We all help each other.

I’m Type 1, but hope my experience will help you some. I was first on Lantus & was recently switched to Levemir. My endo thought Levemir would be more stable. It seems to be better for me. I take Levemir before bed & then again in the morning. This is how a lot of Type 1s take basal.

Am assuming that you’re just taking Levemir in the evening. First thing, take it right before bed. Sure someone else here can explain why basal insulin works this way, but evening doses of Levemir (& Lantus) stay in the body for 8 hours, so you really want to shoot up right before going to sleep. Daytime basal insulin lasts about 16-18+ hours.Know this isn’t fun, but set your alarm for 3-4 AM a few times (depending on when you go to bed & when you wake up) & test. It’s a good idea to know what your BG does overnight.

A few other hints, if you don’t mind, about high fasting BG. If you haven’t read about Dawn Phenonmenon, there’s quite a bit about this on this site. Don’t eat for at least 5 hours before going to sleep. Try not to eat a hard to digest dinner–fish, poultry are easier to digest than red meat. Try not to eat a dinner with a lot of fat either. Protein & fat digest slowly & can send BG up if you eat a lot of this at dinner.

I hope the Levemir helps to get your numbers down. It often takes playing around with doses to find the right one, so keep your doctor posted frequently.

If the Levemir helps with the morning BG, but your daytime BG is still high you might want to discuss taking more insulin with your doctor. Many Type 2s resist the idea of insulin, but it’s the best thing you can do to preserve your beta cells & to get your A1c down.