Tresiba Basal Insulin

Still on it. Going ok, however, having about the same struggles as i used to with the pump, i guess my sugars are just not as stable as you guys’…
still happy on it though, remember, i ditched the pump bc of horrible alarms with the 640G, and am happier on tresiba than on levemir, so this is my way to go.
i did experience some quite annoying overnight highs, up to the 300s i creeped which annoyed me a lot, but i hope i got them under control now.

I know I’m not typical, either (especially with a T2D diagnosis – just ask Dr. Ponder’s co-author of Sugar Surfing!), but I can also detect changed in BG - to some degree more accurately than my CGM! Unfortunately, in my case, it’s not foolproof, and I miss change sometimes by a lot - especially on the low end - so the CGM earns its keep.

@Dr_T1. You’re right though we are certainly all subject to placebo effect. But if we’re all just viewing our results through a cloud of placebo that makes us all think it’s making our lives easier and our blood sugars better… That’d be ok with me;)

I hope you will try it yourself and let us know your thoughts…

Discoveries often come from those inventive and courageous enough to try something different and you may all be on to something here; that’s what I like about this site. This idea has captured by imagination and I will try and get Tresiba samples and try another N=1 study (perhaps if we have enough of us, we can do a meta-analysis). Still, I’ll have to carry my Tslim which displays my CGM data, carry an insulin pen and inject often but I won’t need the continuous insulin site. While Dr Ponder may have replaced his pump basal with Tresiba basal (and we are waiting for his opinion of his trial), I haven’t heard anyone say he gave up his CGM which provides the data trends he proactively acts upon. In his book, he attributes success to surfing, not basal. He carb nudges, he insulin stacks, he adjusts frequently – so it sounds too simplistic to think that Tresiba can provide this benefit with less work. (BTW: his coauthor has a daughter with T1 but the book does not say he has T2.) Perhaps there is something special about Tresiba - but if so, what? Is it just a bit longer acting basal insulin than Lantus that is more convenient but less flexible than a pump, or is there more to it? Perhaps it works nicely in highly-experienced, low carb’ers where not as much adjustment is necessary. There is a worry that some less experienced might think Tresiba it a panacea and not check their sugars as often. And I do agree with you that some of the medical establishment has not seen the benefit of low carbs often enough; however, not all patients are as motivated as those here. I appreciate your ideas.

I’m not sure why he would give up his CGM because he’s taking Tresiba?? I hear you on Placebo, but for me, placebo doesn’t really hold up because the numbers are what they are no matter how much I want to love an insulin like Tresiba. I wish I could “Placebo” my numbers into range - LOL. Maybe I am over simplifying but Tresiba has done these things for me -

  1. It’s given me a steady basal through the day and night via one injection in the morning with dosing flexibility.

  2. It has allowed me to free myself of an insulin pump.

Admittedly, I did not have any crazy basal profiles set up on my Omnipod, I was pretty steady/consistent throughout the day and night. However, I did have one increase in basal in the afternoon hours that I was concerned about when going on Tresiba but after two fasting tests I saw no spike in blood sugar during those afternoon hours. Not sure how to explain this. Maybe my carb counting at lunch wasn’t aggressive enough and I was covering my lunch with some increased basal? Not sure, but something I am actively working on to figure out.

Personally, I am not suggesting that Tresiba has made my diabetes treatment easier than a pump (just don’t have enough data to support that yet). However, I am confident that Tresiba has successfully replaced the need to wear a pump for a nice, stable, consistent basal with a once daily injection.

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I too have stopped using my pump and switched to Tresbia. My basal rates have been great! But I’m only on day 3. I started out at 16 units (first night of tresbia had stubborn highs all day), then bumped up to 20 and now 22. I think I’m going to stick with 20 units for at least a week and see how things go. I haven’t had any lows during the day which is great for me! I’ve been able to eat when I’m hungry vs. when I’m low. I’m excited for this!

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I’ve had similar experiences with the dosing, Terry 4. Over the last three nights I’ve had similar hypers and treat with humalog. However, I’m waking up low (48) and wondering if I shouldn’t back off the correction to see how things level out for themselves. Or if I should take my tresbia earlier than bedtime (9-10:00). Good luck. I’m excited to be off my pump and hope this works out as Levemir did nothing for me and I gained a bunch of weight on Lantus.

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i had the same problems.
i was on 14 units of tresiba, took it at bedtime.
always had to correct at 2-4am, which annoyed me quite a lot, and i woke up on the lower side as well. i went up with my basal to 16 units, since then i have a more or less flat line, dont need to correct anymore and it seems to work better.
only question is for how long this works until my body decides to react differently to the whole thing…
oh the joy of diabetes :joy:

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So far I’ve increased my basal from 18 to 22 for the last two days and I keep spiking at 2:00 in the afternoon. I jump up to 250 and stay that way until bedtime; then I correct with Humalog and take tresbia. Does this mean I should increase the tresbia? I thought it was suppose to last 40 hours without a peak? I do take it every day.

When I wake up high in the night, it’s due to protein at supper that causes my blood sugar to spike 5-6 hours after I eat. My basal won’t address that. I’ve been trying to finish eating supper by 6 pm so that I can catch that spike and dose before I fall asleep and that has helped.

After using 3 pens of Tresiba, sadly I have stopped Tresiba for the next 3 months or so, until I use up my stocks of levemir (financially I could not afford to not use these up…).

I will be going back to Tresiba once I finish this stock. Tresiba gave me very stable worry free blood sugars… at a 20% lower dose than I was taking for levemir.

I feel the same many days @Sam19 Sam19! Both of these drugs have been a real game changer for me!! It has helped my emotional sanity so much!

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Got a Novopen Echo yesterday. Local CVS ordered for me and it was covered 100%. Looks and feels very nice. Comes with a nice case as well. Just waiting on my Novolog Cartridges.

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Good luck with your Echo pen, @mikep. The last dose memory and 1/2 unit dosing are both great features.

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thanks Terry. I got it specifically for those two reasons. I was surprised after I ditched my pump how often I thought to myself “what time did I take my insulin?” The Echo has a nice “premium” feel to it as well.

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I set the dive timer on my wristwatch to zero when I bolus… I’d be lost without it. It’s just the circular rotating ring on the bezel numbered from zero to sixty… Simple yet elegant

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David, where can I find your reasons for being slow to allow it in US?? I’m interested in Tresiba, but I’m scared of newly approved drugs, since you never know what years later will become of them.

For those who’ve switched from pumping to Tresiba, did your TDD decrease??

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Hi Terry,

Do you fast regularly? If so, how did you find that without a pump?? Due to two bouts of DKA 5 weeks apart, one from a failed omnipod site, I’m very interested in going back on MDI… Levemir didn’t work for me…it was like I was injecting water. Lantus worked, but I had lows.

I can only forsee two issues with returning to MDI. I love fasting (eating lunch and dinner, skipping breakfast) and I like the ability to turn off my pump for exercise. I know I can eat glucose tabs for exercise, and probably figure out the right basal for fasting, but I have quite a difference in my morning/day basal profile and my evening/night basal rates, which I’m not sure how I’d account for on MDI.

They’re not my reasons, they are the FDA’s. I was merely commenting that they dragged their feet for a long time, compared to its availability in Europe. As for the reasons . . . it depends on who you ask. The FDA will tell you the reasons have to do with testing. My own belief is that the motivation was chiefly political. You pay your money and you take your choice. :wink: