I was on the IDDT website, and came across some information I was never told when being prescribed Lantus as my basal insulin. It MAY be outdated, being from 2003, but from what I can find on the internet they never really confirmed anything, and had any breakthroughs with it…
So did anyone else get told about these potential risks of Lantus when it was prescribed to them? Does this worry anybody else?
Tony was on it for a month, he kept going really low in the middle of the night-and this was when he was done honeymooning. So he was switched to nph and is doing great-weird. I got a lot of pm’s from another website when I mentioned the switch, but I won’t get into that lol. Are those risks listed in that little itty bitty piece of paper that’s in the box?
I haven’t had any ill effects due to Lantus. I have had the odd sudden low, but I’ve always caught it before it gets bad, and I haven’t had enough for me to attribute it to Lantus. The only thing is that I tend to go low between breakfast and lunch. But I can just take less Novolog at breakfast and I’m good. Besides, my endo says that that’s the most common time to go low.
The IDDT organization seems to be run by hardcore fans of animal insulins who in my experience see no good in any human insulin.
If you are using Lantus and not having problems, I wouldn’t worry about it.
Dr. Bernstein seems to think it is okay to use it, though he suggests splitting the dose in half to avoid it runnnig out before 24 hours.
I had some problems with it, but it is hard to know if they were caused by the Lantus or the fact that I was given way too much and was having a continual counterregulatory attack the whole time I was on it.
I’ve been on Lantus for just over a month now with no ill effects other than often going low in the middle of the morning (although I’m still honeymooning and on quite a low dose of 9 units). To be honest I was less worried about the noticeable short term effects than I was about this:
"In rats and dogs there were changes at the injections sites including subcutaneous fibrosis, sclerosis and inflammation. Malignant Fibrous Histiocytomas were found in both rats and mice at the injection sites but this was not related to the dose but the low acidity of the Lantus solution."
Now, I don’t know what a Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma is, but I don’t really want one!
This is why people use such as myself use a pump. Long acting insulin is very unstable when compared to short acting insulin that one uses in a pump. What you eat, your activity level, injection site all play a role. I am not saying it is bad I just prefer using a pump and recommend pumps to anyone with diabetes.
It is not that some people feel no positive can come from Recombinant DNA insulin’s (as they are not actually human insulin’s), but some diabetics cannot control their sugars on it. I was on Humilin for 5 years and went from excellent control, to paramedics in my home numerous times a month, at all times of day, and a complete loss of hypoglycemic symptoms. When I would complain to my doctors about the insulin the answer was a solid “it can’t possibly be the insulin”. It is a very frightening realization when you find no other option left in the United States for insulin therapy except the one that makes your numbers uncontrollable, your moods terrible and life difficult.
Imagine your life crumbling and no one cares….Once I found the beef insulin and changed back ALL the problems slowly went away…and I once again have control of my life.
You cannot begin to understand the terror that some diabetics are experiencing at the thought of no more animal insulin…the idea that once gone your life is forever altered…and no one cares…
