Chrissy - Insulin

[Guest guest]

Chrissy,

I'm a little confused by your statement that you were " not taking any more

insulin " . Did you mean that you aren't taking 12 units, but you WILL take 10?

Or did you mean that you don't intend to take the Lantus at all? Or did you

mean that you won't be taking the Novalin? I'm confused by your statement.

You need a basal insulin, (Lantus), to help stabilize your 24 hour insulin

requirements. You'll be in BIG TROUBLE if you don't take that. You'll be

running super high blood glucose levels without a basal insulin. The light-

headedness, nausea and other symptoms you felt an hour after taking the

Lantus weren't directly caused by that injection. Although the insulin is slow

absorbing and never reaches a peak like other insulins like NPA, it's highest

level doesn't come until 6-8 hours after injection. Also, anytime you make an

adjustment with Lantus insulin, you need to wait 3 days before making any

other adjustments. For example, if you decide to take less, you need to

continue with the 10 units for 3 days before dropping to a lower amount. If

you found that your fasting BG's were too high (over 120), you would need to

increase the basal insulin, but not until 3 days had passed. This type of

insulin needs 72 hours to stabilize in your system. The manufacturer's

recommend that all adjustments be made with caution. Check it out:

http://www.Lantus.com/

Do you have glucose tablets to treat any lows? If you don't have any, you

need to get those, and keep them with you at all times. They're a

carbohydrate tablet that contains 4 grams of sugar/carbs in each tablet, and

they're designed to digest immediately, to treat any low BG's. If you don't

have

those, 1/2 c. of orange juice is a second best solution.

A BG of 150 is not " normal " , it's considered too high. A fasting BG of 90-120

is

the optimal situation. If you were to contine being diabetic, that's what an

Endocrinologist would advise you to aim for. That would assure you an

HbA1c level of under 6, which is advised for diabetics if they want to avoid

complications with neuropathy, heart problems, blindness and amputation.

Please write again and explain what you meant about the insulin before I

worry more about you than I already do. You can't just stop taking it.

Oh......BTW, who is your Endo? My daughter needs an Endo

desperately. My doc here said that the best one in ton died last year,

so now she's seeing someone at MUSC, but I want to make sure she's seeing

the best one that she can. Can you tell me the name of yours?

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina Rep.

SE Regional Rep., PAI

Note: All comments or advice are based on personal experience or opinion

only, and should not be substituted for professional medical consultation.

Chrissy wrote:

Last night I took 10 units of lantus and felt really badly about an hour later,

hot

flashes, diaphoretic, nauseas and light headed. I took my BS and it

was 65. I decided then I was not taking any more insulin. I will monitor my

sugar but not take any more. I have been running about 150 90 minutes after

eating which is not abnormal at all.