Diabetic Recipes
Low blood sugars that happen in the middle of the night really suck! You're dead asleep, and then all of the sudden your dreams start getting confusing and weird. You start feeling like you should probably drag yourself out of bed and get something from your sugar stash. You barely have the energy to get up and then once you do you stumble around and nearly black out. You feel confused and you act and look as though you've had WAY too much to drink. Then after you climb back into bed you just sit there for a while and you try to wait patiently while your sugar goes back up or until you feel good enough to fall back asleep.
Well, that's what happened to me last night, and what I tend to experience almost once a week.
So after last night, I got on the computer and I found an article by an endocrinologist. I was impressed to learn that this doctor of over 20 years was also a type 1 for nearly three times that. The article was all about his experience, both professionally and personally, with 24 hour acting insulin. He discussed something I felt I could relate with and that I was willing to try. He stated that a person using Lantus who weighed around 154 pounds only needed about 12-15 units of 24-hour insulin a day. He suggested splitting the dose and taking half in the morning and the other half at night.
I had never heard of anyone giving this type of recommendation on Lantus before. Currently I take one big heaping shot of Lantus (17 units usually) in the morning. I already know that people split their basal doses but I had never heard about taking that little of a total for the day. It got me thinking that perhaps I have been taking too much and that maybe this could help minimize my ups and downs and the lows that I get in the middle of the night.
Anyway, I found this article to be very insightful and I am always interested in hearing someone else's opinion. Unfortunately, this article was sent to me in an email, and I accidentally deleted it. Please note, that this was just another person's perspective and that I am not offering medical advice. It's also important to note the article was in regards to people who are still taking multiple daily injections and not for people on the pump. If you have any feelings or responses about this please let me know. Leave your comments below.
Thank you for reading today. -Andy
Andy
I was very interested in reading your posts about the Lantus. I know that you and I are as different as night and day. You are a 1 and I am a 2, but i use both Humalog and Lantus. When my doctor had started me on the injections of Lantus (at night for me) he said to use 10 units at a time. I was worried about the night time lows I had read about, but my middle of the days were so bad and we couldn't seem to get them better. I have been extremely careful with how I eat and we finally kept adjusting things until my type one son asked me what was happening at night. *I told him about the terrible nights where I am dying of thirst and can't sleep for hours until I drink a lot of water, etc. He told me my Lantus needed to be higher. I went back to my doctor and he agreed and asked why I hadn't told him that. I hadn't known it was important. My blood sugars would bounce up to almost 300 during the day even if I hadn't eaten. So we increased the Lantus slowly and I am now at 21 to 24 units before going to bed. I also check blood sugar readings and if I am over 100 to 110 we do a little bolus of Humalog. I have learned a great deal since getting my diagnosis at the end of September. I really never knew that there were type 2's that had to use insulin too. My doctor has been great, but my son has been the best teacher of all. It is always interesting to me what we have to do to take care of ourselves and I reaslly appreciate hearing someone else's ideas. Thanks for the post.
Thank you very much Saundra. I appreciate getting your feedback and hearing about your experiences. We can all help and learn from each other. I look forward to speaking with you again. You and your son have a unique "diabetes team"...and are very fortunate to have each other. Thanks.