? Charlie transitions from Vetsulin to Lantus on Saturday

[Karen & Charlie]

I've known that we would move Charlie from Vetsulin to Lantus for a couple of weeks, and so have been reading all the stickies. The plan is to start him on Saturday. He is currently on 1.5u BID Vetsulin. Vet's instruction is 1.0u BID Lantus.

Because we were fire evacuated on Labor Day, his data has been sporadic. Life should be back to something like normal by Saturday (that's why I chose it). So, his data sheet looks horrible. BUT, I did a curve on 9/15. Same old, same old. That's why we're moving to Lantus.

QUESTIONS:

1. FD veterans, would you start him on 1.0u BID Lantus?
2. Any words of wisdom? Asking early so I can take the info in (my brain is old) before I need to use it.

I am hypo ready: HC food and both honey & maple syrup.

Thanks!

 

[tiffmaxee]

Hi. Get some mc food too, 10-15% carbs. I hope your home wasn’t touched by the fires. Do you think you will follow TR or SLGS?

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hello and welcome. My girl started on Caninsulin (same produce, different marketing name outside the US), then switched to Lantus too. Caninsulin wasn't lasting long in my girl either.

I'd start with 1.5 units of Lantus - 1.5 units of Vetsulin wasn't taking him low. We take the dose of the existing insulin into mind when switching to Lantus.

 

[Karen & Charlie]

Hi. Get some mc food too, 10-15% carbs. I hope your home wasn’t touched by the fires. Do you think you will follow TR or SLGS?

Oh geez...MC food--what is that? I plan to follow TR, but am very nervous! That seems to be typical with Lantus, from what I'm reading. Yes?
My home still stands, property was burned. I'm grateful!

 

[Karen & Charlie]

I'd start with 1.5 units of Lantus - 1.5 units of Vetsulin wasn't taking him low. We take the dose of the existing insulin into mind when switching to Lantus.

You're right Wendy, 1.5 u of Vetsulin was barely making a dent. [Which is why I've not fretted about preshot testing during this time...he's always high.]

Thanks for the dosing advice!

 

[Wendy&Neko]

MC = medium carb food. LC = low carb, HC = higher carb. You can always mix low carb with high carb to get something in between. I never used MC.

Thank goodness the house is still there.

With Lantus and the depot, you will have to get into the habit of always getting a preshot test. I was surprised more than once with a low preshot. You need to make sure it's safe to give insulin.

When you start Lantus, put a blank line on the spreadsheet after the last Vetsulin day, put "starting Lantus" or something similar on that line, so we can clearly see where the change was made. You might want to poke around here and see if you can find some other new Lantus users, to get an idea what the spreadsheets might look like. There is a lot of variation, but I liked seeing examples to know what I might see.