Embarking on Lantus

Discussion in 'Lantus / Levemir / Biosimilars' started by marisofigia, Jan 5, 2021.

  1. marisofigia

    marisofigia Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2020
    Hello all,

    Posting for the first time in the Lantus Insulin Support Group; mods please feel free to move my thread elsewhere if needed.

    It's been quite a ride for Maya (female, 12 years old) and me.
    She first started showing what we now know were diabetes symptoms back in April 2020.
    Following a misdiagnosis, she was eventually diagnosed with diabetes in August 2020.
    We began with changing her food, then started her on Caninsulin. There was a miscommunication regarding dosing (first vet visited did not specify that U-40 syringes were needed for the prescribed dose), so it took a while for her to get stabilized.
    In December Maya was diagnosed with EPI. She's been taking her enzymes and doing better ever since.

    I'm writing because tomorrow I plan on starting her on Lantus for the first time. The transition was highly recommended by several forum members, especially since Maya has had a few hypo episodes (see spreadsheet in the signature below).
    Her current vet suggested that I start with 1 unit on a U-100 syringe every 12 hours. I checked the sticky note in the forum here and calculated that since she is 3,8 kg she should start at 0,95. So, that's about right.
    The only thing that concerns me is that a couple of months ago Maya was just 3 kg, and she has changed her Caninsulin dosage many times due to the mishap with the syringes that I mentioned above.
    I guess I wanted to hear from you before administering the first dose tomorrow.

    Of course, I will continue to monitor her with my hypo kit at hand!
     
  2. Bandit's Mom

    Bandit's Mom Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2019
    Hello Marisofi and welcome to the Lantus forum!

    I am sorry you've had such a hard few months and I hope it will only get better from here.

    Have you read about the 2 dosing methods we follow here? Am linking it below:
    https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...-low-go-slow-slgs-tight-regulation-tr.210110/
    If you are feeding Maya low carb wet food, you can follow TR - that will enable you to get Maya to her optimal dose quickly.

    I presume you know that with Lantus, you use u-100 syringes. These are the syringes that our other members in Greece use. They have half unit markings and make it easy to dose in multiples of 0.25 units.
    https://pharmacygreek.com/bd-micro-...-9nbTJ3ZYqH9P1ReMTyd8usYAYfbdnZ3xvXmhe0ETZodk

    I will also tag @Melita & Chnoudi and @Xara Kakarantza who are also in Greece, in case you need any help with info on syringes, cat food etc.

    When switching to Lantus we take into consideration the dosage of the last insulin given. I'm going to tag some senior folks to help you with this:

    @Sienne and Gabby (GA)
    @Marje and Gracie
    @Wendy&Neko

    Please feel free to ask as many questions as you want. Welcome again! :)
    Bhooma
     
  3. Melita & Chnoudi

    Melita & Chnoudi Member

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2020
    Hello @Marisofi !! Welcome to the group! You 've found the best place for diabetes treatment, so don't worry for anything!! :cat::cat:
    Do you live in Athens? If yes, there is "Harmanis" shop in Ag.Constantinou str, Metaxourgeio, where you can find the syringes with half marks! They are doing deliveries too...
    Send me an inbox if you want more informations!!!;)
     
  4. Sue and Luci

    Sue and Luci Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2017
    Welcome to the LB&L Forum Marisofi!

    There's a lot to learn here - so please - just take your time and try to read as much as you can - and many folks will share their opinions and recommendations with you for ideas/suggestions and the like to help you along on this journey. It can be a bit overwhelming at first...so just hang tough and we'll all be here.

    Have you posted in one of the other forums prior to this? If so, could you copy/paste that url into your condo (aka post) for today?

    If not, that's ok too! Here's a stickie about formatting, etc. for your posts - it'll help to read this and update your title so that folks will know all the info at a glance about your daily posting. https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/posting-guidelines-please-read.231511/

    Have a great day :)
     
    tiffmaxee and marisofigia like this.
  5. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2020
    Hi! We have recently moved over to lantus after many skydives with prozinc. We ar still struggling with finding the right dose... but we have almost no crazy skydiving! So here is hoping it would reduce your stress with hypos!
     
    marisofigia likes this.
  6. marisofigia

    marisofigia Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2020
    @Bandit's Mom thank you for the warm welcome and for introducing me around. Maya is primarily eating low carb wet food. I must admit that I have other cats in the house who eat low carb dry food, and once in a while Maya will sneak past me and take a bite...

    @Melita & Chnoudi Efxaristo! I do live in Athens, I've sent you a message now :)

    @Sue and Luci Thanks for welcoming me! I have posted three threads in the Feline Health Main Forum. All links are in my original post here.

    @Hercule's mum *fingers crossed* All the best to Hercules!
     
    Sue and Luci likes this.
  7. tiffmaxee

    tiffmaxee Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2013
    Here’s your most recent post as far as history goes.
    https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/and-now-epi.239528/#post-2709456

    The more recent one was asking about dandruff. Max had it and even when tightly controlled it never went away.

    I’m glad you are starting Lantus. if possible post daily on this forum and ask questions. Good luck!

    Edited now. We cross posted!
     
    Sue and Luci and marisofigia like this.
  8. Bandit's Mom

    Bandit's Mom Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2019
    Elise, would you know what dose @Marisofi should start with when switching over from caninsulin?
     
    marisofigia likes this.
  9. tiffmaxee

    tiffmaxee Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2013
    Not my area of expertise but I’ve seen the mods say the same dose or a little less. Let me see if I can find more info.
     
    marisofigia and Bandit's Mom like this.
  10. tiffmaxee

    tiffmaxee Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2013
    You can start at either the same dose, 3.25, or 3.0.
     
    marisofigia and Bandit's Mom like this.
  11. Wendy&Neko

    Wendy&Neko Senior Member Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2012
    Hello and welcome aboard. I too did the Caninsulin to Lantus switch with my girl. I made the mistake (vet's suggestion) of starting back at 1 unit when she had been at been at 5 units Caninsulin. Took me months to get back to where I should have started. Lesson learned.

    When you switch insulins, you are not "starting from new" so the calculations for starting dose aren't relevant. When you switch, we take the dose of the current insulin into consideration. Since you saw some sub 50 numbers on 3.25 units of Caninsulin, I would back it off to 3.0 units. Provided of course that you can monitor closely the first few cycles.
     
    Bandit's Mom and marisofigia like this.
  12. marisofigia

    marisofigia Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2020
    Many thanks for this! I see that @tiffmaxee also agrees.
     
    Bandit's Mom likes this.
  13. Marje and Gracie

    Marje and Gracie Senior Member Moderator

    Joined:
    May 30, 2010
    I agree with Wendy and have nothing additional to add.
     
    Bandit's Mom and marisofigia like this.
  14. Bandit's Mom

    Bandit's Mom Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2019
    Good luck with your first day of Lantus. We are here to answer as many questions as you have, so please feel free to post and ask. :)
     
    marisofigia likes this.
  15. Laura and Gremlin (GA)

    Laura and Gremlin (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Welcome to Lantus Land! All the best with the switch!!
    It's lovely to meet you, please keep us posted on how your beautiful baby goes.
     
    marisofigia likes this.
  16. kalypso

    kalypso Member

    Joined:
    May 22, 2019
    Hi Marisofi! How did the insulin switch go?
     
    marisofigia likes this.
  17. tiffmaxee

    tiffmaxee Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2013
    Did you start Lantus? If so would you leave some space in between insulins and write started Lantus please?
     
    marisofigia likes this.
  18. marisofigia

    marisofigia Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2020
    Hello everyone! It's been a busy couple of days, as you'll see on the spreadsheet. I tried to measure as often as possible.

    My initial reaction is, thank God I listened to you and not the vet! Maya has been consistently hitting around 300s with the 3 unit dose, imagine how bad things would have been if I had started her on the 1 unit, as suggested by the vet... Now I'm thinking that I probably should increase dosage...
     
  19. tiffmaxee

    tiffmaxee Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2013
    We usually hold the dose for a minimum of 6 cycles but given that you could have started on 3.25 I think you are fine to increase. From now on don’t increase sooner than cycles and post like you just did today for dosing advice if in doubt. Good luck with the increase.
     
    marisofigia likes this.
  20. tiffmaxee

    tiffmaxee Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2013
    Please start a new thread each day you post.
     
    marisofigia likes this.

Share This Page