Lantus vs. Levemir?

[Fedya and Izzy]

Hello, everyone, we are pretty new to the forum I had a couple of questions regarding Lantus and Levemir. Currently, Fedya is on Lantus but lately my dad and I have considered to possibly switch him to Levemir. According to the data that we have so far regarding his BG, after we increased his dose of Lantus to 2.0IU, his number went higher? It was such a disappointment to the day before when he was in the low to mid hundreds to being in the 200s when the dose is higher.

I'm thinking that perhaps he is harder to regulate and read on some forums that Levemir seems to be a favorite here. I know that we don't have so much BG data but we're kinda worried that the Lantus is preventing him from achieving lower numbers. Are there any benefits to switching Fedya to Levemir from Lantus? And if I would eventually switch him to Levemir would I continue to give him the same dose as I did with Lantus?

Thank you very much for the help!

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

It is still really early days in this FD journey for you and Fedya. It takes time for a cat to respond to insulin as it is a hormone not a medication like an antibiotic. I think Fedya is responding really well for such a short time. It is rare for a cat to become regulated within a few weeks. Most cats take much longer. I would stick with Lantus for now. We don’t usually suggest swapping insulins for around 6 months unless you are swapping from a shorter acting insulin to a longer acting one for better duration.
Levemir is a great insulin but so is Lantus.
I would give it longer. Fedya is already giving you blue numbers. You just haven’t reached the best dose yet.
Keep asking questions.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

In addition to everything Bron said -- with which I agree, there's also a phenomenon that we refer to as NDW or "new dose wonkiness." This occurs when you raise the dose and see higher, rather than lower numbers. That's one explanation for what you're seeing.

It also helps to remember that there are any number of factors that can influence your cat's numbers. Any source of stress will have an effect on BG -- it could be a stranger in the house, noise, another animal outside, etc. If Fedya found a piece of carbohydrate to snack on -- and our FD kitties are experts at finding crumbs or stealing something they shouldn't be eating.

Give the dose a bit of time to settle. It looks like you are seeing the numbers come back down in the PM cycle.

 

[Sue and Luci]

I just wanted to add - your Fedya could be Luci's TWIN! Hey Fedya - do you have a sister you don't know about???

We've just switched from Lantus to Levimer - but we've been at this for almost two years - so listen to the folks who've already commented and stay the course for now. Feline diabetes isn't about fast results - it takes time and patience.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hello and welcome from one who also switched from Lantus to Levemir. I agree with the others that you need to give Lantus some time to work, I see you skipped this morning, so you are already seeing lower numbers on 2 units.

In your opening post, you said you want to follow TR. it’ll help us help you if you put TR in your signature. TR is the more aggressive of the two dosing methods we use here, but safe if the testing guidelines are followed. Many kitties here are following TR. The reason I am mentioning this is that you have increased too fast and I see a few opportunities for testing were missed. Tests after PMPS in the night cycle are very important. Many kitties go lower at night. We determine how to change dose based on how low a dose takes the cat, hence the need to spot those lows.

In the dosing methods sticky note, you will see that it is recommended that the dose be held for 8-10 cycles when they first see nadirs under 200. You held for 6 cycles, but only had test data for four. I remember how impatient I was when Neko was first diagnosed with diabetes. Patience was not my strong suit, but something that feline diabetes teaches all of us. Regulation will come. Fedya is already showing great progress.

 

[Fedya and Izzy]

Hello and welcome from one who also switched from Lantus to Levemir. I agree with the others that you need to give Lantus some time to work, I see you skipped this morning, so you are already seeing lower numbers on 2 units.

In your opening post, you said you want to follow TR. it’ll help us help you if you put TR in your signature. TR is the more aggressive of the two dosing methods we use here, but safe if the testing guidelines are followed. Many kitties here are following TR. The reason I am mentioning this is that you have increased too fast and I see a few opportunities for testing were missed. Tests after PMPS in the night cycle are very important. Many kitties go lower at night. We determine how to change dose based on how low a dose takes the cat, hence the need to spot those lows.

In the dosing methods sticky note, you will see that it is recommended that the dose be held for 8-10 cycles when they first see nadirs under 200. You held for 6 cycles, but only had test data for four. I remember how impatient I was when Neko was first diagnosed with diabetes. Patience was not my strong suit, but something that feline diabetes teaches all of us. Regulation will come. Fedya is already showing great progress.

Yes, I definitely see your point here. Patience is certainly not my strong suit and we got worried that something really went wrong. We'll be sure to try and calm down and slow down with the dosing. We also recently changed his diet from Purina Dm to Tiki cat and I'm sure that it contributed to the changed in his BGs. Thank you so much for the advice we'd be completely lost without the help of others on the forum.

 

[Fedya and Izzy]

In addition to everything Bron said -- with which I agree, there's also a phenomenon that we refer to as NDW or "new dose wonkiness." This occurs when you raise the dose and see higher, rather than lower numbers. That's one explanation for what you're seeing.

It also helps to remember that there are any number of factors that can influence your cat's numbers. Any source of stress will have an effect on BG -- it could be a stranger in the house, noise, another animal outside, etc. If Fedya found a piece of carbohydrate to snack on -- and our FD kitties are experts at finding crumbs or stealing something they shouldn't be eating.

Give the dose a bit of time to settle. It looks like you are seeing the numbers come back down in the PM cycle.

Yes we also just changed his diet so that would have an effect on the BGs. Thank you so much for the info. I didn't really consider NDW in my fervor I thought I was doing something incredibly wrong with either the food or the dosing.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

And it looks like you're back in the blues!!!