Need help w/Lantus

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joyous1980

joyous1980

Member Since 2010
Hi I have a cat, Peanut, who was diagnosed with diabetes last year. It was difficult trying to get him regulated but after switching him off wet food and being on lantus for about 4 mos, he went into remission. I has just came back about 2 mos ago and we have been giving him Prozinc twice a day, current dose is 5 units, we are still adjusting.
However after realizing how much insulin of Prozinc he would need and the cost per month, I have decided to go back to Lantus. I have a few questions I have tho. The first being are they many on here that are regulated on lantus with only giving one shot a day. The reason I ask is last year, the vet and I tried to do so and we had to bump it to twice a day. My concern is that my new vet wants to do twice a day right away, I'm wondering if this could be dangerous? Fyi his numbers typically have been from 300-400 with the current dosing of insulin, we are doing another curve on Sunday. Im not even sure if we should use up the Prozinc since I am switching him, any advice? Also will I have to wait a few days before switching to let the Prozinc out?
My second question is the lantus options, I know I dont want to get the vial again as it expires before we get much use from it. So I've heard bits of cartridges and pens and opticlicks and solostars, lol and unsure which is easiest to pull the insulin thru with a u-100 needle? Is this even possible? Does anyone have any good photos or links with these?
I have also read that many people here order from a canadian pharmacy, so I am wondering which one is most recommended. I have seen that the US wants $250 for 5 cartridges and Canada is only at $150.
Thanks for you help!!
 
Good Afternoon!

So sorry that Peanut is back from the falls (remission), but you are in the right place! Most folks here dose twice per day. Cats metabolize Lantus in 12 hours, so if you only shoot once daily, you cat is essentially unregulated for half the day. Add in the concept of the "shed" (which is explained in the stickies) and you quickly are spending a LOT of money to essentially give your cat no insulin. It is definitely not advised!

We can show you how to dose very small amounts... you may end up going with 1/2 unit twice per day rather than one unit once a day, and that will work. Others here can get more info and provide suggestions for a starting dose for you.

The lantus cartridges are being phased out and will not be available starting next month. I just started my first solostar pen and it is very easy to use. You do not need the needles to go with it, but rather you will use a u100 insulin syringe to draw the insulin out. Others have pics and even a you-tube video that will show you exactly how. It is super easy.

I don't have experience with Canadian pharmacies. I get Willie's lantus from costco where the pharmacist will let us buy it one pen at a time, with each pen costing $41. You don't need a membership to use the pharmacy at Costco. Also, outpatient pharmacies at hospitals may allow you to purchase one pen at a time.

I hope that helps, and I'm sure others will be along soon to fill in the blanks! I look forward to learning more about you and Peanut!!
 
I do recommend the pens as they end up lasting longer and saving money. I switched to them after tossing 80% of my first vial. They are just as easy to draw from as the vial.

Folks here can help you with ordering from Canada, but if you decide to go locally, the Lantus site has a $25 coupon for filling your first solostar prescription, and you can save another $25 if you have a AAA card. I just bought a 5 pack from Walmart for $175 when the regular price was $222.

Good Luck,

Jason
 
Thx everyone so far...
Still hoping someone will be able to help me with ordering from Canada, I want to use a well known pharmacy with a good reputation.
Also anyone have advice about the process of switching insulins??
 
Welcome to LL!

Christie has already given you good info about shooting twice a day, so I won't repeat it. As far as dose goes, we would need more info about Peanut before suggesting a starting dose, such as his ideal weight and is he is underweight? Does he have any other medical conditions, or history of other medical conditions? Does he have a history of ketones, and are you testing for ketones? Since he is already on another insulin, we could take his dose on ProZinc into account, but we would need to see a few weeks of data to do that. Are you hometesting?

I don't see a spreadsheet attached to your signature...it isn't absolutely necessary to have one, but it does make it much easier for us to help you. You could put any ProZinc data you have on the SS too. Here's the link for creating a SS. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207

As far as if you want to use up the ProZinc before you switch, that's really up to you. You do not need to take a break, most people just shoot Lantus 12 hours after the last ProZinc shot. I used ProZinc before I switched to Lantus, I did not skip any shots.

I use the SoloStar pens. It is less expensive in the long run to use the pens than the vials. Cartridges are being discontinued, as Christie said, so I would get a prescription for pens instead. Do not get the pen needles, you will use 0.3cc u100 syringes with 1/2 unit markings to draw the insulin. You use the pen like a small vial. There are pictures in the Handling and Storage sticky. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151#p873 I just received an box of pens that I ordered from PharmacyRxWorld...it was $95 with free shipping...much less expensive than US pharmacies. There is a thread in the Supply Closet that has information on Canadian pharmacies. I posted my info there. I have not yet used my new pens, so I can't give you feedback on the insulin, but I was happy with the service. viewtopic.php?f=15&t=11530
 
i'm definitely not an expert, but my cat switched a couple of weeks ago from prozinc to lantus. he was getting 4 units twice a day of the prozinc and the vet had us drop to 2 units twice a day. i don't recall any gap at all, i think we continued giving 2 shots a day and one was prozinc and the next started the lantus. that was Feb 12. he was going to the vet's for testing every couple of days at that time - his numbers stayed high (in that once every couple of days test) and 3 days later the vet raised it to 3. when i got here 2 days later i learned that you want to stay on a dose for several days to let the body settle onto that dose.

This website (which is linked here somewhere on FDMB) has the info from the actual study done on cats using lantus. i thought it was helpful - sure answered a lot of my questions.

http://www.tillydiabetes.net/en_6_protocol2.htm
 
thanks so much Laurie, providing me those links really helped! I havent been able to explore much on this website yet to find everything, so that was perfect :)
Thanks everyone else for the feedback. Peanuts numbers will be posted on ss probably this weekend, and as for his weight....he is definently not underweight lol. He weighs in at about 25 lbs, and as for the ketones the vet did check and none were found thankfully.
 
Your vet should be able to tell you...it's not crucial if you don't know, don't worry about it. It's just what would be a good weight for him, not underweight, not overweight.
 
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