NEWBIE KHAN: Humulin N to Lantus

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pepperthecat1969

pepperthecat1969

Member Since 2010
Hello Lantusland! I have been posting in the general health blog and now will be switching Khan from Humulin N to Lantus.

I will read up on the webpage on lowest cost in buying Lantus. I want the flexpen since it seems to be the most reasonable for cost in the long run.

I have an appt with the vet at 530pm today. The vet believes Khan may have a bladder infection.
I will be attaching a BG spreadsheet sometime today.

Positives for today: Khan's Ketones were tested at 430am (can you believe that is when he deciedes to wake me up and eat and pee?!) well stuck the ketone stick right into his urine stream and NOTHING changed on the stick. So YEAH!! I will recheck again next week unless someone here has a better recommendation.

My vet is willing to work with me closely via email and occasional vet visits. I am very happy about this. I have 5 cats (4 are senior).
CATS:
Briquette (18yrs old-we call her grandma-has renal issues-doing well),
Wisp (13yr old female with breast cancer- and today I BELIEVE has a anal gland blow out-yuck!- and OUCH to the pocketbook.. I must look at it again since I can't afford to get insulin and two vet visits & if blown out then surgery-I will discuss w/VET today-he allows payments -which is so awesome!!),
Wisp's two sons (11 yrs old): Pepper (Urinary crystal issues) & Khan (DIABETIC I will be discussing on this board) and Gracie (7 yr old female-no issues --just LOVES KHAN).

I'm looking forward to seeing Khan's numbers go down and get into a pattern.

I will post later today.
 
WElcome to lantus land--Moonie was on N also, but we switched & she got much better!
Please read the Stickys at the top of the lantus page, they are loaded with info--
Are you home testing, as the blood tests you give at home as essential? Also, you will be monitoring yourself & that alone cuts vet bills--
I got the pens at canadadrugsonline.com for $128, which is dirt cheap--Also costco & those places have them,bu not as cheap, and canada is through the mail--I have about another 1000 things to tell you, but I gotta go back to work!
Others will be on to help & someone is on here 24/7 to help you!--Khan will flourish here & get better & better!
Welcome to LL! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
Hi

And welcome to LantusLand!

You will find a ton of super helpful bean here. We, Atlas & Blue, just switched to lantus a few days ago. I hope you have a smooth transition!
 
Thks for the idea for canada pharmcy online. I could realy use the cost savings. I don't know what is going on but it seems when one cat gets sick they all do. It is so frustrating. Just glad to know there r people here to help guide me.
Vet said khans heart sounds good bladder same size as before and vet trusts the ketone strips. It helped I brought those since he wantd to confirm which strips I used. Vet was awesome. Very patient and understandg.he knows I like studies to back up a medical approach however I'm beginning to be more open minded.he gave me two studies regardg lantus dosing. One referenced: acvim 2005 dr jacque rand queensland australia which helped us discuss dosing compared to human dosing. I am just fasinated by all this. I believe I will adopted diabetics cats from now on!my hands r full now but in the far future.
 
I won't switch khan until saturday am since I won't be here during the day until then. I will try to get from online pharmacy. Cheapest I found in my area was sams club for 200. Walgreens was $248!
 
The Queensland article BY Dr Rand article is our Mantra here!! I think I love your vet!! Also look up Tilly Protocol in the stickys!!
Great start her-- Again, are you BG testing? --You are doing well for your first day!--
Post any numbers you get from the BG tests--Vet will tell you to urine test which I did for 11 mths, it will give you the cat's glucose reading, but by urine, which has been in the bladder for 3-5 hrs..so it's not accurate up to the minute, Yet it is helpful to see if Kahn is spilling glucose into his urine__ BG testing on the edge of the ear is much more accurate--But That's for tomorrow-OK?
Lantus is given every 12 hours, and the starting dose here is usually 1.00 unit..
Read & ask questions--That's how you learn--Have a good night!! Hugs!
 
It took me 4 years to muster up the courage to switch...plus Savannah had some recent focal seizures, not from hypo but possibly from the roller coaster ride she was experiencing w/ N.
We just switched in July and (knock on wood) her spread sheet is looking pretty good these days.
Lantus is a lot more expensive, but CVS will give you a discount if you have a AAA card, I saved about $50 b/c I had one. I wonder if Walgreens or whole sale places will do the same.
Good luck!
 
Lantus is a lot more expensive, but CVS will give you a discount if you have a AAA card, I saved about $50 b/c I had one. I wonder if Walgreens or whole sale places will do the same.
Good luck!
Click to expand...

Hi Pepperthecat,
Good luck with switching Khan to Lantus insulin. It is great your Vet will work with you via E-mail and Vet visits. My Vet also worked with me via E-mail, but I got all my help from LL, and he supported however I was dosing. Maggie did great on Lantus and is now in remission. I could not have done it without all the excellent help from the LL.

Hi DD & Savannah,
That is good to know about the Lantus and discount with the AAA card at CVS. Is this the Auto Club card?
 
flip_cat flip_cat Glad to see you are switching to Lantus! It took me 7 months to switch Spot from N to Lev and if you look at his ss you can see how much better that insulin is. Lev and Lantus are about the same (some difference, but both are long lasthing 12 hour insulins). Good luck and welcome to LL!!!
 
It takes about 10 days to get a shipment from a Canadian, on-line pharmacy. I don't know how well that will work with your plan to start Lantus over the weekend.

You might want to work on getting a spreadshseet up and attached to your signature. Likewise, including a Profile will be helpful since we can look at that rather than asking you the same questions, over and over and over again.

If you can start tracking Khan's numbers while on N, that data is also useful.

Did you speak to your vet about a starting dose on Lantus? You'll see from the protocols, that one way to determine starting dose is based on Khan's ideal weight: initial dose = 0.25 x kilograms ideal weight. However, since Khan is already on insulin, his dose on N should be taken into consideration.
 
Perhaps you can find a single Lantus pen somewhere...others may be able to suggest where you can buy a single pen so that you will have it while waiting for your prescription from Canada.....your vet can fax the prescription to the Canada drug company to save time too.
 
Yes I know about the spreadsheet. I just have been swamped. NOW my other cats are showing signs of not feeling well. I guess that is what happens in a senior cat household.

In regards to the canada pharmacy -how much is shipping do you know? otherwise I'll look it up. The cost here is $200 for 5 pens, with canada pharmacy I would save $75 soo I can ask the vet to fax in the rx to the canada pharmacy but if I can't get the insulin for 10 days it won't be very good for Khan.. however he has been switched to 3.5u twice a day. He FINALLY began grooming himself today. Last night he was actually purring.. not sure if that is a good or bad.
 
Yes triple A is the auto club card, now I ask many places if they give a AAA discount, I'm always surprised at how often I can get one b/c of the card.
 
Thank you everyone for the excellent information.

Starting dose for Khan- recommended less than 2u and Vet did show me where he calculated this from- same as what was stated in this blog.
The issue I'm having right now is cost. Mortgage company took my payment early which wiped out my account! Not happy but I'm going to try and get ONE pen from Sams by asking about price matching to the Canadan pharmacy pricing. I'm watching Craig's list for anyone in my area that is selling but so far nothing. I do have quite a bit of the Humulin N left however for Khan's health I want to switch to Lantus as soon as possible.

it was stated most start at 1u of Lantus correct? I'm interested in reviewing others spreadsheets to see if there is any similarities to what Khan has gone through. I will get my spreadsheet done this weekend. I've been home testing now for over a week. 3.5u of Humulin N is finally showing Khan is feeling somewhat better. He wiggles more when I try to get the blood sample, he is eating more and is grooming himself. HIs activity level has gone up. I feel so positive he is on his way to getting better! :)
 
I switched DC from Humulin N to Lantus in August.
I started him at 2U of Lantus. DC has been diabetic for almost 3 years.
He has been doing much better on the Lantus, not as much bouncing.
Good luck with the switch. I'm sure you'll like the Lantus much better.
 
I would also call around to local hospitals that have outpatient pharmacies. They will often sell a single pen. That will easily hold you over until you get a shipment from Canada. The hospitals will break apart the boxes of pens to use for their hospitalized patients so they are often willing to sell a single pens through their pharmacy.
 
Thku I will try rt now I'm at a hospital rt now. I bought a target bg meter for $9 and 25 strips for 20. I was impressed! Does take a bit more blood but I'm saving $.
 
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