Switching from Lantus to Levemir / Joplin

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Cherylockholmes

Cherylockholmes

Member Since 2013
Hi all. It has been several months since I have posted here. Life got completely crazy, with some deaths in the family, hubby taking on a new job travelling most of the week, and a new job myself. I'm barely home, let alone with time to be online! For those of you who remember Joplin, I had him pretty controlled on Lantus for awhile. I also have 6 other cats, and eating only wet food (even though I was feeding them twice a day) was causing such a frenzy that I was barely able to get any sleep. They'd run around screaming all the time for food, and Joplin especially would only let me sleep a few hours a night which just became unacceptable. (the reason Joplin was even diagnosed in the first place was because I brought him to the vet for his excessive meowing at all hours) Anyway, my work was suffering, and I was exhausted. I made the decision to put out dry food at night before going to bed (so they would let me sleep), and feed them canned in the mornings. They're all getting the Hound & Gatos chicken (which is on the approved list), but I realize there are NO dry foods on the approved list. I am currently feeding Orijen chicken. It is free of grain and potato, but obviously not low carb because I have had to steadily increase Joplin's insulin to where he currently at 5 units, and even that is not controlling him. I haven't tested him under 200 in a long time. (my spreadsheet has not been updated, and actually it's broken so I need to start a new one at this point).

I don't know what to do...I am at the end of my rope. Joplin has a vet appt. this afternoon and I was going to talk about switching to Levemir to give it a try (besides Lantus is seriously so expensive, it's ridiculous..especially with how much he's getting at the moment). Anyway, just wanted to update...if we do switch, I am going to have to go back to being vigilant about testing, and I'm prepared to do that as my workload is slowing down a bit with the summer and I'll be around more often, thankfully.

Thanks for listening, and for any advice or suggestions you have to offer. Please don't yell at me for "slacking off" on this. I am doing the best that I can.
 
Levemir costs about the same an Lantus. Get a the psnes with the discount card makes it more affordable. See:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=36964

levemir seems to be more potent than Lantus so I would reduce the Levemir dose to 70% of the Lantus dose to start with
 
Hi Cheryl

I recently switched from Lantus to Levemir because my sugar just wasn't responding well to Lantus anymore. I got five cartridges from a Canadian pharmacy for $173 plus shipping. I did not have a prescription. I could get it cheaper and one cartridge at a time from the same pharmacy except I did not have a prescription. So there are cheaper options. Check out 77CanadaPharmacy.

I remember removing all dry food from all my cats diets and the frenzy that ensued. We got through it though. Now they get a third feeding right before bed-time and that seems to satiate them until morning. I also leave out wet food for them to graze on during the day.

I started Levemir at 1unit (from 1.75u Lantus). Larry is right, Lev is more potent. Also Lev has a later nadir. Alska's went from +6 with Lantus to +7-8 on Levemir.

My spreadsheet also broke and someone suggested I go to it through Firefox instead of Internet Explorer and this fixed the problem.

Don't worry - no one thinks that you are "slacking off" and you shouldn't either. You've had a lot of changes and that is stressful for sure. Hang in there. We are here for you and Joplin.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.
 
Robin, the Canadian Pharmacy, is that for a full vial (10ml0 orr for the pens? I just checked with my pharmacy and the vials are 280, which is actually even higher than lantus. He is completely out of insulin as of this morning so I will probably buy just one pen from the pharmacy with a prescription and then get the vial from this Canadian place im thinking....
 
The Canadian pharmacy had single pens from Turkey that were like $80 or so. I can't remember - I just remember that I had to get the most expensive option because I did not have a prescription but it was still cheaper than going to a pharmacy or Walmart here.

You can check it out at 77CanadaPharmacy.com. Make sure they waive signature when shipping although my post office was negligent and did not leave it at my door so I could rush it into the fridge. I am filing a complaint with the Postal Inspector to have all carriers in my county retrained on how to read their scanners.

I got FIVE cartridges (PENS) - to answer your question. The "pen" is actually just a holder for the cartridges. I did not get the holders, just the cartridges that go in the holder or "pen." I was a little surprised but they are just as easy to use.
 
RobinCot said:
The Canadian pharmacy had single pens from Turkey that were like $80 or so. I can't remember - I just remember that I had to get the most expensive option because I did not have a prescription but it was still cheaper than going to a pharmacy or Walmart here.

You can check it out at 77CanadaPharmacy.com. Make sure they waive signature when shipping although my post office was negligent and did not leave it at my door so I could rush it into the fridge. I am filing a complaint with the Postal Inspector to have all carriers in my county retrained on how to read their scanners.

I got FIVE cartridges (PENS) - to answer your question. The "pen" is actually just a holder for the cartridges. I did not get the holders, just the cartridges that go in the holder or "pen." I was a little surprised but they are just as easy to use.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's a pretty good deal. I just called Walmart and they said for 5 pens it's well over $300. Actually, just did the math. Walmart quoted a vial which is 10ml at $262. This Canadian pharmacy has the 5 pens (3ml's each, so 15 ml) for $173!! So for a 10ml vial, that's a difference of $147!! Holy moly!!
 
We switched from Lantus to Levemir back in September. The recommended starting dosing when you switch is 70% of what you dosing for the other insulin. Some cats respond quickly to the change, some don't. ECID. Levemir is not necessarily more potent. Neko ended up at about the same dose as she was on Lantus but her cycles are flatter now. Good luck with the switch if you do decide to change.

FWIW - Levemir in Canada is around $120 for 5 cartridges.
 
There is a low carb food, Young Again. You can google it and ask for samples. They just sent me some. I didn't look at the price list but heard it is pricey. The company says they won't eat as much as they do with other foods.
 
Ok, so I got the Levemir Flexpen, just one to hold me over until I get the 10ml vial from Canada. However, the pen only lets you inject full units...there are no half, quarter units, etc. How do I handle that? I started him on 3. So far after a couple days, no real difference in the numbers. I ordered that YoungAgain food (thanks for that recommendation). I'm hoping once he's on that I'll see a difference.
 
I've never used a pen BUT you use it just like it were a vial. You break off part and then use a syringe to get the insulin and shoot. I was given a few pens to try when my vial needs to be changed but haven't looked at them. I'm sure there are videos on You Tube that demonstrate this. Good luck with the change. Max has been on lantus since mid November with a December break and he is still not regulated so I toy with a switch as well.
 
Remove the needle tip and push a syringe into the rubber bottom. I have never had the needle tips on my pens so I don't exactly know how to remove them but you will see the rubber cushion.
 
Oh duh. Guess I didn't need to buy the needles (at over $40 a box :o ) Oh well, guess I can use them while he's on whole numbers, and then just use needles when I need to adjust.
 
I've heard the needles aren't as consistent as the syringes - as they don't need to be for humans.
 
Nope. This
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/conten ... 7.full.pdf
says
C O N C L U S I O N S — Pen devices are more accurate than insulin syringes in measuring out
insulin at low insulin doses. The accuracy of insulin syringes improves when higher doses of
regular insulin are measured out and becomes comparable to pen devices.

Wendy&Neko said:
I've heard the needles aren't as consistent as the syringes - as they don't need to be for humans.
Click to expand...
 
I have the pen cartages and I use the syringes I have no problem doing 1u to .5 just have to practice ...good luck with your baby but just saying dry food of any kind is crack to my Trey so If I am going to be away I leave wet food our sometimes I freeze it and put it out that way they eat it slower.....Sad but I have 4 other cats and 3 love their dry so when they get their crack Trey gets his wet......Healing green light to all furry ones get back to that blue and move on to the green I know you can do it Kath ~O) :YMSIGH:
 
tiffmaxee said:
Don't you think that neither pens or needles are as accuraate as we need them to be?
Click to expand...
True that. The key is consistency. When Mikey is having fluctuating numbers or going through a dose change, I bring out my calipers to make sure I'm giving as close to the same dose every time.

I'm another Lantus-to-Levemir switcher and the difference with us has been significant. You can check out Mikey's spreadsheet in my signature as proof: he went from ~2-3u on Lantus for the last year and a half with lots of side effects and constant bouncing to 1.5u of Levemir and much flatter curves. Plus, his attitude is SO much better! :-D

I use the Levemir Flexpen discount card at my local Walmart and buy each pen for $25 (good for up to two years).
 
KPassa said:
tiffmaxee said:
Don't you think that neither pens or needles are as accuraate as we need them to be?
Click to expand...
True that. The key is consistency. When Mikey is having fluctuating numbers or going through a dose change, I bring out my calipers to make sure I'm giving as close to the same dose every time.

I'm another Lantus-to-Levemir switcher and the difference with us has been significant. You can check out Mikey's spreadsheet in my signature as proof: he went from ~2-3u on Lantus for the last year and a half with lots of side effects and constant bouncing to 1.5u of Levemir and much flatter curves. Plus, his attitude is SO much better! :-D

I use the Levemir Flexpen discount card at my local Walmart and buy each pen for $25 (good for up to two years).
Click to expand...

OMG, thank you!! What an amazing savings that is!!!!
 
Well, CVS Pharmacy has just declined the use of the Levemir Flexpen discount card. I was getting each pen for $25, now it's $94....not do-able for me. Is anyone still having success using this card, and if so, at which pharmacies? Or does anyone know of any other discount cards for the Levemir? Thanks!
 
Yep, that happened to me, too at the beginning of the year. The pharmacist told me that because of Obamacare ("Covered California" here), no one should NOT have insurance anymore so no one qualifies for the "uninsured discount."

My next order is going to be from Canada. I think it comes out to about $35 a pen. $10 more than we were paying but a heck of a lot less than the ~$90 if you bought it in the US.
 
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