Differences between Lantus and Levemir

[Mom2Deacon]

What are the differences between Lantus and Levemir? Does one work better than the other?

--Sara

[payam7777777]

afaik levemir is better in terms of not having a peak and in some other ways too. but lantus is just fine or fine enough.


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[Nancy in VA]

What are the differences between Lantus and Levemir? Does one work better than the other?

--Sara


I think the biggest difference is 12 hour effectiveness vs. 24 hour effectiveness.

[payam7777777]

I think the biggest difference is 12 hour effectiveness vs. 24 hour effectiveness.
they both have a 24 hr effectiveness.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

I thought they were basically the same thing, just didn't 'brands' like novalog and humalog.. they may act a little different in some people but basically the same thing..

[Heather(CA)]

What are the differences between Lantus and Levemir? Does one work better than the other?

--Sara

I don't know too much about Levemir, I don't think it last as long as Lantus. So I think it might be given in 2 doses? Sometimes 1 dose. It would probably be a good choice for those kids (20%) in which Lantus peaks. YDMV, Lantus does NOT peak in Seth and it last MORE than 24 hours...I wouldn't give it up for anything, unless it stopped doing what it does now of coarse;). I could be wrong, but I think it really helps the slow absorbtion when given in the bootie. Seth has stayed within 10 points LOTS of times all night:D

[Mom2Deacon]

I am wondering if Deacon needs to be changed to Levemir since he has consistent lows in the morning. Or possibly his Lantus being split into 2 doses. I am still waiting for the doctor to call me about Deacon's recent numbers. I did up Deacon's Lantus last night and have had him in a better range than I have had in days. He was low this morning though.

--Sara

[Hollyb]

Hi,

Aaron was on Levemir and it did give him 24-hour coverage but he was still had a bit of honeymoon going on at the time. Apparently it fairly often lags after 20 hours or so and in those cases works better as a split dose. (Though if you give it at bedtime, you can also compensate for the lag by upping the dinner bolus).

The profile is even flatter than Lantus and -- a nice advantage for some kids who complain of stinging with a big Lantus injection -- it doesn't sting.

[heather]

My son was on Lantus, given in one dose nightly at dinner time. However, he had big drops at night--he'd have to be around 250 at his 10:30 p.m. check, or else he'd go low by 6:30 the next morning.

I switched the Lantus to a morning shot, but it didn't work fast enough to cover Mark's big post-breakfast spike (he would spike up to high 300s/low 400s by lunch). Tried NPH to cover that for a while, but then he went low after lunch.

He also said the Lantus stung, and would cry when I gave him the shot. (Which broke my heart and made me feel like the meanest mom in the world every time I gave it to him!)

So I switched over to Levemir. It doesn't sting Mark at all. It works much faster (sometimes TOO fast!), but doesn't last the full 24 hours.

I tried once dose at dinner, per the endo's suggestion, but then Mark went low a few hours after dinner, and I was up all night feeding him carbs.

I switched it to one morning shot, and he was going low by lunch, and waking up really high the next morning.

Now I'm back to giving him half-doses at breakfast and at dinner. Works MUCH better for us than a single does, Lantus alone, or the Lantus/NPH combo, and it doesn't sting.

(That was a long way around saying I like Levemir better than Lantus! :))

[Mom2Deacon]

Is levemir easier to give in 2 half doses than giving Lantus in 2 half doses? Does anyone here do 2 half doses of Lantus? How did you switch to doing that?

--Sara

[tuckerk]

Caitlin was on Levemir for about 1 month. It did not give her nearly as good of coverage as the Lantus did. (Needless to say we switched back to Lantus). Her mornibng BS were over 300 most times (even w/o a bedtime snack).

Levemir in small doses have to be given twice daily to cover a 24 hour period.

It was already hard enough to give Caitie her 4 shots daily. I could'nt bear to add any extra. we switched back to Lantus and her BS were better within 2 days.

[LantusFiend]

The greatest thing about levemir as compared to lantus, imho, is that lantus stings and levemir doesn't.

[Amy C.]

My son was on 2 doses of Lantus -- but it wasn't 50/50 split.

I started with the recommendations from the 10th edition of the Understanding Diabetes from the Barbara Davis Center (aka, the Pink Panther book): 25% is given in the am and 75% in the pm. Philip was getting his shot in the evening. I just gave him less one evening, made a correction in the middle of the night, and started the new shot of Lantus in the morning.

Please note that the 11th edition of the Pink Panther book does not seem to have this recommendation. I couldn't find the text online, but am looking at the text in my hard copy of the 10th edition. They may have moved the split dose to another page in the 11th edition.

In the end, it worked better for Philip to get the evening shot at 10 and the morning shot at 7, but you have to experiment to determine what time is the best for your child.

[heather]

For me, giving Levemir in half doses is easier than giving Lantus. With Lantus, I used a pen, so Mark got an extra shot a day (1 Lantus shot + his Novolog shots).

I give Mark the Levemir in a syringe, mixed with his breakfast or dinner Novolog dose. His doses aren't split 50/50--he gets 3 units in the morning (because he spikes so high between breakfast and lunch) and 2 1/2 units at dinner.

As for both Lantus and Levemir being effective for 24 hours...well, with my son, I found that's not the case. Lantus worked for 24 hours, but the Levemir doesn't, whch is why I split the doses. (Of course, every kid's different!)

[Tortiz]

I think if he is waking up with lows first what are his average bedtime numbers and then tweek the lantus number lower his dosage by 1 unit less and then when you reach that number that you are comfortable meaning his am numbers then continue with that lantus dosage.