Glucophage!

[dede2fun2003]

I have been a diabetic for almost 20 years. Started out with just pills, got pregnant and had to go on insulin, then after I gave birth, 17 years ago, I am still on insulin. At times my levels are all over the place, and the doctors have tried so many things, but at times it may be me not following my diet. I take 60 units of Lantus at night and then a sliding scale of Humalog during the day, but still no control. Now my doctor started me on Glucophage, 500 mg., and I have noticed that my sugars have started to get a little better. My fastings use to be over 200, now they are under 150, which is very good. But my problem is in the evening hours, not matter what I eat, and no matter if I don't eat at all, my sugars are always high, so I have to increase my insulin during the evening. But one question I have for you guys, my doctor said that she is starting me on the smallest dosage of Glucophage, and then we'll increase if we have too, but when I take the Glucophage after about an hour I always get sick to my stomach for about 2 hours and then I feel better, has anyone had that problem too? And if someone out there is taking Glucophage, what experiences have you guys had. Thanks (dede)

[Wallis86]

What time do you usually take your Lantus at night? It's possible you are running out of Lantus earlier than 24 hours, making it so you don't have a basal insulin in your system until you take another dose of Lantus. Speak to your doctor about when you should take your Lantus in order to prevent the gap.

[dede2fun2003]

Originally Posted by Wallis86

What time do you usually take your Lantus at night? It's possible you are running out of Lantus earlier than 24 hours, making it so you don't have a basal insulin in your system until you take another dose of Lantus. Speak to your doctor about when you should take your Lantus in order to prevent the gap.

You know what I have never thought about that one, and I surely will talk to my doctor about that one, I would have never thought about that. She told me to take the Lantus before bed, and I'm a late nighter, so I will take it about 12 or 1am, my fastings are always fine, better than fine. During the day I'm cool, but around 7pm every night, no matter if I eat or not, my levels go up high. Today the last time I ate was about 3pm, I then went out somewhere, when I returned home about 8pm, hadn't eat at all, and my number was 303!! I just can't figure this one out. One! HELP!

[SamQKitty]

Good catch, Wallis!

Dede, I think he hit the nail on the head. Lantus does not last a full 24 hours for many people. Since you take it at night, and you're going high about 5 hours before you're due to take it again, this is probably the problem.

You may need to split your lantus dose in half, and take half when you usually take it (midnight?) and the other half around 12 hours later. You can fudge on the 12 hours a bit...could be 9 0r 10 hours, but work out the two shots so they're fairly convenient for you and you don't forget one.

It wouldn't suprise me if, after you split the dose of lantus, you won't need the glucophage at all.

Ruth