A Word About Lantus Insulin

I am still on Lantus insulin and am happy to report that my numbers are better than they were while on the pump. I believe the reasons are due to problems with scar tissue as well as the notorious bent cannula problem I endured for far too long. I did get Animas to send me 2 samples of the Comfort sets, they did better for me than the insets did. The comforts have no injector and you insert them under the skin manually. I was surprised at how painless it was. That needle is very long and when I first looked at it I just cringed! I am a thin person and maybe that is the reason I tend to have so many problems with bent cannulas. I have heard of the Sure-T sets but have yet to try them. It was a little like getting blood out of a turnip for Animas to send the 2 Comfort set samples to me and I got more than a little irritated at that. They wanted to know if I wanted to exchange the rest of my insets for the comfort sets and I told them that first I need to try out the comforts and then I would let them know. A reader here suggested that I might try the orbit90 or orbit micro sets and before I give up altogether on pumping, I intend on taking his advice and giving them a try. My Lantus dose is now 12 units in the morning. I found that I am one of those who can get the full 24 hours out of Lantus so that's a very good thing. Apidra is doing well for me but boy does it go to work FAST! I've found that I have to eat and wait around 15 minutes before I  inject the Apidra. Maybe my digestion is sluggish, not so sure but it seems that way at times. 

Dawn Phenomenon or Symogyi Effect?

This entire week my numbers have been really high, especially in the morning. I'm trying to come up with a solution but truly I'm just so tired.. Tired of testing, tired of seeing high numbers when I'm doing everything right. Tired of running out of test strips all the time. I am currently taking 12 units of Lantus at 9:00 in the morning as my basal. I take Apidra for my boluses. My last doctor appointment she mention that I could be suffering from the Symogyi effect. I don't know much about it but in the a.m my numbers are so high it's unbelievable. If I get it right, I go low at night and these high morning numbers I wake with are rebound from unknown lows during the night. OR is it because I'm not taking enough insulin at night and therefore my numbers are skyrocketing as a result? I so don't want to stay up all night and morning testing but this is what I am facing. This morning at midnight I woke and was at 299. I took 2 units of Apidra and went back to bed. At 2:00 I woke and I was at 289! It was as if I hadn't even taken insulin 2 hrs previous. I took 2 more units and woke again at 5:00 a.m and was at 250! So what am I to make of these crazy numbers folks :( And to add to this, if I snack lightly at night before bedtime, say taking in 15 grams of carbs, my numbers are up into the stratosphere as well. 

Off the Insulin Pump and back on M.D.I

It all started around 4 weeks ago. I had been noticing that my numbers were totally out of control. Sky high glucose readings and no apparent reason for it. There had been 2 or 3 times in the past couple weeks previous in which I went to change my infusion set out and noticed that I had a bent cannula. This would explain my high numbers. I put in another set. But 2 weeks ago one day it happened to me again and I finally decided after giving myself plenty of correction boluses that it must be another bent cannula and sure enough it was. Well I put in another set and called my endo. I let him know that I was not going to be using my pump until I get in touch with Animas and let them know that I may have been sent a bad batch of sets. So the endo prescribed Lantus for my basal insulin and I would go ahead and use my Apidra insulin for my boluses and corrections. I was totally amazed at how well I did on the Lantus from the first day! I started out on 12 units even though my Endo suggested 15 units per day. I was NOT wanting to go through nightime lows so I started at 12 and adjust upward if needed. Twelve units was just right and seems to keep my numbers around 110- 114  on a regular basis. I tried to get in touch with Animas's support line to have them send me some more infusion sets but after an entire day of being on hold for well over 15 minutes each and every time I called them I finally gave up and decided to try them at another time. Injections don't bother me much, especially since I've been on the pump for so long. It's a strange feeling not being hooked up to something all day long. When I change clothes I am still thinking I have to avoid the site so I don't pull it out. Yesterday I went shopping and forgot to take any insulin with me so I had to come home earlier than I had wanted to. With my pump I don't have that problem :)