Suggest Alternative Of Levemir For Diabetes Inspite Of Having Novalog

Posted on Tue, 13 May 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 13 May 2014 Answered on

Mon, 2 Jun 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Yes please - my mom is presently out of levermir - she also takes Novalog - what can I do for her to get her through the night? We have Novalog - she is dosed on sliding scale (usually 28-32 units) for that - at night she gets a 88 unit dose of Levermir.

Answered by Dr. Shehzad Topiwala (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Insulin

Detailed Answer:
When I see someone in a situation like this, I advise the following:

Take Novolog every 2 hours based upon this scale:

150 to 200: 2 units

201 to 250: 4 units

251 to 300: 6 units

301 to 350: 8 units

351 to 400: 10 units

more than 400: 12 units

Please understand this is not formal medical guidance/prescription advice and I am not medico-legally liable in any way.

I am sorry to say this but I am trying to help you. Insulin is a very strong medication and can have dangerous side effects, even life threatening ones. To come even close to a fairly acceptable Novolog dose in such a situation, the doctor needs to be familiar with the patients' insulin needs. Plus the patient needs to be well trained in making educated guesses while deploying a given dose.

Please have her check her glucoses every 2 hours all night long with a monitor and call 911 if the glucoses remain above 250 to 300

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar