Insurance forced me transition from Lantus to Levemir in February, and I haven't seen any difference in effectiveness. I am only taking one injection before bed, and it's worked just as well as Lantus in keeping my morning numbers in range. The biggest difference I noticed was that Lantus would burn every time I injected and Levemir does not.
My insurance company pushed me to make that exact switch a few years ago, and I'm pretty happy with it.
Biggest difference is that Levimir release cycles last around half as long as Lantus, which makes for 2 basal shots a day, and it's a little easier to accidentally overlap doses. For example, I try to get my shots at 7am and 10pm, but that creates a 3-hour overlap and gap on either end.
Getting the dosage right makes it easy to work around, but it's only as good as the consistency in your schedule. With Lantus, I focused on getting to sleep around the same time every night, but now I have to also focus on waking up early on the weekends too.
The other thing I liked about the switch was being able to use a flex pen instead of a vial. Not sure if Lantus comes in pens now, but that was a big benefit when I switched. No more syringes, just flexpen needles for everything.
Hi,
I have not used lantus, but I do use levemir. Both are medium acting basal insulins. Levemir works best injected twice a day. I inject just before going to bed (22 units), and when I wake up in the morning (8 units). As you can see, I don't use the same dose morning and evening, as I find I need more basal insulin at night when I am inactive, than during the day when I am active.
You will need to adjust your dosage based on your target blood sugar levels.
Another new basal insulin is tresiba. This is a long acting basal insulin and is only injected once a day. Many people find it gives more stable blood sugars than some of the other basal insulins. You may wish to ask your Dr about this insulin.