When you have diabetes, every decision you make is colored by your condition. How much insulin should you bring on your next overnight trip? Will there be time to get a snack or take insulin between your appointments? At Simplefill, we understand the hard choices you make every day when you’re managing your diabetes.
If you or someone you love is living with diabetes, it’s critical for you to have the right diabetes medication, like Lantus, by your side when you need it. Unfortunately, it’s becoming harder and harder for millions of Americans to afford the medications they desperately need. Whether it’s the Medicare donut hole or the increasing costs of insurance, it can be a real challenge to cover the costs of medications like Lantus insulin treatment when you have to pay out-of-pocket. If you or a loved one has diabetes and needs diabetes prescription assistance, including Lantus prescription treatment, continue reading to learn more about how Simplefill can help.
How insulin works in your body
Insulin is a master hormone that helps turn glucose (sugar) into energy. Created in the pancreas, insulin helps shuttle glucose to your cells as well as your muscles and liver. When you eat, your blood sugar typically rises. It’s this rise in blood sugar (glucose) that triggers the pancreas to produce and release insulin into your bloodstream. When you have inadequate levels of insulin, sugar can’t get to where it needs to go. It stays in your bloodstream too long, which raises your blood sugar levels. Furthermore, depending on what type of diabetes you have, you can either produce too much or too little insulin.
Insulin comes in several forms, depending on your body’s need
In the treatment of diabetes, choosing the right kind of insulin is important because everyone’s body acts differently. Insulin is available in several forms that are either slow or rapid acting, depending on a patient’s needs.
Doctors must consider several factors when determining the right diabetes treatment for each patient. These include age, lifestyle habits, how often blood sugar needs to be checked, and the ability to handle injections. At this point, your doctor will decide on the appropriate insulin medication as well as the appropriate speed of onset.
Rapid acting insulin should be taken at mealtime to help manage the spikes in blood sugar that happen when you eat. It begins lowering blood glucose after about 15 minutes, and peaks 30 to 90 minutes post injection. You can count on it to last between three to five hours. Popular rapid acting insulin medications include Novolog, Humalog, and Apidra.
Short acting insulin lasts through meals and gives you some flexibility around mealtime. It begins to act roughly 30 minutes after the injection. It’ll peak within two to three hours, and lasts between three to six hours, on average.
Intermediate acting insulin acts to manage your glucose levels when they fluctuate overnight. It begins acting within two to four hours after your injection, and lasts from 12 to 18 hours, typically.
Long acting insulin is quite different from other forms of insulin. It takes about an hour to reach your bloodstream, and has no peak time. As a powerful medicine for diabetes, it keeps your blood glucose levels balanced for up to 24 hours.
What is Lantus?
Lantus is a long acting form of insulin that gives you a slow-and-steady release of insulin over time. It’s an analogue insulin created by Sanofi-Aventis, and has the medical name insulin glargine. It’s prescribed for all forms of diabetes, however, it’s most commonly used with people who have type 1 diabetes. Lantus can be prescribed for people who have type 2 diabetes where oral hypoglycemic methods haven’t been totally effective. You only need to take it once daily, and it should be injected each day at around the same time
Lantus insulin assistance from Simplefill.
At Simplefill, we make prescription assistance easier by utilizing the available programs from pharmaceutical companies and applying on behalf of our patients. We know how hard it is to get help with prescriptions, especially when you really need it. That’s why our friendly team of advocates will review your application individually, submit forms, perform grant writing, and even contact your doctor when needed. We’ll work with you every step of the way so you can spend more time living your life, and less time managing the costs of your health care.
If you or someone you love needs help paying for medication, apply today and let Simplefill take some of the stress out of living with diabetes.