Uh oh… I took 16 units of the long acting Toujeo at around 9:30 am, and then 9 hours later, my brain misfired and I took another 16. It’s now 6:00 pm. I don’t know how or why but what can I expect? I don’t have insurance till Feb, so hospital is out of the question. Can I ride it out?
I’m relying on a blood glucose meter since my freestyle libre 3 wasn’t covered.
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@arnolfo,
You are going to have to feed that basal for the next day.
You need to take some slow long-lasting carbs before bed too. You need to run your blood glucose higher than you would normally before bed.
Do you have a glucagon injection available for an emergency? Do you have anyone there to help you?
I suggest having a ready supply of food at all times. Graze on the food. Just keep feeding the basal.
Don’t worry if your blood sugar is high for the next day or so, just get through it.
And the most important time is before you go to bed. Eat something before you go to bed!
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Thanks for the response. I’ve been scouring the internet as I awaited a reply. Sounds like I will be able to manage this by following your sound advice. I won’t have an issue grazing as I am always feeling hungry. I find it hard not to eat and luckily never gain the weight.
The Toujeo should be out of my system by 6pm tomorrow, then I can take a half dose till the next morning.
I should have an emergency kit but sadly those are always out of reach at $300 each. My family is kinda tired of my issues.
Thanks again for the response.
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I can send you one if you want.
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Send me one? That’s very generous, Eric. But I can’t take your emergency kit.
Like many out there, I’ve so far been lucky to get by without. 38 was my lowest (er visit), and last summer I dropped to 44. That was pretty scary as it took me a good 45 mins to get back to 90. Then only half that time to fly to 350. Horrible night at home that was.
Thanks for the offer though. I appreciate your concern.
I’m gonna get some food in me before I crash on the couch. It’s closer to the kitchen than bed so I won’t be disrupting anyone if I go low later in the a.m. Plus I don’t sleep well on the couch so I’ll be awake to test.
So far I’m stable - had a trail bar and now at 180 bg. Just gotta push through this…
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Just a reminder, glucose is fastest, table sugar in water is also pretty fast, but foods that need digestion (cookies, cake, chocolate,… ) are slower that that. And when something really slow and long-lasting is needed, as in your current state, peanut butter is a traditional choice.
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How are you doing this morning?
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I woke with a low. 68. Man was I hungry too. Almost had trouble figuring out what to eat. Grabbed a few rolls of smartees, coffee then slowly made some toast.
Still, hard to understand how I dosed my touejo at 6pm.
Back to normal today. Thanks for checking.
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It would be good to think of a way to avoid doing this again.
If you always use a new needle for your Toujeo pen (assuming you use a pen and not a vial), you can get a large daily pill reminder (the kind that has the days of the week on it), and put a needle in each day’s compartment.
That would help you remember if you had already done it.
Maybe something like that would help you? 
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Do you use that method? I like the idea of using a pill case for pen tips. Smart idea. I do have a daily phone alarm that reminds me every morning at 9:30 am. I think I got distracted when I reached for my insulin kit after dinner last night, and when I grabbed the Toujeo, I reflexively took it. Guess the extra step of a pen tip pill case may have clued me in.
I plan on being more careful going forward.
Thanks for the idea.
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I am using a pump now, but when I was doing injections I mostly used syringes. I had a syringe holder that had days-of-the week on it. So same kind of idea.
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I’m a bad diabetic when it comes to reusing pen needles! Due to paying out of pocket (I’m in Canada where socialised Pharmacare/Technology varies from province (state) … instead of a system like UK, etc.
What a great suggestion above about using the meds container to remember if you took your basal insulin though!
@arnolfo hope all went better and no more accidental double dosing (be glad it wasn’t rapid insulin … been there done that … guzzle all the juice for an entire week … sorry kids). As far as our background insulin … I went from Lantus … to Levemir (3x a day to replicate a poor man’s pump) … and now on a pump system depending on what comes my way … but am finding Tresiba to be an awesome basal (background) insulin compared to what we’ve used in the past when on MDI.
The joys of being a test guinea pig over almost 60 years … NOT 
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Remember the beef/pork insulin? 
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Oh yeah - the beef/pork insulin. And then Lilly told us all of our worries would be over thanks to recombinant DNA technology and that we’d get unlimited Humalog at only $12/bottle (it would be so much cheaper to make) than the then-current $20/bottle for the beef/pork stuff which was running out!
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We’re still.alive and oinking 
mooing 
and cyber whatever with our gadgets 
etc…My savings for retirement (my Dad said when I left home to put away monies to save for old age) and what many of us have spent on Pharmacare/Technology (I at least now have pump and CGM coverage by the province I had to move to in order to afford these devices, but then Pharmacare coverage wasn’t … 
). Well dang, I could be a Millionaire 
We really have to have a good sense of humour with our wonky autoimmune system, especially with self funding and trying to stay afloat with whatever funding we get through our jobs, etc.
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New insurance has cut me off of using my cgm which was Freestyle LIbre. Dexcom is way too expensive too. I’m back to using a walgreens pick n strip meter. And I’m turnng 60 on the 29th. I wish I had any humor over this disease. Think the insurance companies and the pharma get a good laugh out of people like me that don’t have unlimited expenses to afford their high priced products…
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@arnolfo If you’ve tried dealing directly with your HMO, you might want to try going thru a Dexcom rep, your PCP, or Endo to work the system to get the G7 or G6 approved. They often know the magic words to get the device covered. It might not work, but it can’t hurt…
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