I had NO / zero time to do anything. My vision went black first, as I saw her start injecting my Lantus directly into my IV. Then my hearing went maybe a couple seconds later.
The female nurse, that did the injection, spoke to the male with her, as I went into the coma. I am keeping that mum, for now. It went to their morbid intent, not a mistake.
Minor amount blood in syringe after injection doesn’t mean you will get faster insulin action. It is not the same as an IV injection. Start of action time should be the same as typical injection.
Well i dropped from 140 to 30 in 2 minutes. So it did hit a blood vessel. But in an iv would be seconds for sure.
Fun fact: when injected in an IV Lantus has the same pharmacokinetics as regular or short-acting insulin. Lantus insulin obtains its pharmacokinetic properties when it is deposited subcutaneously due to pH. when injected in an IV insulin is metabolized in the same manner no matter what type of insulin it is.
I do not doubt Lantus has an odd PH. I remember way back in 2007, when I was changed from N+R to MDI, Lantus had a sting when injected. The sting wore off, or I adapted and the sting went away, or at least I quit noticing it.
I had a similar issue with my injected MS medication. That sting was even worse.
i have experienced the exact same for myself. even for simple procedures that last only 15 minutes. even at the dentist while i remain conscious. i had surgery last year and insisted upon wearing my pump (which i have done in the past). i got approval by having my endo speak with my surgeon; then i met with the anesthesiologist, who was a dim wit, but a teachable one, and i showed him exactly how my pump worked and where the SUSPEND button was on the screen. i showed him how to detach it as well. i felt like i was talking to a child, but all of my educating turned out well, b/c apparently, despite having been on a low TB% i started to crash during the surgery and they had to detach my pump. i was able to hook myself back up once i came to, but the story was rather frightening. thank god that the anestheiologist was listening carefully while i explain how my pump worked. maybe this will help someone in the future.
wouldnt that be nice!!!
Or you could just go the way one of my former coworkers would have done and just tattoo the directions near your preferred pump site and let them read it at their leisure. Something like in an emergency, unplug this one. Like a remove before flight tag, but for diabetics. /s
Or maybe write it on yourself with a marker before the procedure… a lil less permanent 
just in case you find yourself cured of D one day. 
My questions would be how much insulin was injected and what was @Gomer’s bg at the time of injection.
As @livabetes83 mentioned, Lantus injected via IV will react the same way as regular insulin. Additionally, the insulin half-life is actually longer (15 min) than it has been generally assumed in the past (4–5 min).
I would certainly say a 40u dose of Lantus would drop the bg quickly, but not within seconds. It would roughly be the same pharmacokinetics of inhaling 40u of Afrezza.
Also, one wouldn’t go into a diabetic coma, they would go into diabetic shock. Instead of a lowered heart rate (bradycardia), the heart would beat faster and sweating would occur. This is because hypoglycemia causes the “fight or flight” syndrome in the brain.
The symptoms @Gomer describes are diabetic coma symptoms, caused by too high of blood sugar.
-1- There are 3 types if diabetic coma, DKA / hyperglycemic, hyporglycemic, & hyperosmolar.
-2- I lost “fight or flight” response in 2012 due to left adrenal damage. (I also lost my DP, response to injury & infection, colds etc).& hyperosmolar. .
-3- I was told by several doctors, I had been in a “hypoglycemic coma”
-4- My Lantus vial was down about 565 units, it should have been down only about 100 units. This vial had just been started 4 days earlier. I was using (& stable) on 11u am + 11u pm.
-5- My BGs that morning, before the injection were in target range, (I would have to dig up the record).
-6- Modified insulins, when injected directly into a vein are UNPREDICTABLE
-7- I also developed an abnormal EKG, NO action was taken regarding heart rate or EKG.
-8- this was NO accident, or mistake
WOW. WOWWOWWOWWOWWOW. I HOPE you spoke to a lawyer.
I had surgery in October and had a LONGGGG discussion with the anesthesiologist prior to heading to the OR. She was onboard before our discussion even started. We talked about my numbers that morning and what time I had suspended basal delivery (per doctor’s orders) from my pump so as not to hit a low when I wasn’t supposed to be eating. She was great and was also very concerned about my asthma and how I might be affected while under anesthesia. We talked about my doctor’s orders there as well and everything turned out great!
You definitely have to be your own advocate. My parents were there, but they don’t deal with my health issues everyday, although they’ve been privy to some pretty scary lows. They really wouldn’t have known what to do or say had I not been conscious.
OMG I did that once!! I took 32 units of Novolog! As I set the vial on the counter I realized my mistake. My reaction was the same. I stood in front of the refrigerator inhaling everything that had sugar in it. Jelly, chocolate syrup, applesauce, I had a small orange juice, and some candy that happened to be on the counter. I was totally freaked. Idk why it didn’t occur to me to call 911. Luckily I didn’t pass out, but my sugar did spike into the 400s. It took me until halfway through the next day to recover from that.
While I’m not happy this happened to you, I am glad to know I’m not the only one to do that. I felt so stupid.
Long lasting insulins, like Lantus etc, are modified such that, they are absorbed very slowly into the blood stream When injected directly into a vein there is no absorption over time, the whole dose is instantly in your blood.
Think about it a dose that would normally get over 12 or 24 hrs, is DUMPED on your system instantly instead of , maybe a unit or less, per hr, slowly over many hours.
NO! No…no. The action time for a normal / SC injection is far SLOWER than in an IV injection. The SC takes TIME to be absorbed, This is what they modify (absorption) to control release of the insulin
Think of it this way; Lantus 24hr insulin’s slow absorption takes a theoretical aprox 24 hrs, When injected in IV/vein there is NO absorption, it is ALL dumped into your blood stream immediately.
JD