Basaglar for Diabetes, Type 1 User Reviews

• Dia...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 13, 2019

"I was put on Basaglar by my insurance company, who was refusing to pay for Lantus. I have never been sicker in my life! I take so much more short-acting insulin all day long and wake up in the 200 to 300 range every day. This has to be placebo! It's being forced on us because it is cheaper, but how much cheaper could it be if it is not working!"

• Nit...
• May 9, 2019

"I was on Lantus for about 8 years and was forced to take Basaglar due to insurance issues. Since the swap to Basaglar, I've already had two diabetic seizures in the last few weeks due to my blood sugar dropping to the 30s in the morning. Yes, my blood sugar was 32 this morning. I cover carbs with Novolog but stopped covering my evening food and before-bedtime snacks so it wouldn't drop, and it still did. I lowered the dose time after time and ate a ton of carbs before bed, and I still almost died. However, it doesn't lower my sugar later in the day. I have to cover my meals with twice the fast-acting insulin as I normally would. They need a lawsuit formed against them for making this stuff."

• qwe...
• January 14, 2019

"Recently switched from Levemir to Basaglar with a new job and new insurance. Like everyone else, I have no idea how this insulin was approved for T1D use. Seriously baffled. I have the Dexcom G6 CGM, so I'm painfully aware of just how bad it is. Every day I wake up and watch my sugar climb to 250 while fasting. I desperately shoot Novolog well into the late afternoon until I finally reach some normalcy. Even still, I can't eat a salad with four and a half croutons without my sugar climbing to 300, even with dosing well in advance. This is really blowing my mind, I'm pretty sure it's just water. If I don't get Levemir back, the only way I can see myself staying out of DKA is a practically no-carb diet. I'm just out here screaming into the void..."

• Bas...
• April 8, 2019

"I was taking Lantus for years without any problems or side effects. Then the insurance company forced me to switch to Basaglar. As soon as I started taking it, it was making me sick with flu-like symptoms. I stopped taking it for a few days to see if it was the insulin that was causing it, and it was. The symptoms went away as soon as I stopped taking Basaglar, and then when I started taking it again, the symptoms came back. Basaglar is trash. Pharmaceutical and insurance companies try to tell you that Basaglar is pretty much the same thing as Lantus, but that's not true."

• Mad...
• August 9, 2019

"This med, Basaglar, is nothing like Lantus. My 12-year-old granddaughter was forced to switch from Lantus to Basaglar 8 months ago. The insurance will not pay for Lantus that she had been using for the previous 2 years. Within a week of using it, we knew this medication was not working and was causing her side effects. Her daytime glucose levels were very high. We had to double her short-acting insulin. At nighttime, her levels are dropping to 40 every few hours. The pen injector malfunctions frequently, jams, and I am convinced it dispenses an incorrect amount of units. I have to wake her up and load her with carbs to get her levels back up 2-4 times each night. If it were not for her Dexcom G6 alarm, I honestly think she would die in her sleep. She has headaches, abdominal pain, back pain, and leg cramps daily. She has respiratory issues ever since starting the med."

• Dee...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 25, 2018

"I've been on Basaglar for exactly 1 week now. Before I was taking Toujeo. In this one week alone, I've been hospitalized for DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis), and now I am experiencing facial swelling and hives. Yesterday I woke up with my blood sugar (BS) at 114 and decided to fast for most of the day to see if that would help keep me stable. Over the full 24 hours, I ate 2 apples and a little bit of quinoa. Before bed, my BS was at 524, which is much higher than it was when I went in for DKA. This stuff is not working, it's breaking me out, and it is making me fear for my life. Today is Christmas, and I am considering not eating at all because I do not wish to go into a coma. Thanks, Basaglar. I'm so frustrated right now, I have to fight to get my old meds back."

• Jay...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 15, 2019

"I was taking Lantus for years when my insurance made me switch to Basaglar. They told me Basaglar is pretty much the same as Lantus and just a cheaper generic version. But I had nothing but problems with Basaglar. As soon as I started taking it, I was having flu-like symptoms that never subsided. Basaglar is horrible and needs to be taken off the market."

• Bag...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 7, 2018

"My insurance company made me switch to Basaglar from Lantus. Worked okay for about 2-3 weeks, then my blood sugars were all over the place. Switched back to Lantus (after having to fight my insurance to cover it), and my blood sugars were perfect again. I wear a Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system and would watch my sugars not remain constant and pinball on Basaglar. Ever since I switched back to Lantus, they are perfect again. Do. Not. Switch. To. Basaglar."

• Hen...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 12, 2019

"My son asked, 'Dad, could this new insulin be a placebo?' His blood sugar was consistently high on Basaglar. He increased the dose, but it did not help. He has a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), so he's very aware of how things are going. My other son had a different experience-very inconsistent blood sugar levels. He had both highs and lows while on Basaglar that were unexplained by other things. He has a CGM too, so it was pretty clear what happened after the switch. I believe in the FDA process and generics or biosimilars or whatever they're called. But Basaglar didn't work for us. Back on Lantus now and back to normal."

• Bas...
• April 10, 2019

"The insurance company forced me to switch from Lantus to Basaglar. Over the course of several years of using Lantus, I had no problems. But with Basaglar, as soon as I started taking it, I had flu-like symptoms that never subsided. Every night, I was having stomach problems. I hope Basaglar gets taken off the market because it's pure garbage."

• Lis...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 18, 2019

"This Basaglar insulin doesn't work for me at all. I'm very disappointed because my blood sugar levels are erratic. I can't eat if my blood sugar reading is 269 or even higher. I'm always hungry and don't feel healthy, having stomach aches very often. I hope this nightmare will end and this impotent insulin will be taken off the market. What garbage."

• Mik...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 3, 2019

"I was taking Lantus, and it worked very well. Forced to change because of the health plan, and now I have very high blood sugars all the time-never in range since switching. Basaglar does not work. The health plan said they were saving 25 million-I wonder why."

• RWR...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 10, 2019

"My medical aid in 2018 forced the Basaglar insulin (long-working) as the only insulin they will fully cover on my medical aid plan/cover. I previously used Protaphane insulin as long-acting insulin. Since I used Basaglar insulin, my daily usage of both the long- and short-acting (Humalog) insulin has increased dramatically. When I started with Basaglar insulin, I kept it to the similar dosage as I used with the Protaphane insulin, but I was shocked that the Basaglar insulin did not work as the Protaphane insulin. To keep my sugar levels between 6 and 10, I had to almost double my usage of the Basaglar insulin. The Basaglar insulin had a negative impact on my health as I was forced by my medical aid provider to only use Basaglar insulin. My review is that the Basaglar insulin is the worst insulin I have ever used."

• Ric...
• August 2, 2019

"Like everyone else, my insurance company forced me to switch from Lantus to Basaglar. Within a week, I had a strange rash on my torso. Only recently did a biopsy conclude that it began when I began Basaglar. Other side effects for me are extreme exhaustion and decline in muscle strength, instability walking, and serious weight gain. In the past 18 months, I have been totally unable to control my blood sugars, and it is taking a toll on my health. I am now having to fight with my insurance company to cover Lantus."

• Mmm...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 6, 2019

"Not sure if it's purely due to Basaglar, but ever since I've taken this medication, I've been getting respiratory infections. After stopping this medication, the infections disappeared. I was on antibiotics week after week, so at this point I'm going to blame the poor quality of this product. This insulin is just not worth the damage; 'flu-like' symptoms is honestly the best way to explain it. The way the medication is metabolized by the body definitely has an issue somewhere; more R&D should've been done. Please, Eli Lilly, this product is very unpredictable compared to other insulins (Levemir/Lantus/Humulin); it's most definitely not as aggressive as Lantus is. It also seems to not work very well with Novolog. In my experience, it's like gambling."

• Jen...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• January 15, 2019

"Basaglar has been a bad experience for me. I've been on it for 2 years now, and my blood sugars are much more unpredictable and higher than previously when taking Lantus. I hope to get an insurance that will cover Lantus again!"

• Chr...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 10, 2019

"I am another Type 1 diabetic that was switched from Lantus to Basaglar by my insurance company. Prior to the switch, my A1c was 5.7-6.3; now it's in the 7-7.5 range. Basaglar is a complete dud for me. The only thing consistent with it is my morning 200+ BGs. I finally went back to using my insulin pump, and within a day, perfect stable BGs with almost 1/2 the amount of insulin. When I go back on syringe therapy, I'll have my Endo require my insurance to prescribe Lantus."

• Bri...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 2, 2019

"It's terrible. I just started last night, and my experience is horrible. This should be recalled. My stomach has the worst cramps ever, I can't sleep. My glucose is very high, and I feel extremely sluggish. In the morning, I'm going to get back on Lantus. This medicine is like a poison."

• Bra...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 11, 2018

"Endo was trying to help us save $ and said this tier 1 medication was cheaper than Levemir, which is tier 2, and should be the same thing. It's NOT! Blood sugar levels (BSL) had previously been 140-160 in the morning with Levemir. The only thing we changed was I started taking Basaglar at night. BSL is now 250-290 in the morning. It takes all day to come back down, and I'm having to take higher doses of Novolog during the day to control my BSL. This medication is terrible! It should be taken off the market immediately."

• Pix...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 5, 2020

"Like many others, I was forced off Lantus by my insurance company. I just started the Basaglar 3 days ago. Luckily, I decided to not take my usual full dose until I saw how I reacted. Yesterday, I crashed 2x. Today, I cut the morning dose again. I have crashed and had to eat some fast carbs 3x today. It has been so erratic that I couldn't use my fast-acting insulin with my meals... and have still crashed. I ate a Christmas cracker and crashed... That alone should have sent me well over 200 without fast-acting insulin. Sort of scared to go to bed. It has been 12 hours since my injection... and an after-dinner crash is what sent me to this site to read reviews."

• san...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• November 22, 2019

"My Basaglar pens constantly malfunction, so I never get the required dose, sometimes not getting any, and wonder what happens if the malfunctioning pen delivers too much one time. My other insulin pens do not have these issues."

• NJa...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 10, 2019

"My son has diabetes since the age of 3. He was for 23 years on Humulin N, which wasn’t great, but we kept the blood sugar under control. The doctor switched his insulin to Basaglar.... it is a disaster! His blood sugar is 450 to 500. If something happens to him, I will sue the doctor and Lilly Co. for selling this useless insulin to patients. We tried Lantus a few years ago.... was not working either...."

• Ken...
• July 14, 2017

"Moved from Levemir to Basaglar as my insurance, 'Discovery Medical Aid,' won't cover Levemir. Been using Basaglar for about 3 weeks now. It's been horrible so far. It appears to peak after 10 hours, so that made it unpredictable given how they say it should work. I halved the dose to counter the hypos, but now sugars are higher than usual any other time. I feel out of focus and dizzy. My chest feels 'fluish.' I am considering going back to Levemir and paying the large copayment."

• Aim...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 14, 2017

"I was on Basaglar for 6 months because of my insurance no longer covering Lantus. I had extreme anxiety, nightmares, and most scary was the fast heart rate. I am only 37 and have never had a heart problem or had shortness of breath like I did on this horrid medicine. I've been off for about 3 weeks, my heart rate has slowed somewhat, but my doctor is now sending me for an EKG. I seriously hope it didn't cause any permanent damage, dealing with type one diabetes is enough! I am getting a TAR to go back on Lantus. Please report side effects to the FDA as I did, to get this medicine pulled. I also had red dots where I injected, and it did burn. Absolutely scary stuff."

• che...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 8, 2020

"I've been type 1 for 20 years and been on Lantus the majority of the time. My insurance switched me to Basaglar 4 months ago, and I've gained 20 lbs. I also have had headaches, and I already suffer from anxiety and depression, but my depression seems to be a lot worse. DO NOT RECOMMEND!!! If I could give it a 0 out of 10, I would!"