Lantus is used to help manage blood sugar levels in certain people who have diabetes.
Diabetes is a condition that leads to high blood sugar. With diabetes, your body can’t effectively use the insulin that’s made in your pancreas. Or your pancreas just doesn’t make enough (or any) insulin. (Insulin is a hormone that helps lower your blood sugar levels.)
Lantus is a type of insulin. Its mechanism of action (how it works) is to add to or replace the insulin that’s naturally made by the human body.
Lantus helps lower your blood sugar level by:
helping your muscle cells and fat cells take up sugar from your blood
keeping your liver from making more blood sugar
stopping your body from breaking down fats and proteins so it can break down blood sugar instead
Lantus’ half-life is about 12 hours. (A drug’s half-life is the amount of time it takes for half of a drug’s dose to leave your body.) In other words, it takes about 12 hours for your body to get rid of half of a dose of Lantus.
If you have more questions about how Lantus works or its half-life, talk with your doctor or pharmacist.