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Apidra to humalog advice

J

Jessd

Well-Known Member
Messages
261
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hi
I had my clinic yesterday
I have been advised to change from Apidra to Humalog, has anyone found Humalog better?
Seem to be having alot of highs! Last week was upto 33, felt pretty rough, last 5 days, had a high every day, today, was ok to start with, had lunch out, Shephers pie, gave 4.5 units for it, then had banana milkshake, 2.5 units for that, felt fine, coulpe of hours later, got home, bm was 7(thought that was ok) then went out & about, got back again & bm was 33!!Just really struggling to make sense of these highs
Also have got the implant in, has stopped working(as have had periods) going to ring surgery in week to get another one done or maybe just go back on the pill, wondering if this is playing a part in my sugars so high?!
Any advice please?
 
It's a long time since I've swapped from one insulin to another...

Apidra as about the same lick in time, peaks about the same time, but burns out the system a lot quicker than humalog, and it sounds what you say you have two things going on in the main.

Firstly are your insulin/carb ratio correct?
Secondly it sounds like some of the problem is your Apidra is burning out the system too quickly..

But I think you should first do some basal checking to ensure that your background is set correctly so you know that this isn't impacting on your levels.

Then once your basal is correct, you need to double check your insulin/carb ratio's

As you are Apridra I would take several test from 1/2 hour through to the four hour mark... By doing this you should be able to see the pattern your Apridra is working and when it's burning out.. So if your BG's remains pretty stable for the first hour or so, with a small raise then start shooting up, this would indicate that your insulin is burning out too quickly..

Wonder if a multi-wave with quite a long extended second wave might work better?
 
Have you changed your insulin duration on your pump?
I would also suspect you would need to reset all your basals as well. (good luck) :)
 
Sorry what do you mean change insulin duration on the pump? Also my DSN said nothing about resetting my basals
Going to the docs tomorrow, so hopefully have it Tuesday or Wednesday
 
Jessd said:
Sorry what do you mean change insulin duration on the pump? Also my DSN said nothing about resetting my basals
Going to the docs tomorrow, so hopefully have it Tuesday or Wednesday
Click to expand...

Hi Jess,
humalog has a longer action (duration) than apidra. So you need to go into set up on your pump and see what it is set at.
For humalog the minimum would be four hours and 5 for some people. Apidra is about 3 hours.
As the duration time is different it stands to reason you will need to retest and set your basals :(

Best wishes
Carbs
 
CarbsRok said:
Jessd said:
Sorry what do you mean change insulin duration on the pump? Also my DSN said nothing about resetting my basals
Going to the docs tomorrow, so hopefully have it Tuesday or Wednesday
Click to expand...

Hi Jess,
humalog has a longer action (duration) than apidra. So you need to go into set up on your pump and see what it is set at.
For humalog the minimum would be four hours and 5 for some people. Apidra is about 3 hours.
As the duration time is different it stands to reason you will need to retest and set your basals :(

Best wishes
Carbs
Click to expand...

On the Combo pump, the setting Carbsrok is referring to is in the Main menu on the bg meter/remote, Settings, then next screen, Bolus Advice, then click on Advice Options. Might be better to change the acting time first before doing any basal tests......
 
I don't have the meter with the combo
I was low this am,had normal porridge for breakfast, gave dosage required, at 4pm my bm was 15.5, gave 2.5 units & put TBR to 150% for 1 hour, took dogs for good walk, at 5.30pm did a bm, was 22.1 :( , changed canula, gave 4 units, TBR to 150% for 1 hour, at 6.30pm, my bm is 18.9
 
Jessd said:
I don't have the meter with the combo
I was low this am,had normal porridge for breakfast, gave dosage required, at 4pm my bm was 15.5, gave 2.5 units & put TBR to 150% for 1 hour, took dogs for good walk, at 5.30pm did a bm, was 22.1 :( , changed canula, gave 4 units, TBR to 150% for 1 hour, at 6.30pm, my bm is 18.9
Click to expand...

Hi

You say that you were low this morning at breakfast but what were your bg levels for the rest of the day? I find that when bg levels are higher than 12mmol, then I go straight for my insulin pen to deliver the bolus correction and dont use the pump until my bg levels have dropped down to about 10mmol at least. I usually add a bit more to the correction just to get my bg levels to start dropping.
 
that was my readings for the day, got up late. bm was 20.4 about 20mins ago, just done another one now & 18.5
 
Jessd said:
that was my readings for the day, got up late. bm was 20.4 about 20mins ago, just done another one now & 18.5
Click to expand...

It looks like your correction is lowering your bg levels but it will take a while for it to get back to being at normal again so it's a carb free meal for you for the rest of the night.....

To get the very best out of using a pump it's important to test bg levels fairly often as sometimes the pump isn't always able to push insulin through the tubing ok especially if the infusion set has been put in an area on the body that isn't absorbing insulin all that well. If you don't test bg, then you are not going to know.... Also, basal rate levels sometimes need to change so again that's where bg testing every 2-3hrs guides you. What has your consultant and dsn advised you to do with bg testing only can't see how a pump is going to help you if you go hours without doing any tests??
 
Jess,
I have just read through most of your other posts, and in everyone of them that I have read you are saying you have high numbers and or unpredictable numbers.
So you need to have a good look at what you have done and not done.
Hand on heart can you say you have tested your basals over a week or two by skipping meals in the different time slots?
Have you tried an 8mm steel cannula instead of the 6mm I see you were using at one point? I did point you in the direction of your cannula being at fault.
Have you checked your duration of insulin, like I suggested you did?
Why have you not got the wizard(handset) with that combo pump? If your PCT have pd for one you should have it. If not ring roche and ask for it.
Are you correcting your high numbers with a pen or just bolusing with the pump?
 
Hi
I was originally on the Spirit pump, that kept having errors come up, so the next pump I got was a Spirit Combo, was not offered the handset, was told it was about #100 & didn't really need it (all it did was fine tune it a bit for you)
I started on the Humalog yesterday
Am going to have basal rate testing tonight, see how it goes
 
I am now using the flexlink canulas(6s)
Changing the insulin every 4 days, thats what my DSN advised
 
Are you putting the Flexlinks in yr tummy or yr legs, bum, arm etc. Try putting some tape over the body of the set to keep it firmly in place and to stop it from flexing on the body when you turn in bed etc... Ive got issues with the 6mm Flexlink so if you carry on getting high bg levels which you should be able to track with bg meter and you cant find anything that wrong when you pull out the set... phone up Accu chek and report the fault problem. It might be the material that is being used to manufacture the cannula... The more that people complain,,,,,, then the sooner something will be done.
 
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