New insulin Lilly Peglispro

hague161

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Hi all You may or may not be aware that there's a bit of a battle going on in the long acting insulin world. Up till now Lantus has cornered the lion's share of the market, but Lilly is about to introduce Peglispro (how do they come up with these names) Apparently it demonstrates improved night time performance regarding hypo avoidance and long term better HBa1c's. However for me, the big difference and why I will swap if I can is that I'll then be able to use Lilly's brilliant memoir pen which tells me when I last injected and how much. (Actually it stores the last 16 results) I already use this pen for my Lilly Humalog. What do you all think, is the availability of a potentially life saving memory pen enough incentive to give this new insulin a whirl? I believe that it is scheduled to come on stream before the end of 2015.

And no I don't work for Lilly, I'm just really annoyed that the manufacturers of insulin deliver systems don't realise that for us who may be taking insulin 5 times a day, remembering whether you've actually taken it is a real issue. And no diaries don't help, because 'Did I take it, but not write up my diary' or Did I write it in, but then forget to actually take it etc etc.
 
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Diamattic

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omg i would switch for that!

I have only been diabetic like 8 months and I have already had a couple nights laying awake wondering if i Checked my sugars and took my lantus or just checked my sugars and THOUGHT about taking my lantus..

So far this has happened about 3 times, and all three times i had to say to myself " OK, does one of your ass cheeks burn? Maybe one of your hips is sore?" (for those of you not using lantus, more often then not it leaves a bit of a sting on the injection sight for at least an hour)

Each time I have got up and dosed (again?) and then loaded my night stand up with dextabs and juice boxes incase i wake up ultra low becuase i doubled up on long acting lol

I would LOVE a pen that i could check, my Novo pen echo does this as well but i rarely use it because i mostly dose when I am eating so its harder to forget lol

I vote for yes the switch!
 

jackois

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I suspect that changing your insulin because the new one comes in a better pen is the wrong way to be looking at it.

I use Lantus and have an alarm set on my phone to remind me to take it & have yet to miss a dose. I also keep a notebook with my insulin use with the pens & record the dose & time as I take it.

Given that, I like the less hypo's & the lower incidence of weight gain of those in the study. I'm always up for better control & will keep an eye on the forums as this is introduced. The best improvement in my blood sugar control overnight has come from the Freestyle Libre which showed me I was running low through the night, even though blood test pre & post sleeping were fine.
 
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noblehead

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I suspect that changing your insulin because the new one comes in a better pen is the wrong way to be looking at it.

Great point jackois.

The pens are coming on leaps & bounds on what they can do and I'm sure they will all have the features that hague161 describes in a few years time, but that said the new basal insulin does sound promising and will look forward to hearing how people get on with it when it becomes available.
 

hague161

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I suspect that changing your insulin because the new one comes in a better pen is the wrong way to be looking at it.

Of course you are right, but I've been diabetic for more than 30 years and I have been on lots of different insulins, including some experimental ones that didn't eventually get licensed and to be honest I've not really noticed much difference in any of them. (I guess that I'm lucky in that) The thing that does make a difference is my own degree of precision and care. Although I take Lantus I do inject twice per day because that seems to give better control. Now this new insulin seems to have some very good features, and some people have to try it so that they can report back on forums such as this. Because I can rarely remember if I have actually taken insulin the possibility of using the memoir pen is a very big incentive. I'm also kinda hoping that someone from Sanofi actually comes across exchanges such as this and that they get shamed into producing a recording pen, because in the days of the iWatch and programs that will remind you of the birthday of someone you haven't seen in 20 years it's a bit of a scandal that (especially given the vast profits that Lantus net them) Sanofi can't be bothered to make a half decent pen.
 

xorsyst

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I've noticed that my Solostar Lantus pen lid attaches one of two ways round: Either with the clip pointing to the main label, or the clip pointing to the "back" of the label.

I inject Lantus twice a day - so I make sure that it's pointing to the label after the morning injection, and the back after the evening one. Then I can always check if I missed an injection :)
 

hague161

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I've noticed that my Solostar Lantus pen lid attaches one of two ways round: Either with the clip pointing to the main label, or the clip pointing to the "back" of the label.

I inject Lantus twice a day - so I make sure that it's pointing to the label after the morning injection, and the back after the evening one. Then I can always check if I missed an injection :)

Hmm so what if you do inject, but get distracted and forget to put the top on the right way? I agree that it's a great idea and indeed one that I will try to implement, but it's still only as good as your discipline and attention to detail. Some people are better at routines than others and it could be dangerous because if I rely entirely on this method and I forget to put the top back the right way round then I might take it twice. So no, I need electronic help and if Lantus cared more about their customers and less about their profits we might get a decent pen.
 

Diamattic

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True switching medications based on the pen isn't the best choice but it's supposed to be better right? And what's stopping you from switching for a year to this new pen and then switching back when lantus comes with a digital pen?
I don't think there is any harm between switching insulins right? It might cost a bit more for the pen but this is your health and if the pen helps prevent a life threatening hypo then it was worth the money.

Also if OP is like me then he would likely forget to use the notebook as well lol. If you can't remember if you injected you probably won't always remember to write things down as well.
 

hague161

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Also if OP is like me then he would likely forget to use the notebook as well lol. If you can't remember if you injected you probably won't always remember to write things down as well.
How right you are! Had to look OP up on the net to realise that it was me. So you've taught me something as well. Thanks Diamatic
 

tim2000s

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The other thing to be aware of are these sentences at the foot of the Lilly Release detail. It's not all plain sailing...

Results of these two trials also showed patients taking BIL experienced changes in lipid parameters, including a small but statistically significant increase in triglycerides in both trials. In IMAGINE-3, there were small but statistically significant reductions and increases, respectively, in HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol and LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol in patients taking BIL compared with those taking insulin glargine. In addition, IMAGINE-3 showed patients taking BIL experienced small but statistically significant increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to insulin glargine (less than 2 mmHg mean difference at 52 weeks). Statistically significant differences in HDL and LDL cholesterol and blood pressure were not observed in IMAGINE-1. There were no major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in IMAGINE-1, and in IMAGINE-3, the MACE+ (cardiovascular death, non-fatal stroke, non-fatal MI and hospitalization due to unstable angina) event rate was lower for patients taking BIL compared with those taking insulin glargine.

In both trials, treatment with BIL was associated with a statistically significant higher incidence of patients with greater than three times the upper limit of normal range in the liver enzyme ALT (alanine aminotransferase) compared with patients taking insulin glargine. No cases of severe liver injury (Hy's Law) occurred in either of the trials. In a subset of patients whose liver fat was measured using MRI imaging, BIL-treated patients had a statistically significant increase in liver fat compared to insulin glargine.

In both trials, there were significantly more injection site reactions observed in patients taking BIL compared to those taking insulin glargine.
 

xorsyst

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Ok - another idea for you: Set a phone reminder to inject. You clear it when you inject, so if it's sitting in your notifications you know you've not injected yet. I check my phone often enough I've never gone more than 1 hour past without noticing...
 

Diamattic

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@tim2000s - OK, well that sold me on not switching.. I haven't read the fine print on Lantus, but seeing that makes me not vote for a switch. I would not want my cholesterol or BP to increase, especially since they had to state that not heart events occured, means some people may have expected them too.

I can't imagine Sanofi not coming out with a digital pen anytime soon, it seems like thats where the market is heading.
 

Caerdobi

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Hmm, a pen which tells you when you last injected would be good for me; I forgot my Levemir a couple of weeks ago and ended up in hospital after suffering a "cardiac event" at work...
 

robert72

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Hmm, a pen which tells you when you last injected would be good for me; I forgot my Levemir a couple of weeks ago and ended up in hospital after suffering a "cardiac event" at work...
You could get a NovoPen Echo for your Levemir
 
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Caerdobi

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Cheers! I've got a review coming up so I'll chat with my diabetic nurse about it.
 
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LucySW

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Hmm, a pen which tells you when you last injected would be good for me; I forgot my Levemir a couple of weeks ago and ended up in hospital after suffering a "cardiac event" at work...
Ow!! You all right now?