About FIASP Insulin...

[PIPPO_PIPPI]

Hi.
Two months ago my doctor prescribed me to change from Novorapid to the new Ultrarapid FIASP, to see if this could bring a positive change in my Type 1 Diabetes.
I tried, and thanks to FreeStyle Libre plus BlueReader CGM and the fabulous xDrip+ APP I can say I found advantages and some disadvantage, too.
I'm not sure if it's only me or this happens to other people too (and I'm opening this thread for this), but I noticed a slow but important increase in my CHO/U.I. ratio.

When I started FIASP it was 10.0 but now I'm at 20.0 CHO/U.I., and this never happened before, the best value I had in the last 2.5 years was 14.5.
Moreover using FIASP I have my HbA1c reduced from 6.9% to the actual 6.5% (last 30 days average).
Someone using FIASP observed similar results?

But (there is always a “but”, alas!) FIASP obliged me to compute BOTH CHO quantities AND digestion speed of the various foods, because its shorter time to start working can be a big problem when you use food with very different CHO digestion times.
E.g.: with Novorapid I always inoculated insulin 10 minutes before starting eating carbohydrates in any type of food, with the only exception of pizza, 20 minutes after starting.
So, with FIASP I've been obliged to divide in various groups the different types of food I use, based on BOTH CHO number AND their digestion speed, and make my computations for both U.I. number and time to inject.
It’s been a complicated, long and boring work, and I have still many things to change or to adjust.

But I had another big advantage.
Normally, before FIASP, when I was seeing that glycemic value was rising constantly, e.g. after a meal, I waited just to see if it would have stopped at the 180 mg/dl I have as top limit, and if it didn’t I used to make a couple U.I. to stop it. Sometimes it was OK, sometimes it was not, e.g. the value continued rising quickly, so I did another couple of insulin units, and if it started reducing immediately after, this caused after some time a very low glycemia.
With FIASP, as I reach 180 I inoculate 0.5 U.I., and look what’s going on.
If it stops or reduces climbing, I’m OK, if it doesn’t, another 0.5 U.I., and so on.

So my opinion:
FIASP probably is not OK for all, but only for people ready to use a lot, believe me, a lot of time to make all what is needed to use FIASP at its best.
But probably it could be used by all as a “First Aid Insulin” in case of fast rising glycemia.

I would like to know other’s people opinion on the matter.
Beg your pardon for the very long text, and I apologize for my horrible English.

Pippo

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @PIPPO-PIPPI, You have expressed your question and story very well !!!
I do not use Fiasp but being on an insulin pump I can imagine that the computations you are having to undergo would be easier on a pump.
Tagging @helensaramay as she has recent experience. And I am sure there are others but on mdi.
If you type in Fiasp in the question box, top right hand corner of the forum page you will find more answers, too.
Best Wishes on your journey.

P.S. look up mendosa.com. Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load,( both definitions) and Glycemic Values. In Glycaemic values, down the list is Cereals and compare oats with say, cornflakes. What these lists tell you is what you have already worked out - that some food raise the BSL sooner than others. Perhaps the information here can help you to better fashion your meals and Fiasp to suit each other, BSL-wise.

It Is All About Balance

 

[PIPPO_PIPPI]

Hi kitedoc.
I started this thread because after searching the forum for "Fiasp" I found nothing (but I did it in the wrong way, my fault!), so here I am!
I understand that the use of a pump could make Fiasp use easier but, alas, I'm in the blamed group of diabetics that don't like the pump, because they feel it as an extraneous thing attached to the body, a kind of plastic parasite.
I know, I'm wrong, but brain is a strange thing, and sometimes drives the wrong way.

I tagged helensaramay posts, and as you say they are all about Fiasp use with pump, and for what I understand they don’t seem to be so enthusiast as I supposed.
Anyway, many thanks for the "mendosa.com" link, it is full of data that I can use, even if they miss most of the "Mediterranean diet" foods (I'm Italian), and anyway the terms used are most of times difficult to translate, interpret or understand.
Nevertheless, my main interest is still checking other people's experience with injected (NOT pumped) Fiasp, but I see that probably there are not so many people using it this way.
I hope someone will write here.
Bye and thank you once again.

Pippo

 

[kitedoc]

Thank you, @PIPPO_PIPPI. There should be some other threads on use of injected FIASP.
Best Wishes.

 

[tim2000s]

@PIPPO_PIPPI - Fiasp on MDI is a rather different beast from Fiasp on a pump. The trials that Novo themselves did with Fiasp in an MDI setting had really quite good results, whereas those done with pumps weren't good enough for Novo to publish any papers on.

Some people find it works well for them, others not so well, so it's a case of horses for courses really.

 

[eventhorizon]

Hi Pippo.

I use Fiasp with MDI and find it works very well. Corrections are accurate and fast. I may need to stagger shots when having a large fatty meal as it's duration is short for me.

 

[PIPPO_PIPPI]

Thank you tim2000s, appreciate the information about Novo tests results, I wasn't aware of them.
And thank you eventhorizon for your positive report on MSI use of FIASP.
BTW, your diet is a constant one, I mean with a small number of food types, or varies continuously like mine?
Anyway I'm still missing answers about what is my actual interest, i.e. someone noted a better CHO/U.I. ratio using FIASP?
Pippo