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Human insulin

borderter

Well-Known Member
Messages
640
Location
Gloucestershire
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Diabetes! Celebrities and curry
Read two books recently written by diabetic men and both hated human insulin,now this is what im starting on from tomorrow so a bit worrying so anyone on human and if so how do you find it. I can see the profiles are peaky and will make insulin control more difficult and am just hoping it works to bring down my rising bgs and hba1c
 
Many of the people who dislike the Human Insulins started on Porcine or Bovine and had trouble switching over. There are equally large numbers of us who have never used them and are fine with Human Analogue insulin.

As for the term "peaky", it's rather dependent on what you are put on.

NPH Isophane is the old intermediate action insulin, and yes, that was "peaky".

Levemir (Detemir), Lantus (Glargine) and Tresiba (Degludec) are much less peaky, and the fast acting insulins, well, they are by design "Peaky" as they are supposed to be fast acting.

I don't think I'd say that the use of MDI or these insulins makes insulin control "more difficult" than using animal insulins. They have different characteristics from each other, and in all fairness, Insulin control without knowledge of how the insulin works is always going to be more difficult.

The Novomix 30/70 that you have been using so far is already Human Insulin. As long as you are educated in how to use the various insulins, I don't think you'll find one or the other more difficult.
 
borderter said:
Its insuman Tim which is one of the older ones
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You're confusing me a little. are you currently using Novomix 30/70 or Lantus and Novorapid, or Insuman, or nothing? Your profile and what you've posted all contain different information!

Novomix is made up of a rapid acting component (Insulin Aspart) and a modified version of Insulin Aspart that acts like NPH insulin. Insuman IS NPH insulin. If anything the Novomix will have two peaks whereas Insuman will have one.
 
Sorry for confusing you Tim .Have not changed signature yet as this insulin may not suit. The insulins are insuman both for basal and rapid hope this clears things up
 
What issues have you been having with the other insulins you have used?
 
Novorapid always fine and when my body did not need basal all okay then needed basal so levemir tried and it did nothing so onto lantus which seized my ankle joints up then insulatard also affected joints so then onto mixed insulin but it just could not hold bgs down and increasing dose merely sent it higher so asked for tresiba but no go in glos pct on a cost basis so this is a last ditch effort with the insuman and if it works great but failing that will have to get private script and buy my own tresiba but not being rich its going to be a last ditch try
 
I started using Human insulin in the 80's and found that my hypo awareness started to change a bit and was different to what I was used to when I was using bovine Lentard. I wasnt the only person.....apparently loads of diabetics (in UK and also Europe) changing from animal to human also had problems with awareness. I changed back to animal for a few years and felt a lot better. I only changed back to human again when my consultant told me that the main insulin producers were not going to manufacture animal insulin anymore and that I would need to change so I started off with 20/80 mix first, then used 25/75 Humalog Mix for about 25yrs and then switched to Lantus and Humalog in 2002, then Humalog/Apidra/Novorapid with Levemir in 2008, finally a pump in 2010 with Novorapid and awareness much better.
 
Interesting that you had joint problems with some insulins. That was one reason why I swapped to porcine insulin. I took regular human insulin from diagnosis and had no problems, but the very fast acting analogues didn't suit me. I've only ever used regular fast-acting porcine insulin not a long acting one so that's all I have experience of (I only need that one insulin as I have a pump).

As with so many things in diabetes, one size doesn't fit all. An insulin that's perfect for one person may be a bad choice for another.

I hope you don't have to get a private script and that your blood sugar can be controlled with your new insulin or, if not, another one that you don't need a private script for can be found.

Good luck
 

Have you tried using a ratio to calculate yr bolus for the carb to be eaten and adjusted the ratio to achieve a bg target range and got yr correction factor ok? Also, I can vouch for the lower carb diet for some of my meals as there is far less of a spike after eating food than doesnt contain the high carb stuff. Eat more of the veg that grows above the ground
 
Hi Ihs yes did carb counting while on novorapid for a few years and thats how i know the two units per meal is not enough but im sure its only a temporary amount to see how im reacting to insuman basal
 
borderter said:
Hi Ihs yes did carb counting while on novorapid for a few years and thats how i know the two units per meal is not enough but im sure its only a temporary amount to see how im reacting to insuman basal
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How much carb is being eaten in the meal? I always adjusted the ratio per 1g carb eaten so started with 1:10 and then adjusted to 1:7 or 1:8 using twice daily basal. On once daily Lantus, used 1:3 at breakfast, then 1:7 at lunch, then 1:4 at eve meal. This was of course, eating to accomodate the action of bolus with the action of the basal and testing bg levels 6 times per day.
 
As i said 2 units per meal is way short of my needs but dns being extra cautious to start
FRom before I need 0.5 units per gram carb at breakfast 1 unit per gram lunchtime and 1.8 per gram at evening meal
 
Based on the fact that you have previous experience with MDI, why do you think your DN is being so cautious?
 
Can only guess at that ,shes supposed to phone me today to see how its going so will ask
 
@borderter, Insuman, like the Insulatard I take, is definitely NPH.

It does have a peak at about 5 hrs, and can be tricksy and inconsistent. For that reason it isn't generally prescribed in large doses, because you can hypo.

At the tiny doses I use (3u Basal x2), that isn't a problem, and in fact it suits me fine.
 
Lucy hi and update to post the insuman reacted badly and was taken off it after 24 hours and used mixed till saw consultant who put me back onto Novorapid and levemir and so far with a re evaluate of my diet (on mixed no carb counting leads to loss of portion control )for me anyway so far less carb is doing the trick
 
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