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Insulatard + Actrapid

A

azizdhl

Well-Known Member
Messages
64
Hi guys,

Just want to ask some questions about two insulin types

First of all, about Insulatard insulin does it really last for 24 hours? Which one is more recommended taking it once or twice a day?

And I read that it has a peak hours after 6 to 12 hours since I inject it, so in these 6 peak hours does it low the blood sugar or it just maintain the blood sugar? Ex: if I take at 8PM so the peak hours will be from 2am to 8am, if I slept with 100 mg/dL at 12, am I going to have Hypoglycemia? Please help me to understand the science behind this type of insulin coz it is the only type that am capable to use.


Second, same goes for Actrapid insulin.. I read that it start to decrease the blood sugar 30min after the injection, and the peak hours from 1.5 to 2 hours from the injection, what about after that does it have any effect of the body. Please provide me with any information of these types of Insulin
 
i @azizdhl, From my reading and experience, and not as medical advice and opinion:
If you google insulin profile graphs or pictures for these 2 insulins you will see when the insulin in question starts working at affecting bsls, when it peaks and when it reduces in effect to zero.
Whether a person taking one of these insulins will have a BSL that is steady, falling or increasing at a given time depends on a number of factors. So there is no one right answer to your questions.
Factors include: what type of meal/food ( particularly amount and type of carbohydrates and protein) and at what time the meal was eaten compared to the dose, type and timing of insulin.
Or if the insulin in question was taken say, late in the evening and no food consumed for some hours,
type, duration and timing of exercise in relation to meals, insulin type dose and timing
presence or absence of other factors like stress, infection, ? atmospheric pressure etc.
I appreciate I may not have answered the question you are really trying to ask but hope the graphs/pictures will clarify the figures you quoted.
 
Hi @azizdhl ,

Insulatard and Actrapid was what I was put on when I went on to MDI in the early 1990s (insulins like Lantus, Levemir, Humalog and Novorapid didn't exist at the time).

Insulatard (or any other NPH insulin) doesn't last for 24 hours and is very peaky. It is better used twice daily, and indeed, when it was the standard long acting in the UK, you were always advised to use it twice daily.

Actrapid (or Regular as it is also known) takes a couple of hours to peak, and while it starts to have an effect, when injecting before a meal, typically, you can do so a lot more than 30 mins before hand. It also has a lifetime in the body of about 8 hours, so you need to be aware of this if you are using it with each meal.

If you google for dosing with insulatard and actrapid, there are a lot of recommendations about the options. This is one from the UK: https://ihub.scot/media/1568/nhs-tayside-basic-insulin-adjustment-guidelines-v10.pdf
 
No insulatard does not work for 24 hours.

I take insulatard at 3am now (was 4am)...and again when I get up. Anywhere from 5.15 to 8am. This deals with my bloods that climb hugely from 3am right through to 11am. I also have to have a bolus if novarapid before getting up.

As insulatard does not last in my body I also have a small tresiba injection around 4pmish each day which keeps me ok from 8pm to 3am and also acts alongside the insulatard.

Effectively I have the equivalent of 4 jabs. Just to run in background without eating...

Why is insulatard the only one you can take?
 
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