Moving From Humalog To Novorapid - Fifth Change In 8.5 Months

kitedoc said:

Hi @Metalmama, You sound like you are in caught in a never-ending storm!. The following is just from my experience as a diabetic on insulin for 51 years and the father of a child with thyroid and coeliac disease (CD).
Personally I was changed from beef and porcine insulin in the 1980's without a problem and my insulin doses have not changed substantially since I was transferred from multiple daily injections (MDI) to an insulin pump some 7 years ago. Changes have been in line with moving from working to retirement 4 years ago.
Firstly hair falling out - ? looking at nutrition , either lack of minerals. vitamins in diet or poor absorption of them because of things like coeliac disease - it was the latter in my daughter. Also under-active thyroid was a contributory cause to hair loss in her case. She underwent blood tests for CD (test was called TTG) and for thyroid (TSH, T4).
So your doctor is the best person to see and discuss these and any other possibilities for your symptoms of hair loss and lack of insulin effect.
Reading up on CD, I could not find a particular cause for insulin not working well but maybe there is something about under-active thyroid as a possible cause. But that is my guess and your doctor can advise.
Stress can also cause hair loss and add to insulin resistance. Whether that is enough to explain your response to short-acting insulins I am not sure. Various medications including steroids can also cause insulin resistance and so affect insulin effectiveness.
The drug information pamphlet in the package with your insulin or insulin pens talks about keeping stored insulin between 2 and 8 degrees C (i.e. in the fridge). Freezing of insulin deactivates as does exposure to over 30 degrees C. The pamphlet also talks about insulin being effective if kept out of the fridge, for up to 28 days at below 30 degrees C. If I am in doubt that my insulin has been kept too long out of the fridge, might have frozen or exposed to > 30 degrees C, I try either a new insulin from the fridge or even a new batch altogether.
The trouble you have experienced with so many short-acting insulins does seem to make storage problems less likely as a cause of you problems. though.
As others have said injecting into the same site over and over can cause problems with insulin absorption.
Hair loss as a possible side-effect to an insulin has been reported (rarely with Fiasp and only when combined with a chemotherapy agent), With Novorapid rarely as in combination with another insulin or other medication, and less rarely with Humalog, usually in combo with another insulin and other medications.(above sourced from drugs.com)
A report about '30 years of human insulin ..' by iddt.org talked more about lack of choice for diabetics and how some diabetics were more stable of animal insulins and were returned to them. It was also pointed out that one insulin manufacturer plans to cease making animal insulins, despite the fact that issues about long-term use of human insulin are still not resolved.
An article 'Resistance and allergy to recombinant insulin' by Ganz et al jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(05)80122-8/pdf (1990) describes a newly diagnosed diabetic initially stabilised on animal insulin who on transferred to human insulin, then developed itch skin/swellings and extreme insulin resistance. His BSLs stabilised well on return to animal insulin. It was the measurement of high insulin antibodies that helped clarify what was happening in his case. Also it was pointed out that manufactured human insulin has additives like preservatives etc so that allergies are still possible in highly purified 'human' insulins despite what others might say.
I hope the above might be helpful in sorting out what is happening. Please keep faith in the fact that things will get sorted. The trick is finding the right health professional to see ? GP ? endocrinologist.
My Best Wishes to you, keep posting and asking questions and please please let us know how you fare.

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kitedoc said:

Hi @Metalmama, Sorry to hear of your troubles and the lack of support.
Is your under-active thyroid being treated with medication (thyroxine) and your blood tests show that your thyroid function is now normal?
Have you been tested for coeliac disease? Eating bread and other gluten-containing food for at least 6 weeks and etc and then a blood test as a screening test done?
I have read about some diabetics who have such altered absorption of insulin that they require concentrated insulin.
Can you be referred a.s.a.p. to a consultant endocrinologist to sort some of these things out?
Or is it a case that animal-derived insulin is best ?
Is there another DN who might be more open?? And if your request to see a consultant endocrinologist is declined, or a request for a second consultant opinion (if the first one was useless) is declined you may need to see your local member of Parliament. Please keep posting as you go, many on site have had to battle through the health system and bureaucracy and have learnt various methods in order to succeed. Never give up. There is a solution somewhere!!!

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