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Novarapid vs Humalog

Richard F

Well-Known Member
Messages
282
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all

Talking to the clinic today we discussed ways of getting a more rapid result from an injection. I take multiple correction doses, carb count etc. Last HbA1c 53%. They suggested swapping from novarapid to humalog.

Anyone done this? Did they find it was faster acting?

I'm campaigning for a pump at the moment.
 
I can't help you with your question but have you read up on 'FIASP' (fast insulin apspart) which (I believe) is a faster version of Novorapid, it's available on the NHS and some folk have had decent results with it on mdi (it was brought in for pumps) but then again some folk didn't get on with its shorter lifespan.

You do rotate injection sites and use fresh needles of course
 
Richard F said:
... They suggested swapping from novarapid to humalog.

Anyone done this? Did they find it was faster acting? ...
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I have used both and I could see no difference. For me the time to peak and duration of insulin action were pretty much the same. If you want something faster, ask for Fiasp or Lyumjev (new from Eli Lilly). They are not suitable for low carb eating with MDI, though. But should work well with a pump.
 
Thanks, maybe the doc is trying to distract me from my pump request.

What do you regard as low carb? I'm on around 120 per day.
 
Richard F said:
... What do you regard as low carb? I'm on around 120 per day.
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I would call that 'moderate carb'. If it works for you, great, but going lower would further stabilise blood glucose.. 'Low carb' is defined in different ways but is often understood as the level of carb that retrains the body to switch from glucose to fat as the main source of energy. Doing that requires getting into and staying in dietary ketosis. That in turn involves consuming less than 50 grams of carb a day. In my case it has really stabilised blood glucose.
 
The doc has added humalog to my script, I'll see how I get along.
 
I've been using humalog for 5 days now, not quite as straight forward as I'd hoped. I seem to be struggling balancing things particularly over night.

I'm thinking I might need to adjust (increase) my basal, although I can't logically see why. Typically it takes me about a week to get used to a new basal dose, the last time it took me a month to get it right (reduced in stages from 18 to 12)

Is it usual to rebalanced basal (lantus) when the bolus type has changed?
 
Richard F said:
Is it usual to rebalanced basal (lantus) when the bolus type has changed?
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I wouldn't have thought so as your basal should be independent of your bolus - though it is possible that the Novorapid was staying around in your system for much longer than you expected - thus effectively adding to your basal for some amount of time?
I know when I was on Novorapid it could be very slow and sat around for ages (as in I often saw it kicking in about 4-5 hours after I'd taken it, thanks to my libre)
 

I think you may be onto something. Since starting with humalog I've reviewed my libre graphs, I'm often seeing a second peak 2-3 hrs after eating which I then have to correct.
 
Well for anyone finding this thread.
2 weeks in and getting used to humalog, a few hypos but now I recon I've a handle on it.

For me it comes in quicker and leaves quicker than Novarapid, it seems to peak about the same time 2 hrs in then drops off, Novarapid seemed to be active for longer.

Time in target up to over 70%, from around 65%, and much less time spent really high.

Overall more controllable.
 
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