NovoRapid time to respond

[Denisea]

It's taking 45 min for my fast acting insulin to kick in. My doctors say that's not possible. Is this normal? How long does it take for yours to respond?

 

[catapillar]

What do you mean by respond? & in what situations - I.e are you talking 45 min before a correction dose starts to bring you down? Cos if you are correcting for a big high you'd be more insulin resistant so it might take longer to do anything.

Also, how are you deciding when it kicks in? Are you going off a CGM or libre? Not sure about the libre, but I know my dexcom runs at least 20 minutes behind because there is a time lag in interstitial fluid picking up the glucose levels when compared to blood.

Having said that (just to make sure I'm not assuming anything silly!) I think "impossible" is probably a bit strong. I try to wait at least 40 minutes between injecting and eating at lunch time & 20 minutes the rest of the day. I don't think that's that unusual. But the fast acting insulins are marketed as fast acting so if your doctors aren't using them themselves with a handy graph that actually shows what impact it has, they might just be over sold on the branding, it is novorapid after all!

 

[steve_p6]

It's taking 45 min for my fast acting insulin to kick in. My doctors say that's not possible. Is this normal? How long does it take for yours to respond?

Yep that's what a lot of us see on the Libre, some see faster but I can often bolus up to an hour in advance before I see the BGs move. (Noting that the Libre is watching Interstitial Glucose with potential 15 min delay(.

 

[Kristin251]

I find this odd because if I take novolog without food I start dropping within 20 minutes and can drop up to 30 points within an hour. I definitely find the fat in the previous meal to make a difference. I feel insulin working within 15 minutes info don't start eating. But I am also doing low cal low fat at the moment.

 

[Denisea]

Thanks @catapillar. When I say respond mean from the time I inject to the time it takes for my blood to start coming down - without eating

 

[iHs]

Hi @Denisea

Do you know if your basal dose is keeping your fasting bg levels at a good target like 6mmol or are yours at 7mmol? If your insulin to carb ratio isn't quite right, then your correction dose won't be ok so you might need to correct high bgs with a bit more bolus first of all and then tackle the basal.

 

[slip]

Quick acting insulin is a bit of a misnomer - yes they act quicker than slow acting (!) but some people do find injecting 30-45 or even 1 hour before eating stops the post meal spike. If I want to avoid the breakfast spike I inject 20-30 mins before breakfast, lunch times I'm able to inject and eat straightaway and not suffer too big a post meal spike if any - but this may relate to what @catapillar has said as I normally run slightly higher over night and BS does rise once I get up.

 

[novorapidboi26]

as everyone responds differently at different times of the day, yes, it is possible........I take my lunch and dinner bolus doses at 30 minutes and 45 minuted respectively, it obviously starts working before then but the peak will run alongside the digestion peak....

how many times have you recorded the '45' minutes duration until a drop in BG?

at what times of the day were these recordings?

had you any digestion still taking place?