Anonymous Question Pre-Mixed Insulin

[Anonymous Question]

Anonymous question submitted:

Hello there. I have a question related with insulin. So I have diabetes type I and I need to use two different types of insulin, everyday. I heard that there are some insulins that are pre-mixed, which means less pain everyday. But how do you even use a pre-mixed insulin?! What if I need the fast-acting one instead of the slow-acting one? If any of you guys use this sort of insulin, or Humalog Mix 25, could you please tell me a bit about your daily habits? For example, how many units do you need, for example, in the morning? How many times do you give your insulin everyday? I'm curious because currently I use a fast-acting one before meals, or whenever I need to. And the slow-acting one at night. Please, if you have this type of insulin, share your daily habits with me and who knows, maybe I'll feel less aprehensive. Thank you!

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[AlexMBrennan]

What if I need the fast-acting one instead of the slow-acting one?

Simply put, you can't (but as I understand it you usually get fast acting insulin alongside premixed for correction doses). You'd work out how much basal insulin you need, and then take an appropriate amount of the mix insulin - as a result, since you're injecting fast acting insulin whenever you inject basal, you have to eat fixed sized meals at regular times every day; if you want to sleep in or don't feel hungry, you still have to get up to eat.

So whilst technically basal would allow you to bet away with one or two fewer injections each day it will have a much greater impact on your life, and probably not worth it.