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Starting NovoRapid

Providence 62

Well-Known Member
Messages
933
Location
London UK
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Not riding my bike
Have finally got a prescription for fast acting insulin and I have to admit I am a bit nervous about starting it. My DN has given me some very clear instructions, i.e. start in the mornings with 4 units half a hour before breakfast. I also have a handful of glucose gel just in case. Thank goodness I am still on my Libre 2 trial so I can keep a really close eye what is going on. Should be fine, probably a bit of that very human thing, a fear of change. Wish me luck.
 
Best wishes with it. Some find it slow, but I find it quite responsive..

Keep a close ey on BGs, I find it can have a little flick in the tail 4.5 hours later?
 
Jaylee said:
Best wishes with it. Some find it slow, but I find it quite responsive..

Keep a close ey on BGs, I find it can have a little flick in the tail 4.5 hours later?
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Thanks @Jaylee I will be keeping a very close eye using my freebie Libre 2, thanks also for the heads up about the flick in the tail. My DN kindly prescribed some of those glucose gels just in case. Raisins are my normal port of call when my BG goes low, but apparently these gels are very effective. I normally only see them being used by lycra-clad super sporty cyclists when I am out on a bike ride at the weekend.
 
Providence 62 said:
Raisins are my normal port of call when my BG goes low, but apparently these gels are very effective. I normally only see them being used by lycra-clad super sporty cyclists when I am out on a bike ride at the weekend.
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I am a big fan of glucotabs. They are easy to get out of the packet/tube, which is waterproof and can be closed up without risking a cascade of tablets all over the inside of my bag. They are also easy to chew. But, most important, I don't particularly like them, so am never tempted to overdose as I'm sure I would if I was treating my hypo with something I actually liked (fruit pastilles? yum).
 

To be fair, any fast acting carbs to give it a nudge if BGs heading in the wrong direction..
I've been known to hit the dried fruit too.
Check any & back up readings on lows using your meter. You may well find the sensor will be a little slower showing the rise from a treated low, if you get one?
 
Good luck @Providence 62 !

It took time to find the right ratios when I started on NovoRapid and for me it's far more responsive when I'm at my usual pre-pandemic levels of activity. (Current stop-start are we/aren't we in the education workplace is playing complete havoc with my physical activity and walking routines, and therefore how much NovoRapid I need per 10g of carbs.... but worry about that fine-tuning once you are more used to what it does.)

Also took time for it to work on me in the first instance, but when it did it was a bit exciting! I was grateful for being over-prepared with the hypo snack box in my day backpack. I have continued, in other people's eyes, that level of over-preparedness. But, I'm that way inclined anyway.
 
Thank you @Japes. All very useful ideas. Just about to have my first dose now! Here we go.

P62
 
UPDATE 3pm

So far so good, lovely even blood sugar all day so far. Keep wondering if I can try a tad more at dinner time, but I will resist the temptation.
 
nearly midnight.....

Blood sugar now at 6 - unheard of for me, never seen it below 8 at bedtime. Very encouraged thus far. I resisted the temptation to take 4 units at dinner time. My blood sugar zoomed up and then zoomed down almost as quickly again (note to self about M&S chicken and rice soup being a bit heavy on the carbs without a few units).

Off to bed, got my Libre to wake me up if my BS goes really low in the night, raisins to hand.

Night night everyone.


Prov
 
I had a liver glycogen response for two months after starting injecting insulin, where your liver gives out insulin when your blood sugars go below 3.9 mmol/l. It meant I did not hypo, to begin with. I lost this ability overnight two months in. My DN said this was common.
I eat fruit to increase my blood sugars down to 3.5 mmol/l (a hypo starts below here) and fast-acting glucose below this. It stops the rollercoaster of blood sugars by overtreating a hypo.
Remember to finger prick before dosing insulin or if your blood sugars are below 4 mmol/l or above 8 mmol/l to confirm. The Libre is a good guide but can be really inaccurate.
Good luck.
 

It may not stop you going below 3.9 but I am pretty sure the liver response is the reasons that so many T1s go low at night and then recover without sugar.... It helps, but just not quite enough, I've always felt desperately sorry for T3cs with pancreas damage which means their glucqgon response is impaired. My pancreas may not be producing insulin, bit I'm grateful for all its other functions.
 
Reactions: ert
Thanks. It's great to have all this information from people who are far more experienced than me. I have some glucose gel that I was given on prescription. I am keeping that handy at the moment.
 
Thanks for this @EllieM - all useful information to bear in mind as I get used to the fast-acting insulin.
 
UPDATE bedtime 29th March 21 - all seems to be going fine, I think I need to consider a bit of a lunchtime jab of fast acting. I get a big spike after lunch (12) but it comes down quite quickly. Dinner has been less of a problem than it's been in a long time, the BG goes up and then it comes down again and by the time i am ready for bed it is around 6 (which is nice). It's nice to feel a lot more in control rather than trying really really hard and my BG being high most of the time (apart from the night time lows, that is). Might look at tinkering with my basal a bit in a while when things have settled down, but not just yet. The Libre 2 is a great help, but I do check it alongside my glucose meter from time to time. Night night.
 
Quick update. All going very nicely. I am pleased. There are spikes, but to be honest, while I am studying I am eating some things I probably shouldn't eat and not as active as I am normally. Another couple of weeks and I will be back into more like my normal routine. A couple of hypo episodes that weren't too bad at all. Another when I took the wrong dose of Lantus at bedtime, up half of the night chomping raisins to get my blood sugar up to about 5. Won't do that again in a hurry. I now write my doses down so that is a bit of a failsafe to make sure I don't give myself too much background. The Libre 2 is a real help and although my GP was happy to refer me to see if I could get it on prescription the diabetes service said I was too well controlled! Exams start tomorrow, so better get off to bed.

Goodnight.
 
I have the same problem, but the Libra is worth the self funding until insulin production completely stops.

Good luck with your exams.
 
TashT1 said:
I have the same problem, but the Libra is worth the self funding until insulin production completely stops.

Good luck with your exams.
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Hi Tash, just a query, would you not still find a libre helpful even when insulin production stops? x
 
Yes I would. Sorry that was badly worded. I’ve been told once I’m in that position a prescription is likely. I’ve had a libra since day 3 of diabetes, first on prescription & then it got took off. I can’t say I’d be happy about not having one.
 
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