Swapping to Lyumjev

[Nicola M]

Just wondered if anyone had experience with using Lyumjev and whether they liked it/found it worked better?

I am being swapped to it as I spike quite badly after meals using novorapid even with injecting 30+ minutes before the meal. I worked with my diabetes team to try lower my carb ratio first which seems to have changed nothing so they recommended an insulin change.

I have been told some people do come off of it due to the reaction at insulin sites and/or stinging so slightly worried about that.

Any input is appreciated!

 

[Antje77]

Hi @Nicola M , I've used Lyumjev for a short while to try it out, and found it definitely worked quicker than NovoRapid.
However, I was already on Fiasp before the Lyumjev trial, and I decided to stick with Fiasp because I like my Novopen 5 with a memory for your last dose, which you can't use with Lyumjev.

I mainly trialled it out of curiousity, told my endo I was curious and asked if I could get a prescription for a couple of pens. She was curious as well, so happy to have me try it and relay my findings.

For me, Lyumjev worked much the same as Fiasp, perhaps even a tad quicker.
So compared to NovoRapid this meant I could change from prebolusing by up to 50 minutes to simply dosing right before eating, or sometimes 10 to 20 minutes prior if I'm on the high side to give it a bit of a head start.

Lyumjev does sting a bit for me, but still I'd choose it over any other insulin except Fiasp!

I hope it suits you well, no more prebolusing has made my life so much easier!

 

[Yaya10_10]

Nice question and i would like to add this question.

Is it possible that a person use two types of rapid acting insulin.

For example in the morning fiasp but the rest of the day use novorapid?.

 

[EllieM]

Nice question and i would like to add this question.

Is it possible that a person use two types of rapid acting insulin.

For example in the morning fiasp but the rest of the day use novorapid?.

Some people do use 3 insulins, eg @MarkMunday used to use actrapid, novorapid and lantus I believe, but you may have a bit of an argument with your consultant.

@Antje77 , am I misremembering or did you try a third insulin at one stage?

 

[david4503]

Nice question and i would like to add this question.

Is it possible that a person use two types of rapid acting insulin.

For example in the morning fiasp but the rest of the day use novorapid?.

It’s possible if you make the case to whoever is writing your prescriptions and they buy your reasoning. I use three insulins but all have very different onsets, peaks and durations.

 

[peat5961]

I use Lyumjev and like you switched from novorapid

For me it works fine you do get a bit of stinging sometimes

But for me the fact I do not have to inject way before the meal or have high blood sugar levels for a very long time after the meal before the novo kicks in means I’m very happy with it.

Only down side for me was learning (paying more attention) which foods have a slower absorption rate into the blood stream for these

I have to do a split injection with the meal otherwise the insulin starts working before the Carbs can get in my body & my blood levels drop too far

Hope this info helps

 

[Antje77]

Is it possible that a person use two types of rapid acting insulin.

For example in the morning fiasp but the rest of the day use novorapid?.

It's possible, and it might be useful for some people, but it's very unusual so it might be very difficult to get someone to prescribe it to you. You'd have to have a very involved and curious consultant, and a very good reason to want this.

I believe Afrezza, the inhaled and very quick acting insulin is regularly used alongside a more traditional rapid acting insulin, but this insulin is only available in the US. @Marie 2 uses Humalog (comparable to NovoRapid) and Afrezza, as does this guy:

@Antje77 , am I misremembering or did you try a third insulin at one stage?

You remember correctly, and I still do, but I use two basals. Tresiba because it's so stable and very forgiving to injecting at different times, topping up with Levemir on days I need more basal because it's relatively short lived and the dose can be adjusted from day to day, instead of having to wait three days before noticing a difference after changing the Tresiba dose.
Took some convincing my endo to prescribe too, I'm very lucky with her!
I have absolutely no reason to want a slower acting bolus insulin alongside my Fiasp, if anything I'd like it to act a bit quicker.

 

[Nicola M]

Thank you all for your help and quick replies, hoping that it works just as quick for me as I’m sick of my spiking it’s terrible after lunch yet perfectly fine after dinner, good ol’ diabetes! Will be interesting to see how my blood sugars are in day to day life with it being used in my insulin pump though as I’ve always used novorapid!

 

[Antje77]

Thank you all for your help and quick replies, hoping that it works just as quick for me as I’m sick of my spiking it’s terrible after lunch yet perfectly fine after dinner, good ol’ diabetes! Will be interesting to see how my blood sugars are in day to day life with it being used in my insulin pump though as I’ve always used novorapid!

Let us know how you get on with it!

 

[david4503]

Yes, good luck to everyone making or considering making a change. Sometimes you need to get a little creative to solve a problem and if your solution works for you, then you probably have a pretty convincing case for it.

 

[Marie 2]

I use Humalog in my pump and started using Afrezza about 6 months ago. Afrezza is super fast acting and I love it as @Antje77 has said, it's nice to be able to take an insulin and eat immediately without spiking. But I still use Humalog for small doses and correction doses because it's easily done in my pump and I also use Humalog for the basal rate in my pump. In my case I still like the Humalog along with the Afrezza because Humalog lasts longer. I didn't realize how much Humalog was taking care of things that hit my BG later, like protein and maybe some carbs. And Afrezza is gone by 2 hours. It did take a learning curve because they are different.

I did get asked on the phone by my insurance company when I increased to a larger order of Afrezza, that was I using two fast acting insulins and I explained why and it was accepted. People here are often using Afrezza with another fast acting insulin.

But a couple of the people I know, they have said Lyumjev is faster than Fiasp and then another person said it didn't work well at all on them, So it probably varies some person to person too. What one person was saying is more of it works faster and that is kind of what happens with Afrezza for me. More of it hits faster. That means if you spike, it drops faster or you never spike at all. But everyone has said Lyumjev does sting.

 

[bonus]

Hello everyone,

I just wondered if anyone else has any further updates on Lyumjev?

I've been using it for just over a week now, im a 33yr old T1 male 75KG ( Changed from Fiasp ) and found that it takes about 30 min to start lowering levels; which it does very quickly, and finish's after about 1.5 - 2hrs. Then levels can start to raise again but im still working out dosage amounts which certainly is challenging. The Libre 2 alarms are a must at the moment.

I do get a little stinging now and again when injecting but not always.


One thing I did want to ask is How are people finding the quality of the Lyumjev Pen?? It doesnt have a 'click' sound or feel to it when injecting and it doesnt feel the standard of build quality compared to other makes of pens.


I use Toujeo as my Long acting once a day.

Best Regards

Justin

 

[MissyNJS2022]

Just wondered if anyone had experience with using Lyumjev and whether they liked it/found it worked better?

I am being swapped to it as I spike quite badly after meals using novorapid even with injecting 30+ minutes before the meal. I worked with my diabetes team to try lower my carb ratio first which seems to have changed nothing so they recommended an insulin change.

I have been told some people do come off of it due to the reaction at insulin sites and/or stinging so slightly worried about that.

Any input is appreciated!

Hi Nicola. Not sure you’ll get this as it’s a pretty old post. I e just been changed to Lyumjev 3 days ago. Tried Fiasp and it mad no difference. I’ve been on Novorapid for years but was getting to a point where I needed to inject an hour before eating! I’ve woken up pretty high so gave myself 3 units 45 mins ago and it’s slowly dropping. I was just wondering if you changed your dosage/ratios when it came to eating and correction with Lyumjev? Thanks in advance!
Nichola x

 

[Nicola M]

Hi Nicola. Not sure you’ll get this as it’s a pretty old post. I e just been changed to Lyumjev 3 days ago. Tried Fiasp and it mad no difference. I’ve been on Novorapid for years but was getting to a point where I needed to inject an hour before eating! I’ve woken up pretty high so gave myself 3 units 45 mins ago and it’s slowly dropping. I was just wondering if you changed your dosage/ratios when it came to eating and correction with Lyumjev? Thanks in advance!
Nichola x

I can't comment on correction ratios as when I was moved to Lyumjev I was on hybrid closed loop so it works out corrections for me. In terms of my ratios though they've stayed the same as they were before, I do find when you're on the higher side it does still take a little bit to kick in but once it does it can drop you really quickly so you do have to be mindful not to over correct. I have found that even on the same doasages as before my sugars are in such better range now although for lunch at work I do still have to pre-bolus by 10 minutes.

 

[CheeseSeaker]

Have been on quite 'a journey' with Lyumjev - now use it all the time.

Its Humalog with a vasal dilator (Treprostinil) added to speed up absorption - the other alternative (Fiasp) is Novorapid with added nicotinamide/B3 - some find Fiasp works well, other Lyumjev. I couldn't get satisfactory results with Fiasp absorbing so moved to Lyumjev.

Treprostinil is what can cause a bit of grief. It was originally used for other drugs (I think something to help liver or kidney drugs absorb but don't quote me), and can take 3 months or so for the body to get used to it.

I went through many loops of discomfort/pain and the sites being resistant (lumps) where Lyumjev (and Fiasp) didn't work very well causing very high BGs.

I ended up going away from Lyumjev and mixing Fiasp and Novorapid - eventually that stopped working after 2 months or so - so went to a Novorapid Lyumjev (50%) and finally a Fiasp/Lyumjev 50% mix. (oddly that worked very well with only minor discomfort).

I slowly moved to 100% Lyumjev and now don't have problems - I think my body has got used to the Treprostinil.

Mixing insulins is not approved by the manufacturers or and of the medical teams so personal risk - having said that we mixed insulins ok in the 70s/80s without issue.

Lyumjev kicks in much quicker than novorapid - you need to inject pretty much at the point you eat, or only a few minutes before to avoid hypos.

Its a great leap forward on Novorapid (for control) - however I find absorption can be back to 'normal speed' if I have a +12 BG - don't over bolus till you work out how that goes with your own body.

Works amazingly well when looping - I wouldn't go back to Novorapid now.