This may be a stupid question

[happier than you]

But nobody has ever told me.

Is 1 unit of a long lasting insulin, comparable to a fast acting one?
ie will say 20 units of levemir, roughly lower blood glucose the same as 20 units of humalog...just over a different time scale?
I know it doesn't really matter, you obviously can't exchange one for the other because the timing would be all out of whack, just curious if one is more potent/effective than the other or if they are roughly the same.

 

[paulliljeros]

I think, but am happy to be corrected, technically the answer is yes, however, like you say, you can't really compare them. Essentially the purpose of the basal insulin is to metabolise the slow release of glycogen released from the liver, and again, like you suggest the typical speedy absorption of energy from the food will never be matched in reality to the very slow effect of the basal. And this is why pump therapy only uses fast acting insulin, even for the basal part

 

[Daibell]

Hi. I believe you can't really compare them.

 

[Natalie1974]

I think it's a lot more complicated than that...I believe @tim2000s had an answer to this on a similar thread a little while ago

 

[tim2000s]

Thanks @Natalie1974 I said on a different topic that I'd tried to model it, and while in theory 1u of insulin of whatever type should match off against your insulin sensitivity factor carb amount whatever type it is, I've found (and @robert72 or @AndyS mentioned they'd had the same thing) that the match is a bit more complicated and only seems to work when you have the right amount of insulin to last the duration it is supposed to as well as keep your levels steady.