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Urgent question - mixed insulin

A

Ali H

Well-Known Member
Hi, my Dad has forgotten to roll and invert my Mum's mixed insulin properly, does anybody know what this is likely to do? I guess either a shortfall of long or short acting will have been injected and it is important to watch for hypos for a few hours? Anybody know? It is humalog 25/75.

Ali
 
As you have said already Ali just keep an eye on her bg levels for a while to see what effect it has, its easily done with mixed insulin so don't be hard on your father.
 
I am away from home, I have just advised him to watch her levels, I have deliberately not alarmed him at all, the vial is nearing the end anyway so likely to have mixed a bit just from being handled.

Thanks, will make sure he checks her blood regularly.

Ali
 
Ali H said:
Hi, my Dad has forgotten to roll and invert my Mum's mixed insulin properly, does anybody know what this is likely to do? I guess either a shortfall of long or short acting will have been injected and it is important to watch for hypos for a few hours? Anybody know? It is humalog 25/75.

Ali
Click to expand...

Hey there. I'm not an expert in mixed insulins, but I used to take intermediate insulin which was cloudy and needed mixing. The clear liquid was effectively the insulin while the cloudy bit was the particles and suspension that slowed down the absorption of the insulin in the body. When I forgot to mix it, the insulin acted more quickly and didn't last as long, so I went a little low fairly quickly and then a bit high when the insulin had worn off.

Applying this to your mum's mixed insulin, I would say that she might get the full effects of both the 25% bolus and 75% basal at roughly the same time because the particles are heavier than the clear liquid, so without mixing it, she will have got a dose of the clear liquid i.e. long and short acting insulin but none or very little of the particles to slow down the absorption of the long acting. So, I would expect you might see her drop a bit low in the next couple of hours, followed by being higher than usual later on when the insulin has worn off.

All you can do is keep an eye on it and correct as appropriate.

Smidge
 
Ok doke thanks. He does normally do her injections btw, I haven't just abandoned them with an unfamiliar regime. She is new to mixed and still running a bit high in the mornings so hopefully that will work in her favour!

Ali
 
I use the same insulin and have done the same thing on a couple of occasions now.

When I thought 'oh @/%* ' and looked at it, it wasn't completely seperated. So perhaps I was a bit lucky but I didn't notice much difference overall.
 
Thank you. She is still running around 10 in the mornings after her injection so I am not overly worried, we haven't found the ideal dose just yet and besides, we won't be aiming for low levels in view of her age. Shouldn't give her a hypo fingers crossed.

Ali
 
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