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Anonymous Question Why did they stop making pork insulin?


If Levemir does ever stop being ok, porcine can be adapted to if necessary - it is true that unfortunately the only porcine insulin available does have, at least for some people, myself included, a very much slower onset, and also less of a peak, than the old Pork insulins, especially the old Pork Velosulin - but this can be mostly overcome with the pump - you just set the base rate - the standard base rates and any needed temporary base rates - in the understanding of this, and have any bolus early also.. This has a lot of disadvantages, especially as regards any correction doses, but it has worked out the best option there is for me. .Ann
 
There are some really interesting stories here. I have diabetes now for 30 years and I am 40 this year. In the last few years I have been using Humalog and Novorapid and I have a real problem with thermoregulation. I feel hot and sweaty very easily despite not being low. I have bouts of severe tiredness and brain fog on a daily basis and I have pains in my calves unrelated to exercise. It's really becoming too much for me. I am going to London tomorrow to see a doctor about animal insulin in particular. I cannot carry on feeling this poorly. I have used the Stateside approved inhaled insulin Afrezza and my health improved dramatically on the first day of ditching Humalog and using Afrezza but Afrezza is not currently available here I understand. this is such a pain and has left me quite saddened. I just do not feel well and I find it increasingly difficult to function normally despite a good HbA1c in the 6s. If there is something I have learnt is that everyone is different when it comes to diabetes but there is definitely a much bigger issue going on for me with Human insulin. Incidentally when using Afrezza I found that the sensation in my hands and feet improved straight away and I felt much much better and 'well' is the best way I can describe it. We need to support each other as diabetics because truly my experience is from dealing with doctors and endocrinologists at a high level is that they are motivated to dish out the same advice to all diabetics and blame the patient for their lack of control. Diabetes is a chronic disease and other factors are out of kilter in the body such as GLP-1, amylin and counter-regulatory hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol and glycogen all of which are secreted at different rates during a typical day depending on a person's activity. I found Afrezza amazing, allowing me to live with genuine non-diabetic BG levels something that cannot be achieved with injectable insulin. I am prepared to look at animal insulin in the interim whilst Afrezza is gaining momentum.
 
 

Hello there @Shane Diabetic !
Do you have any questions regarding Porcine Insulins, in this case Hypurin Porcine, as it is at this time the only kind of natural Insulin left, in the western world? I use it at this time, so go ahead and ask, if you are curious.

Edited to add:

P.S. have you noticed, that these posts are about 5 years old, so the discussions here are not ongoing...
 
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I know this is an older thread, but still interesting.
I was put on pork Insulin when diagnosed in 1989, both pork and beef were available then.
 
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Agreed. Human insulin has a much quicker on off profile in the blood giving less time to notice lows developing, although more rapid correction of highs.
Additionally U100 strength i think is too strong for light weight people including children. U40 or U60 would allow finer titration of doses and less brittle effects.
 
Robinredbreast said:
I know this is an older thread, but still interesting.
I was put on pork Insulin when diagnosed in 1989, both pork and beef were available then.
Click to expand...

I was "running on" beef (Lente) also, as long as it was available. It's a shame they don't have any fully compatible kind of Insulins any longer. More or less all of the new Insulins are giving me bigger or smaller problems. Tried Tresiba latest, a few months ago, but I started to forget things - and I don't think I have dementia yet . No such problems with Porcine, other than it does not last long enough for me, so I really miss my old Lente kind of Insulin. Always stable, as long as you took into consideration its not so smooth action profile.
And yes - if only just to keep this thread alive . Tresiba had not so smooth action profile for me either. It lasted 14½ to 15 hours, and then stopped more or less. No slowly decreasing effect. About 4 hour after injection, it started to peak. Lente on the other hand, lasted for at least 22 hours for me. I tried it once, namely.

Combination of a rant, fact and personal opinions, I know, but I feel much better after this....

Edited to correct a typo
 
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I was on Human insulins (mealtime Actrapid, Novorapid, Humalog, background Tresiba, Monotard, Lantus). I was diagnosed in 1986 and started on the apparently superior Human insulins. After 20 years I experienced all the major signs of problems with Human insulin as reported on the IDDT website through self discovery. I moved over to Porcine Isophane for my background and Porcine Neutral for my mealtime insulin. I had never used animal insulin before. My levels stabilised and I felt much better. I started on the inhalable insulin, Afrezza, in 2015 and I have used it with porcine isophane every day and I feel truly in control of my diabetes. I couldn't function at all on the insulins I was on before animal insulin and it was getting to a point where death would have been welcomed. Much better now
 

Hello @brendan101 !
Nice to read, that you are feeling a lot better nowadays
 
 
Yes , I do have a question, thanks for asking, I live in Washington state in the USA, every doctor I have spoke with about getting porcine insulin treat me like I just created the biggest sin for even asking, I was on porcine for the first 12 years of my diabetic life and did very well with it , now on synthetic lantus and humalog , which gives me joint pain , and unpredictable lows , I was sitting at dinner one evening with my son and wife , At a Restaurant, next thing you know I'm waking to paramedics with an IV in my arm.
Sorry for keep going on and on , Anyways my question is , Is There ANY POSSIBLE way to get the porcine insulin in the USA , without the help of people that SHOULD help (DOCTORS) because after may attempts they offer ZERO help with this , OR do I have to move from the USA to the UK to get the results I need, any help or suggestions on getting Porcine insulin would be greatly appreciated.
 

@Shane Diabetic

Porcine is also available in Canada, and if I'm not too wrong, it is possible to import directly from Canada to the US. You can also get it from the UK - Dr Google knows how to do. It's too long since I read about it. (Did a check - there is a usable link a few lines further down now).
I'm surprised that no one is willing to help - it's in my opinion their duty.

The following link tells about the possibility to import Porcine, for personal use, to the US from the UK:

https://www.iddt.org/here-to-help/i...ion-of-pork-insulin-from-the-uk?cn-reloaded=1

IDDT is, in many users opinion, also ready to friendly help, in cases like this - have not myself had any corresponding problem, so I only repeat the hearsay... Where I come from, there is Porcine available on prescription.

If you have lost your hunger feelings, you will probably not be able to get them back, even if you change to a natural insulin. Porcine does on the other hand also give quite strong other warnings, so it's very possible you even will be able to wake up from normal sleep seamlessly, if your BGL's are getting low.

My English is a little bit clumsy, so I usually don't write too long stories, but you are very welcome to ask more questions - I, and probably also this friendly and knowledgeable forum, are ready to answer your questions as far as possible...

Edited only to insert a tag, that I first forgot
 
I personally contacted iddit and they told me I needed Dr prescription and all the relevant papers required to get it to USA , the doctors at Kaiser Permanente that I asked would not do it for me, The last endocrinologist at Kaiser Permanente I saw ackted like I committed the biggest crime in the world when I brought it up, I will be switching insurance companies shortly and hope I get a little more help from elsewhere. I have also contacted Canadian pharmacy and was told it wasn't available there anymore, only called two though maybe I'll try a few more
 
anonymousonhere said:
Human insulin is better
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Hello there @anonymousonhere , and welcome to this forum!

I personally disagree with you, but yes - true, that some do very well on human insulin and also human analogs, but that does not in any way say, that human insulin nor analogs are "better"...
Could you please explicate your choice of the word "better".
 



Hypurin porcine has not been discontinued. Only bovine
It is readily available and I changed back onto it again 3 weeks ago - dec 2019
 
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