Cramp & short acting insulin

[Crazy Nanna]

I just had to post this as I battled for years with intense and incredibly painful cramps that would bring me to tears of agony. I also have a memory problem due to a traumatic brain injury so a few months back my meds were changed from lantus and novorapid to metformin and Tresiba and during the last few months I had forgotten about the nightly torture of cramps (bear with me I will get to the point soon) until last night when I had 4 units of novorapid and WITHIN HOURS the forgotten cramp was back with a vengeance in both front of thigh muscles and in my thumb and first two fingers. I was crying in agony and then the connection hit me. It seems to me that it was the short acting insulin it must have been as it was the only thing that I did differently. Has anyone else had similar experience with connecting the two?

 

[SB2015]

I just had to post this as I battled for years with intense and incredibly painful cramps that would bring me to tears of agony. I also have a memory problem due to a traumatic brain injury so a few months back my meds were changed from lantus and novorapid to metformin and Tresiba and during the last few months I had forgotten about the nightly torture of cramps (bear with me I will get to the point soon) until last night when I had 4 units of novorapid and WITHIN HOURS the forgotten cramp was back with a vengeance in both front of thigh muscles and in my thumb and first two fingers. I was crying in agony and then the connection hit me. It seems to me that it was the short acting insulin it must have been as it was the only thing that I did differently. Has anyone else had similar experience with connecting the two?

Hi Nana
I use Novorapid, but I have never experienced cramp after using it.
There are other fast acting insulins, so it could be that there is something in Novorapid that you are allergic to. You could ask to try a different insulin. I hope that you are able to sort this out

 

[Northerner]

Hi Nana, although I have occasional cramps at night (particularly in the feet, it seems ) I'm not really able to relate them to the novorapid (been using it for nearly 11 years). Certainly, in my case, I'm highly unlikely to have any novorapid circulating still by the time I go to bed, so it should be completely absent from my system overnight. How long before going to bed/the cramps did you inject? Novorapid has a usual duration of between 3-5 hours. Have you measured your blood sugar levels when the cramps occur, to see if that might be something new e.g. lower than usual numbers? It might not be the actual novorapid, but the actual change it has produced.

 

[miguel81]

I too have severe cramps at night usually in my right leg and foot, thankfully only 2 or 3 times a year.. I do use Novorapid but have never considered
it a factor - Hmm.