DB nurses suggest I move to Fiasp! Ultra fast!

[gillrogers]

Ok so my DB nurses suggest I move to Fiasp and describes it as ultra fast as I just keep spiking too high and quickly when I eat despite prebulosing.
I rekon it's more of a case of me not getting the right insulin dose for what I'm eating as I'm still new at this.

Don't know wether to agree to it or not. I've heard it can be risky?

 

[helli]

I have been using Fiasp for a couple of years and never heard that it can be risky.
It is not perfect but, for me, it has been much better than NovoSluggish and I have not had to pre-bolus as early. I was having to prebolus 40 minutes before eating to avoid spikes but that was long enough to be distracted by work in the middle of the day so I found it more dangerous.

The downsides are
- it last less time out of the fridge. After a couple of weeks, it can seem like water. But as I used it in a pump, I use it for basal as well as bolus so less of a problem.
- it is slow when correcting a high. The temptation is to rage bolus (add another correction) but I have learnt it is delayed so I need to be patient.
- it can work faster than some food takes to digest. My pump allows me to spread my bolus over a number of hours which avoids this being a problem.
- some people find its speed reduces over time and they find it is not as potent after a few months. After more than 2 years, I find that it is still faster than NovoSluggish.

There is a Fiasp facebook group which I am a member of. It may give you more insight although it is not the most educational diabetes-focused group I have joined.
Some members find it does not suit but none have reported anything dangerous.

I recommend asking if you can trial Fiasp and then make a decision. There should be no reason why you can not change back if it does not suit you.

 

[gillrogers]

I have been using Fiasp for a couple of years and never heard that it can be risky.
It is not perfect but, for me, it has been much better than NovoSluggish and I have not had to pre-bolus as early. I was having to prebolus 40 minutes before eating to avoid spikes but that was long enough to be distracted by work in the middle of the day so I found it more dangerous.

The downsides are
- it last less time out of the fridge. After a couple of weeks, it can seem like water. But as I used it in a pump, I use it for basal as well as bolus so less of a problem.
- it is slow when correcting a high. The temptation is to rage bolus (add another correction) but I have learnt it is delayed so I need to be patient.
- it can work faster than some food takes to digest. My pump allows me to spread my bolus over a number of hours which avoids this being a problem.
- some people find its speed reduces over time and they find it is not as potent after a few months. After more than 2 years, I find that it is still faster than NovoSluggish.

There is a Fiasp facebook group which I am a member of. It may give you more insight although it is not the most educational diabetes-focused group I have joined.
Some members find it does not suit but none have reported anything dangerous.

I recommend asking if you can trial Fiasp and then make a decision. There should be no reason why you can not change back if it does not suit you.

 

[gillrogers]

Thanks @helli , I'm not worried about how long it lasts out of the fridge. I suppose any insulin is risky if you don't get it right. I'm a worrier that's half my problem lol.

 

[Inka]

How long in advance are you pre-bolusing @gillrogers ? It’s ok to worry. If you’re not keen on Fiasp then just tell your team. It’s your body and your diabetes. If you want to you could give yourself a few weeks to try other methods and then revisit the idea of Fiasp if none of those things help you.

 

[gillrogers]

How long in advance are you pre-bolusing @gillrogers ? It’s ok to worry. If you’re not keen on Fiasp then just tell your team. It’s your body and your diabetes. If you want to you could give yourself a few weeks to try other methods and then revisit the idea of Fiasp if none of those things help you.

15 minutes @Inka , I'm going to go back to them as the nurse that contacted me via email wasn't the nurse that I actually spoke to last week and started to develop a plan with. I'm slowly getting there, I do spike high but I think that's because I'm not getting low enough before my meal but not high enough to give a correction plus my lispro doesn't do half units. So I think I'm probably under dosing.

 

[Inka]

Ok, well I’d look at bolusing earlier. Move the injection time forward gradually 5 minutes at a time. Just as an example, I need to bolus 30 mins in advance for breakfast.

You’re on Humalog? There’s a half unit pen for that. I have one for when I don’t use my pump and it’s very useful. Get one of those (your team can ask your GP to prescribe it) and also look at your bolus timing as above.

How high are you before meals when you say you’re high but not high enough to correct?

 

[mikeyB]

I've switched to Fiasp and love it. Bolus minutes before eating and it abolishes spikes. Fifteen minutes before Pizza! It's only risky if you bolus for carbs you decide not to eat, or get distracted.

 

[gillrogers]

Ok, well I’d look at bolusing earlier. Move the injection time forward gradually 5 minutes at a time. Just as an example, I need to bolus 30 mins in advance for breakfast.

You’re on Humalog? There’s a half unit pen for that. I have one for when I don’t use my pump and it’s very useful. Get one of those (your team can ask your GP to prescribe it) and also look at your bolus timing as above.

How high are you before meals when you say you’re high but not high enough to correct?

No its lispro, no half measures on this one. One unit click at a time. I'm on an 7 or 8.

 

[gillrogers]

I've switched to Fiasp and love it. Bolus minutes before eating and it abolishes spikes. Fifteen minutes before Pizza! It's only risky if you bolus for carbs you decide not to eat, or get distracted.

Haha @mikeyB , getting distracted is the next story of my life! It happens to me soo easily lol

 

[Inka]

No its lispro, no half measures on this one. One unit click at a time. I'm on an 7 or 8.

ok, well then maybe look at rounding up rather than down? You can always eat a few grams of carbs if needed. You could also ask to swap to Humalog (which is Lispro) and get a half unit pen as they’re great for corrections too.

 

[gillrogers]

ok, well then maybe look at rounding up rather than down? You can always eat a few grams of carbs if needed. You could also ask to swap to Humalog (which is Lispro) and get a half unit pen as they’re great for corrections too.

Oh really, I didn't know that. Ohh I'll do that tomorrow. I get stuck with thinking what to have you know lol. I've found being gluten intolerant don't blooming help. Having said that I did my manage to work out extra carbs to round up tonight. Went from 7 something to 14.7, would gave gone higher if I was pottering about in the garden and house. Started to come back down 3 hrs after dinner and now coming down at a fast steady.

 

[Inka]

Just thought - is your lispro made by Sanofi? If so, they do a half unit pen. It’s the Solostar one (I think that’s it’s name).it’s called Junior Solo or Junior Star - something like that.

 

[gillrogers]

Just thought - is your lispro made by Sanofi? If so, they do a half unit pen. It’s the Solostar one (I think that’s it’s name).it’s called Junior Soloor Junior Star - something like that.

You got it! Yes it is. Right I'm definitely onto them tomorrow then.

 

[Lucyr]

Just thought - is your lispro made by Sanofi? If so, they do a half unit pen. It’s the Solostar one (I think that’s it’s name).it’s called Junior Solo or Junior Star - something like that.

It’s the sanofi junior star and previously when I’ve given the company a call they have posted me one free, or you can get from the diabetes clinic or on prescription. It’s a really nice pen and comes in blue silver or red. You would need to get disposable pens changed to cartridges on your prescription to use it.

 

[gillrogers]

It’s the sanofi junior star and previously when I’ve given the company a call they have posted me one free, or you can get from the diabetes clinic or on prescription. It’s a really nice pen and comes in blue silver or red. You would need to get disposable pens changed to cartridges on your prescription to use it.

Thank you for the tip @Lucyr

 

[Lucyr]

Thank you for the tip @Lucyr

No problem, I’ve used the junior star pen with apidra since it came out years ago, and have never had a problem with it. I’ve never used fiasp so not much help on that front.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Oh really, I didn't know that. Ohh I'll do that tomorrow. I get stuck with thinking what to have you know lol. I've found being gluten intolerant don't blooming help. Having said that I did my manage to work out extra carbs to round up tonight. Went from 7 something to 14.7, would gave gone higher if I was pottering about in the garden and house. Started to come back down 3 hrs after dinner and now coming down at a fast steady.

Being gluten intolerant shouldn't make any difference.
I would suspect your main problem is your pancreas playing silly B's as so newly diagnosed.

Have you tried doing a basal test? This would hopefully help you find any patterns in your blood sugars.
Another option would perhaps be to think of splitting your bolus dose if your basal is fine.

Fiasp is fine to use I've used it for a few years now.

 

[gillrogers]

Being gluten intolerant shouldn't make any difference.
I would suspect your main problem is your pancreas playing silly B's as so newly diagnosed.

Have you tried doing a basal test? This would hopefully help you find any patterns in your blood sugars.
Another option would perhaps be to think of splitting your bolus dose if your basal is fine.

Fiasp is fine to use I've used it for a few years now.

Ooh no it's not that. Gluten limits what I can have snack wise in the house, gluten free stuff is so expensive. I do make my own gluten free oat cookies but I find because I'm the only one in the house like it, so much gets wasted because I can't use it in time. I haven't done the basal test. I can't get my head around it at the moment. But yes it's probably because I'm new to it and having the covid jabs, that's when things went haywire.

I might just try bolousing a bit earlier tomorrow. See if that stops it , 20 mins instead of 15 mins. Even as type 2 on long lasting insulin only, I could see I was spiking very high. See what happens tomorrow.

 

[rebrascora]

I don't find Fiasp "ultra fast" at all but it is marginally faster than Novo(not so)Rapid.
I have to prebolus 40-45 mins at breakfast time and 15-20 mins at other meal times. NR needed over an hour at breakfast to get going and 20 mins for other meals, so I have gained a little with the Fiasp at breakfast.Like @helli I find it quite slow when I am using it to correct highs unless I throw some exercise into the equation and then corrections work well. Tried exercise at breakfast time to reduce prebolus time but didn't seem to help. There is no harm in trying a different insulin and Fiasp may work really well for you, but you might want to try carefully increasing your prebolus time a little more with your Humalog first.