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Humalog

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Hi Losinen.

Are you taking humalog or just interested in it ?🙂

I see from your first post that you're on humalin, which is a very defferent insulin.🙂

Rob
 
losinen said:
Do you have to take humalog every time you eat or just with main meals?
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Hi Losinen

I am on humalog and was advised to inject prior to eating. I find if I inject it and don't eat my blood sugar levels drop through the floor.

Hope this helps.

Welcome to the forum too 🙂

Regards

Andy
 
Thanks both for the quick replies. I am on Humilin I at night 14 units and started Humalog last week. Since stopping gliclazide, my fasting BG is now 8 and I have had much higher BG's after eating. +9 1 hour after eating, +8 2 hours. I am very new to insulin after a 2 year roller coaster ride with metformin and gliclazide. I still take the metformin.
 
Are you still speaking to your nurse or doctor about adjusting the doses? It usually takes a while to find the appropriate doses that will suit the type of food you eat, and they probably wouldn't want to start you on too high a dose in case this sent you low. Keep recording your pre- and post-meal results so that you can discuss what can be done with your doses. If you are eating between meals it's probably best to go for low or no-carb snacks so that there is less impact on your levels 🙂
 
The DN nurse sent a letter to my GP for the Humalog and it was put straight into the chemist, I haven't spoken to a medic since I asked her advice about the Humilin I. I was put on Humalog because the gliclazide was either sending me really low or really high, regardless of what I ate. I amhaving ketones in my urine whenever I ate high carb foods but am not showing a particularly high BG (10-12). I have had ketones at 6.2 without following a low carb diet.
The reason I asked about the Humalog was because I cracked and scoffed the three digestives that are usually my hypo remedy. I have had very little information from medical people and what I have had has been contradictory. I am aiming to find out everything I can about this wretched disease but right now, I just want to feel well which I haven't for some time.
 
How do you know what doses of humalog to take, who told you? Usually it is OK to have ketones if you levels are not too high as they can naturally occur if you are losing weight. You must speak to your DSN about your doses, you should be in regular contact until you understand how to use the humalog properly.

As for your 3 digestives, that is quite a lot of carbs and if it was me I would certainly need to inject for them, but how much to inject is a very individual thing. You need to ask your nurse about carb counting now that you are on a fast-acting insulin. I hope you can speak to someone soon and get things clearer about what you need to do! 🙂
 
The DSN told me to take 4 units 3 times a day with meals. The first time I took it with a meal of scrambled eggs and one slice of Burgen bread, after 1 hour I was 12.1 and after 2 hours 9.6. These high levels continued for the day despite eating low carb meals.
 
losinen said:
The DSN told me to take 4 units 3 times a day with meals. The first time I took it with a meal of scrambled eggs and one slice of Burgen bread, after 1 hour I was 12.1 and after 2 hours 9.6. These high levels continued for the day despite eating low carb meals.
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What was your level like before the meal? I am sure that you will be able to get things under tighter control once the doses have been sorted out. If you continue to have an above range fasting level (i.e. when your humalog has faded out of your system) then it may be that your long acting insulin also needs adjusting. I'm afraid I don't know too much about the combination of HumalinI and humalog as I use lantus and novorapid.

Also, you are on very small doses of insulin and the amount you need will vary according to the amount of carbs in your meals. On low doses it would be better if you could adjust in half units - just something else to consider when you see your DSN 🙂 How much of the HumalinI are you on?
 
I'm on 14 units of HumilinI, I get the feeling that the DN can't really be bothered with explaining anything, no, I take that back, I know she can't be bothered. All the information I have has been picked up has been from other diabetics. Last week I was on gliclazide but was really unstable, either too high or too low but I did have a fasting BG of around 5 since starting the Humalin earlier this year, previously FBG 14-15. My DSN told me I wasn't eating enough carbs and should have some complex carbs at every meal - if I did my BG would be through the roof. I am really struggling with this.
 
losinen said:
I'm on 14 units of HumilinI, I get the feeling that the DN can't really be bothered with explaining anything, no, I take that back, I know she can't be bothered. All the information I have has been picked up has been from other diabetics. Last week I was on gliclazide but was really unstable, either too high or too low but I did have a fasting BG of around 5 since starting the Humalin earlier this year, previously FBG 14-15. My DSN told me I wasn't eating enough carbs and should have some complex carbs at every meal - if I did my BG would be through the roof. I am really struggling with this.
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That's a shame that you've got a DSN who doesn't seem interested. They seem to be pretty rare, but that's no consolation if you happen to encounter one. As for carbs at each meal - you eat what your body can tolerate and according to your tastes, adjusting your insulin to match the carbs. I think it may be time to start stamping your feet a little. On this type of routine you need to be taught to count carbs and adjust your doses accordingly and your DSN should be taking the lead in this by either teaching you herself or putting you on a course.. The alternative is to restrict yourself to eating only precisely the amount of carbs that matches your fixed doses.

Have you seen the carb counting ebook that Diabetes UK have just released? It might be worth a read so that you have some good questions to fire at the nurse when you see her 🙂 It's free at:

http://www.diabetes.org.uk//upload/How we help/catalogue/Carbs-Count-2012.pdf

You might want to consider asking your GP to refer you to another clinic where you might get a more clued-up DSN, although I realise that may be a lot of hassle for you.
 
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