Is there anything slower than Humalog?

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gillrogers

gillrogers

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after my meals in summer at this rate. Is there any mealtime insulins that are slower?
 
Yes @gillrogers Any of the regular human insulins or regular animal insulins, eg Humulin R (I think it’s R) or Hypurin Porcine Neutral, Actrapid and possibly others whose names escape me at the moment.

You’ll find HCPs tut and fuss and try to dissuade you if you mention them, but a number of people prefer them. The dissuading is down to ignorance largely, and often because they don’t have experience of them.
 
Here’s a chart. It’s the short-acting section you’re looking at. The Hypurin Bovine is no longer available but the Hypurin Porcine is:


This section contains the original insulins. First we had the regular animal insulins (there used to be a lot) then they created ‘human’ insulin which was similar, then they created the analogues which we have now (eg Humalog, NR, etc etc). The regular insulin has an onset time of something like 20-40 mins depending on the individual, blood glucose, etc. It’s a gentler action than the analogues and lasts longer. The analogues are fiercer.
 
Thank you @Inka, this is starting to be a real.problem.now thats confusing me with everything else and the delayed start is impacting my next meal as its still active. Im sure its lasting 5 hours for me.
 
You might find a regular insulin better @gillrogers as, because of their longer action, they can also function as a kind of basal. Then you’d only need your Levemir at night (as the regular might well cover the day).
 
Inka said:
You might find a regular insulin better @gillrogers as, because of their longer action, they can also function as a kind of basal. Then you’d only need your Levemir at night (as the regular might well cover the day).
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Was just wondering of that could be the case actually. I suspect transitioning could be a scary nightmare for me but then so is this again. Every time i think im getting somewherr its because of something else happening so its distorting the patterns and what they really mean.
 
@gillrogers do you need a slower insulin or do you need to mentally get used to the possibility of your BG falling slightly without hypo?
From your previous posts, you seem to be afraid whenever you see a dip even if it is nowhere near hypo territory.
Getting used to the possibility that your BG may dip but will rise soon because you have carbs on board is important and can avoid the stress of over treating resulting in high BG.
 
helli said:
@gillrogers do you need a slower insulin or do you need to mentally get used to the possibility of your BG falling slightly without hypo?
From your previous posts, you seem to be afraid whenever you see a dip even if it is nowhere near hypo territory.
Getting used to the possibility that your BG may dip but will rise soon because you have carbs on board is important and can avoid the stress of over treating resulting in high BG.
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Its a bit ofboth, but in this case except yesyerday when i went the wrong way with bolus timing i have only risen 2 mmol aftrr each meal if im lucky. As this is happening with every meal out of the blue from rising 6+ mmol every meal , i tested it by reducing my timing at every meal by 1 minute a day then 2 minutes a day and yesterday it was 4 minutes except dinner and each meal only rose sround 2 mmol and held it before comeing down steadily. Ive dropped around 10 minutes of my bolus timings so far.
 
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Am i really stupid? I know im having trouble getting to grips with this but dnb just told me i shouldnt be adjusting my bolus timings! My god i shaved 10 minutes off my breakfast and 8 minutes off lunch and dinner and im.still not rising more than 2 or 3 mmol. Am i missing something?
 
The thing that I would suggest is that "not rising by more than 2 or 3 mmol/l" is a GOOD thing. I would be really happy if that was what I saw.
 
gillrogers said:
Am i really stupid? I know im having trouble getting to grips with this but dnb just told me i shouldnt be adjusting my bolus timings! My god i shaved 10 minutes off my breakfast and 8 minutes off lunch and dinner and im.still not rising more than 2 or 3 mmol. Am i missing something?
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I thought that was the whole point not to rise.
 
gillrogers said:
Am i really stupid? I know im having trouble getting to grips with this but dnb just told me i shouldnt be adjusting my bolus timings! My god i shaved 10 minutes off my breakfast and 8 minutes off lunch and dinner and im.still not rising more than 2 or 3 mmol. Am i missing something?
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It depends what happens afterwards. If you, say, rise from 6mmol to 8mmol and then pretty much stay around there until your next meal when you’re 7mmol, then that’s ok, but if you rise to 8mmol then plummet down a little later then that might be a worry and you might need to consider reducing your bolus amount.
 
Inka said:
It depends what happens afterwards. If you, say, rise from 6mmol to 8mmol and then pretty much stay around there until your next meal when you’re 7mmol, then that’s ok, but if you rise to 8mmol then plummet down a little later then that might be a worry and you might need to consider reducing your bolus amount.
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What shes saying is if i plummet to let it happen as it might not go to hypo. Well everytime ive let that happen it has gone to hypo or very near it. It happened so regularly. This is partly where my fear has come from. Its never stopped on its own because to plummet like that for 20 minutes and loose 4 mmol my insulin is clearly ahead of my food . That was why i ditched the lyumjev in the end because i was clearly getting sensitive to it. If my peak is getting lower and lower but my final outcome is not past my target then my bolus itself is right.
 
Leadinglights said:
I thought that was the whole point not to rise.
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Yes but when im.used to a rise from being very resistant to now showing very little resitance and trying to find the right bolus timings because youve had to come of the lyumjev and youre bolusing timing is still reducing to the point youve gone wayyyy past the "guidelines" for that insulin its a bit worrying when you dont know why anf youre still very new to this.
 
It sounds like what your seeing now are great bgs, with not much meal spike, but that this is an anxiety problem.

Your area should have some mental health services you can self refer to for help with the mental health side of managing a long term condition. Or you could ask whoever your diabetes contact is whether there’s anyone diabetes and mental health specific. Might be worth considering?

If you really want a spike after meals then you could bolus after eating rather than with or before food, when you see the arrow going up afterwards.
 
Lucyr said:
It sounds like what your seeing now are great bgs, with not much meal spike, but that this is an anxiety problem.

Your area should have some mental health services you can self refer to for help with the mental health side of managing a long term condition. Or you could ask whoever your diabetes contact is whether there’s anyone diabetes and mental health specific. Might be worth considering?

If you really want a spike after meals then you could bolus after eating rather than with or before food, when you see the arrow going up afterwards.
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Hi Lucy, yes that’s all in hand although I’ve just had to chace the hospital. There’s something going on I’m sure as bolusing further and further into my meal with very little spike now and then a fast down turn. A DBN just told me not to change anything and that I should be doing as the guidelines, she’s not understanding that if I did I’d be hypoing now while I’m eating at every meal.
 
In just over a week I have now dropped 16 minutes off both my lunch and dinner boluses ! Dropped my basal by half a unit this morning and now thinking lunch and dinner boluses had dropped.
 
Just the fact that you’re able to specify to the level of 16 minutes seems a concern to me that you’re far too obsessed with the timing.

Why not just set the libre alarm to say 7 or whatever number you’re comfortable bolusing at and when it goes off after meals just bolus then, rather than all this timing stuff.
 
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