Swapping to Lyumjev from novoR- your experiences please

[mitchsi]

Hi,

My DSN has put me down for Lyumjev insulin which I’m quite keen to trial due to what others have mentioned rhat novo rapid just ain’t rapid!
And I quite often forget or unable to inject 15-20mins before I eat.

so I’d like to check your experiences of it, pls I just read a thread about stinging injection sites so that’s pretty bad but I’ll see if I suffer

I’m not confident I can use it with my novo echo plus pen so that would also be a disappointment, does anyone use this combination?

Is there a better alternative?
Fiast has some issues but also seems well tolerated
Only saw one mention of apidra- that’s a new one on me.

Thanks for your time,

 

[helli]

The NovoPen family are only usable with insulins from Novo Nordisk.
Lyumjev is not a NovoNordisk insulin: it is the Eli Lily equivalent to Fiasp.
A very quick Google search suggests LEli Lilly's reusable pen is the HumaPen Savvio
This thread is the only one I can find about these pens but it is an old (closed) thread.

 

[PattiEvans]

According to the manufacturer Lyumjev should be used with the Humapen Savvio. I use Apidra and it works well with Humapens providing you screw a needle on before inserting the cartridge. After that use as normal.

 

[mashedupmatt]

I changed from NR to Fiasp and have found it much better as it works much quicker although it's not for everyone (not great when you are high and trying to get it down) and I use it with a Novopen Plus Echo which is great for the half units - was there a reason why they are taking you off NR and on to Lyumjev?

 

[mitchsi]

The NovoPen family are only usable with insulins from Novo Nordisk..

Thanks @helli I did Google and found a nice table of pens v insulins and I thought it contradicted my DSN (might be wrong but I thought they said I could use the pen, have emailed them), so wondered if something had changed in the mean time. Another site suggested it could work but is not intended for use.

 

[mitchsi]

I changed from NR to Fiasp and have found it much better as it works much quicker although it's not for everyone (not great when you are high and trying to get it down) and I use it with a Novopen Plus Echo which is great for the half units - was there a reason why they are taking you off NR and on to Lyumjev?

Yeah BG peaks and novorapid taking time to kick in. So if it will help flatten the curve must be a good thing - anyway I’m willing to try it as I do find novo r too slow generally. Fiasp might be a good option if I can keep the same pen as I do like the 0.5 adjustments

 

[Flower]

Hi,

My DSN has put me down for Lyumjev insulin which I’m quite keen to trial due to what others have mentioned rhat novo rapid just ain’t rapid!
And I quite often forget or unable to inject 15-20mins before I eat.

so I’d like to check your experiences of it, pls I just read a thread about stinging injection sites so that’s pretty bad but I’ll see if I suffer

I’m not confident I can use it with my novo echo plus pen so that would also be a disappointment, does anyone use this combination?

Is there a better alternative?
Fiast has some issues but also seems well tolerated
Only saw one mention of apidra- that’s a new one on me.

Thanks for your time,

I’ve been using Lyumjev for about 10 months now. I use it in my insulin pump & after initially experiencing stinging and inflamed sites things have calmed down.

I don’t need to prebolus at all as Lyumjev kicks in really quickly, sometimes when I dont know how much I’m going to eat I bolus after I’ve eaten with no bad effects on my glucose levels.

I’ve found it’s a really good insulin for my needs, it works quickly & has generally calmed my glucose levels down & flattened any spikes out.

I hope it works well for you.

 

[mitchsi]

I’ve been using Lyumjev for about 10 months now. I use it in my insulin pump & after initially experiencing stinging and inflamed sites things have calmed down.

I don’t need to prebolus at all as Lyumjev kicks in really quickly, sometimes when I dont know how much I’m going to eat I bolus after I’ve eaten with no bad effects on my glucose levels.

I’ve found it’s a really good insulin for my needs, it works quickly & has generally calmed my glucose levels down & flattened any spikes out.

I hope it works well for you.

Hi @Flower
Thanks for taking time to reply. That’s encouraging to read that it’s been positive for you and the stinging does reduce/go.

I had a call from another DSN who suggested I stay on Novorapid until a consultant appointment now.
The concern was they took my question on using the echo pen and the memory feature seriously when I mentioned I’ve had memory issues the last several months and cognitive decline which has occurred since my HBA1c has risen and I expect a side effect of this condition or a complication from it.
I was looking to flatten the spikes with this new insulin but I guessing will have to wait.

I did mention fiasp where I could keep using the pen but still they prefer to wait for the consultant appointment. Perhaps a little too cautious but I’m not going to complain or force anything.

I’m cutting carbs back and have started weight lifting again plus will go back to karate to improve insulin sensitivity so that combination should also flatten the spikes.
Thanks,

 

[rebrascora]

I swapped from Novo(not so)Rapid to Fiasp about a year after diagnosis and I found it incredibly tough and in fact I went back to NR after 3 very frustrating months. It probably wasn't helped by the fact that I was still in the honeymoon period at the time and also not as competent and confident with using insulin as I am now. I tried again with Fiasp about 6 months later and went through another 3 frustrating months with it and would have given up again if I hadn't promised myself I would stick at it for a year that second time. Not long afterwards in the 4th month I think the frustration took over and I started to get much more "heavy handed" with the Fiasp than I ever had with NR and suddenly it started to work better and now 5 years later I really like it but I did find the initial adjustment very challenging.

Of course Fiasp is not Lyumjev and I don't know if the latter displays similar quirks to Fiasp, but just really wanted to say that if it doesn't work at first, be prepared to experiment to find ways to make it work. Some people seem to find the transition from NR to a faster insulin very smooth and easy and I hope you are one of them, but if not, do ask questions here on the forum about the issues you have with it and people may be able to help you with ideas to try to work around those issues.

Good luck!

 

[helli]

I swapped from Novo(not so)Rapid to Fiasp about a year after diagnosis and I found it incredibly tough and in fact I went back to NR after 3 very frustrating months. It probably wasn't helped by the fact that I was still in the honeymoon period at the time and also not as competent and confident with using insulin as I am now. I tried again with Fiasp about 6 months later and went through another 3 frustrating months with it and would have given up again if I hadn't promised myself I would stick at it for a year that second time. Not long afterwards in the 4th month I think the frustration took over and I started to get much more "heavy handed" with the Fiasp than I ever had with NR and suddenly it started to work better and now 5 years later I really like it but I did find the initial adjustment very challenging.

My first month or so with Fiasp was a little challenging but that is because it was not as well used as it is today so I had to learn its quirks myself.
Now it has been out for some time and more people are using it, I think that first month would be less challenging because these quirks are well known so I don't need to work out what is going on .. only how I would deal with them.

I have been using Fiasp for a few years now with my pump but I still have NovoRapid as my pump backup. When I had to return to MDI with NovoRapid for a couple of days, I realised how much easier Fiasp is.

 

[mitchsi]

@rebrascora @helli

Thank you, I remember you making comments such as that before but thanks for reminding me.
It’s all a learning curve and still learning and having to remember pitfalls I experienced before in this journey.

I like the echo pen because there have been times I have forgotten what I had just injected if I don’t record it straight away, it’s a nice to have and it adds value to me so I’m keen to keep it.

I’m doing a carbs ratio trial with my DSN office for the next week so I don’t mind staying on novorapid until my next consultant (never seen on exception hospital - always a registrar) appointment. Then I might ask for fiasp to try that out.

Appreciate everyone taking time to repeat their experiences with everyone

I’m also on the list for an Omnipod so as fiasp is compatible with that, that would be convenient as well.
I just need to get my daily insulin usage down and my sensitivity up.

 

[rebrascora]

I greatly value the NovoPen Echo too so can understand you wanting to retain it's use.
I know there are You Tube videos showing how people adapt cartridges to fit into their chosen pen but there is a risk that the dimensions of the different insulin cartridge or the fit of it into the pen means that each unit dialed up may not deliver exactly 1unit of the new insulin so you would have to be careful if you tried that approach if indeed it is possible with Lyumjev cartridges.

 

[mitchsi]

I greatly value the NovoPen Echo too so can understand you wanting to retain it's use.
I know there are You Tube videos showing how people adapt cartridges to fit into their chosen pen but there is a risk that the dimensions of the different insulin cartridge or the fit of it into the pen means that each unit dialed up may not deliver exactly 1unit of the new insulin so you would have to be careful if you tried that approach if indeed it is possible with Lyumjev cartridges.

Hi @rebrascora

Yeah exactly, I do like the pens memory feature - it’s one less thing to worry about and it’s also a lot less waste.
A website headline kind of alluded to using lyumjev in a novo but I didn’t open the page to find out. But yeah I wouldn’t want to take that risk, I guess you could verify the dosage and use it if the dose was consistent and you remembered the calibration factor!

Cheers,

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hope it works our for you @mitchsi

From what I can gather…

Fiasp is NovoRapid with special sauce.
Ljumjev is Humalog with special sauce.

How well you get on with them may depend on your body’s reaction to the special sauce, and whether that causes stinging / site irritation / faster absorption (as intended) / or insulin resistance (requiring increasing doses and erratic absorption).

I switched from NotVeryRapid to Humalog back in the day (ironically in the context of this thread, because I wanted the functions of the pen that Humalog offered!). I found them broadly similar in action / timing but Humalog tended to have a bit more of a ‘sting in the tail’, with more action left until later in the insulin duration.

I tried Fiasp but ended up with a combination of site reactions, resistance and the rapid action wore off after a few weeks, so I ended up with NR timings and never knowing what my ratio was going to be.

These ultra rapid insulins work brilliantly for lots on the forum, but unfortunately they didn’t work for me and after 3 months trying Fiasp I swapped back to the plodding reliability of NR.

Good luck with your experiments!