Are you using Apidra®?

Ive been diabetic for around 10 years. At first I was diagnosed as Type2. Took all the oral meds, byt after about 7 years they did not seem to work anymore. When I first started injections, I was put on Lantus & Apidra.The Apidra is FAST acting, and I have gone to low at times. I have recently gotten fed up injecting myself every time I want to eat something, so I’m going to start on the Omnipod.

Hi Mike, injecting my self every time is what I have to do since 30 years or so, rigth now I use Humalog (fast) and lantus (slow) at nigth. My plans are to start with some CGM and see its ability to rise my quality of life, I will see, Just started today with the CGM local providers then the insurance company and of course my endo… just in my first steps to do it !!!
See about the Omnipod and I liked but its not avalible in mi country…

i have a minimed pump thats why i used the minimed CGM as well so that i wont have to carry another piece for the CGM…

i think being comfortable with it is getting used to it as well… i mean i am used to it now that i dunno what else i can do without my CGM, so i am very comfortable wearing it… i take a bath with it, transmitter is water-tight so you dont have to worry about it, also, i use Tegaderm, its a dressing where you put on top of it(transmitter/sensor), where it helps to hold it in place and when taking a shower too, its like a cover to keep it from being wet, but like i said, even if it gets wet, its ok…

hey hector!

my name’s katie. i’m 21 and have been using apidra over a year now with my insulin pump and syringes. before i went on apidra i was using novolog which is really the same as humalog. all three of these fast acting insulins technically begin to work about 5 minutes after injection and continue to work for 2 to 4 hours. personally i think apidra is the most effective of these. i feel like it reacts quicker and doesn’t linger as long. i really like it, but my favoritism is most likely a mental preference rather than an actual difference in insulins. it’s advertised as the greatest, best, fastest new insulin-- so that’s how i think of it. haha.

it’s worth giving it a try but if your insurance will only cover humalog or novolog i’d say that sticking with one of those isn’t cheating yourself out of any better control capabilities.

best of luck!
-katie : )

Hey Hector,

As someone who has used virtually every insulin ever made, I can share my experience on Apidra. Relative to the current 3 rapid-acting insulin analogues, based on my personal experience, Humalog (insulin lispro rDNA origin) was the fastest (hands down), Novolog/Novorapid (insulin aspart rDNA origin) was incredibly sloooooow, taking longer to work for me than did regular which sells for half the price. Apridra (insulin glulisine rDNA origin) fell somewhere in between. The main issue I can tell you is if you use an insulin pen, Apridra uses the Opticlik pen which is a piece of crap. Its bulky, not terribly convenient in terms of size, cannot be replaced if you ever loose it unless you visit a doctor’s office, and the cartridges have the piston mechanism built into the cartridge, so the boxes are large and consume a lot of space in the refrigerator, plus you can only dose in 1 unit increments (not 1/2 unit increments) which is not ideal for many. On the other hand, I did find Apidra was consistent in its time-activity profile, meaning it did not change after being at room temperature for a while as Humalog and Novolog sometimes did. BTW, a new disposable pen for Apidra is due out sometime later this year, which may resolve my primary complaint with the Opticlik pen.

Dear Scott, thanks for your excellent feedback, I am still using Humalog every time I put something in my mouth & Lantus @ night. I left the pens years ago because they are more expensive and not accurate when you use it. Also have to remove the bubbles every time and lost more insulin… So I’am using siringles 50 or 30 units with a short needle and vials of 10ml for humalog and lantus… there is nothing more cheap and secure that it !!
I’am exploring with my insurance if they can pay me to switch to the insulin pump and if I have chance probably would be using a Minimed Paradigm Real Time soon.
Thanks again for you feed back :wink: HGR

Hi Katie !
Thanks for your feedback, Apidra have been introduced less than a month in mi country (Venezuela) probably if the insurance pay it for me i would like to switch, I have been in shoots since 33 years ago and would like to tray a Pararding Real Time Insulin Pump ( with the CBGS)
Thanks again for your feedback !!
HGR :slight_smile:

Hector –

Wanted to share…

I’ve been on a pump since late 2004 with Humalog until Sept of this year. Before going on a pump, I was using Humalog with an MDI since it had been on the market. In Sept I switched to Apidra. Overall, my experiences are similar to many, but there are some points to make.

Humalog works really well with MDI. Some folks have had issues with it utilized in a pump b/c it has a tendency to precipitate and crystallize faster than Novo in the tubing of an infusion set. I have been using an Animas pump which only has a 200u capacity, and given that I avg about 30-40u/day, I never really experienced issues. For a 300u capacity pump, I believe I might very well have.

For many, Huma and Novo are almost identifcal. But as Scott pointed out some folks see different action curves. Since we’re not all “designed” the same, it’s not a surprise so if you switch to a pump an option is to see what happens with your Humalog and if needed give Novo a try. We don’t find out what works and how for each of us until we do. :slight_smile:

As for the Apidra… I really like it. I’m pretty insulin sensitive b/c of “activity” (spend a lot of days working outdoors, plus all of the riding, running, climbing, etc on the side). At the same time, straight glucose hits my system REALLY fast and the amount of fat and protein plays a big role in the timeframe equation of when bg is effected vs insulin action. Apidra starts working really fast for me and after 4 hrs it’s gone. Humalog really took about 2 solid hrs to kick in and could hang around for 5-6 hrs. So, the biggest plus for me with Apidra has been post-prandial numbers. Other than that, the A has worked almost exaclty the same as Humalog.

I see you tried pens and didn’t like them. I will say that many of the past poor designs are being redone and drastically improved. I still agree with you… syringes are an easy way to go. The “con” is that you just have to carry “more stuff” on avg. I used syringes and pens when on MDI in the past.

Take care and good luck --J

Hi Tau
Thanks for your feedback with Apidra. Iam running now over a Minimed Paradigm real time pump manny changes for me on mi dayly bases