been type 1 for 10 years now, i first started out on novolin and regular R, around 2001 i changed over to humalog and humalin been on them ever since. They seem to work well for me, but i have been researching and taking note of some information regarding preservatives and other substances found in insulins. Obviously its un-avoidable, but are there any benefits to say novolog or any other types of insulins? less preservatives? any other reasons one may be better than the other?
I got into a rut of using R for meals and had a crappy endo who did not suggest something better. Just switched to a new endo, who swapped the R for Novolog, It made a huge improvement. It matches my meals nearly perfectly. He also made my one morning dose of Lantus into a morning and bedtime dose. I no longer have the 2 am lows that have been plaguing me and I have been within my goals ever since.
My answer would be: not particularly. Humalog, Novolog, and Apidra (in my opinion) are all very similar - and they’re all faster than R. I was on R for 8 years, then switched to Humalog for 7 years, then switched to Apidra and have been on it about 4 years now. Apidra has a slightly quicker peak and a slightly shorter tail, in my experience.
I’ve been pumping Novolog for many years now. In the last year I started getting occasional irritations at the pump site. In the last few months these site irritations became more frequent. The site would swell and turn red. I would change the site after three days but the swelling and redness takes a few weeks to resolve and heal.
When I brought the issue up to my endo, he gave me a vial of Apidra to try. I’m now on the third site with Apidra and I have had no swelling or redness at the sites. My BG control remains pretty good. I’m hoping that my luck holds with Apidra.
On a side note, I carefully examined the package insert with the Apidra, looking specifically for onset, peak and duration. While this document was very long, in tiny print, and many graphs, I could not find onset or peak or duration. I had to call the company, Sanofi Aventis, to confirm these terms. Like Melissa has mentioned, Apidra’s onset is slightly faster and its duration slightly shorter. This action, however, will vary from person to person.