My son uses Humalog, Animas Ping, and the inset 30s. We get a day and a half to two days per site, I find redness occurs consistently at the day and a half mark. Our doc told us to try diff insets, we did, without much luck. Another Tu diabetes member related the same issues and said she changed insulin to Apidra and it solved the problem. I thought this was an interesting thought…anyone else have the same issues?
I haven’t, but I have heard of this… and I have even heard of some people becoming less responsive to certain types of insulin and changing brands helped. I think it is worth a try!
But you will need to watch in the beginning because Apidra has a somewhat different length of activity (I think around 3 hours for most, as opposed to 4-6 hours with Humalog/Novolog). So you may need to adjust some pump settings.
It has been documented: http://pumpers.org/about.shtml#mix that up to 6% of insulin pumpers can have an allergic sensitivity develop to Humalog that is infused (sensitivity not present to an injected dose) I was one of the H&R Mixers that thanked Novo profusely when Novolog came out. I have since switched to Apidra due to it’s more rapid action, but as with all Analogs, YMMV, your response may vary. There could be a sensitivity to the tape or the teflon cannula also, but I would ask the Endo for a sample of Novolog or Apidra.
I think you’re talking about me… and I always had irritation with Humalog… I never had the severe reactions I eventually developed with Novolog though (I might now, I don’t know, I haven’t used Humalog since 2002). It was more that it was annoying, which is why I tried Novolog back in 2002, and I never had any site irritation with that until recently (but I also took a 3 year pump break too).
I think I am allergic to phenol in the insulin. I can’t prove this of course, but Apidra has no phenol so it would make sense if I react to the other two and not this one.
I had the same thing - I used Humalog for many years on MDI but then when I started on a pump, my sites would get inflamed within 36 hours.
On the recommendation of others here and after talking to my Endo about it, I tried different infusion set types first without any luck, and then switched from Humalog to Apidra and the irritation is dramatically less. It’s often noticeably slower to absorb/act for me, so that’s one thing to keep in mind (different people react differently to the various insulin types), but I can leave a set in for much longer without a problem.
DN was put on Novolog (after a very brief stint with NPH) insulin. Endo said Humalog and Novolog are almost identical in its action but Novolog may last longer in the pump. May was her word. We have a long DIA with Novolog and will probably go over to Apidra. Yes, definitely try another insulin.
I’ve found that the DIA is very similar, however Apidra drops my BS much more smoothly… which was obvious via CGMS. Instead of the sharp drops I had on Novolog, Apidra was more of a steady decline, though I would stilll get to the same place at around the same time.
I’ve had no problem with sites lasting 3 days, or keeping Apidra in my pump that long… however it’s not 100+ here anymore, so I can’t really say what it would do in hot weather.
I have had a TON of troubles with the inset 30 I now use the inset II and they are WAAAAAAAAAAYYY better!!!
I don’t usually leave them in for longer than three days I usually change them about every two and a half days. My canula often starts to become really irritated if I leave it in for longer than that. I find that after I change a site that is old I can see insulin leaking out of the site. I can recognise the feeling when my site is too “full” and we are starting to notice that my readings are slightly higher than usual. This is strange because my pump is set to be very sensitive to occlusions and it dosen’t tell me that the insulin isn’t delivering. Also my site gets VEEEEEERRRRYYYYY itchy if it has been left too long and once I change it the itching often continues for about a day after. It also leaves a nasty red lump umder my skin.
Good luck Hilary 
Absolutely- Apidra would drop me about 50 points per 1 unit where Humalog would drop me only 25 points per unit.
It was like double time. Apidra also would react about 10 mins after injection (for me) where Humalog can sometimes take 2 hours to peak.
I also have insulin resistance- after 11 years with T1D (generation 1) and swtiching from Humalog to Apidra for two months, then back to Humalog has (for some reason) helped my resistance.
Hi Dave_
Apidra seemed to stop acting in me after 1.5 hours whereas Humalog would stop acting around 4 hours- peaking at 2 hours.
We were told that Novolog lasted longer in the pump than Humalog. Apidra is faster acting than both. On Apidra website it does mention Apidra should be changed every two days on the pump. I doubt if most people do that, though. Not sure about the Apidra lasting longer, but I know it worth a try, as it is the fastest acting insulin. I am thinking better control overall with Apidra.
Sorry I didn’t see this sooner… the DIA is right at about 2 hours for me… really just about the same as Novolog had been.