Hi to all pumpers - has anyone ever used diluted Novolog in their insulin pump? I am using the omniPod and the minimum basal level (.05) is possibly too much for me. Want to go to .025 basal, but do not want to go to Animus pump with tube after using the awesome tubeless Pod. The research on this has mainly been with kids, and there is concern about incorrect dilution strengths. I figured mine would be an easy dilution, since it would be 1:1 insulin to dilution solution. My endocrinologist was not thrilled with the idea based on the safety issue. Does anyone know anyone who is successfully using diluted insulin in a pump?
Thanks!
Melissa
T1 since 2008
OmniPod pumper since 2009
Bad idea…you can mess with the stability of insulin and harm yourself if you do this.
Your basal levels of 0.025 units/hour is quite low…maybe you don’t need basal at all!
I know. But the OmniPod does not allow you to suspend the basal for any more than two hours at a time and the company says the delivery system can malfunction if you suspend mutiple times in a row. They want some insulin moving through it at all times, I guess. At this point (honeymoon) I require little insulin. It was anticipated that I would need less insulin on the pump, but I think my physician is surprised how much less I need. I was at 10 units a day total Novolog and Lantus on MDI, and now at 2 total units a day basal and boluses! I think no basal means back to 21 injections a week. I dread that, now that I am down to 2 injections a week with the Pod change out. Thank you so much for your reply.
Best,
Melissa
Would you want to go back to MDI until the end of the honeymoon? You might be able to get away with only 1-2 injections per day for a while and good control.
Otherwise, I also think it is OK to dilute the insulin. My endo recommended it while I was honeymooning. I was not using the pump, but she recommended it so that I could do 1/4 unit corrections. I never actually tried it, but I know that others have. They just diluted insulin with saline solution.
You also may see if you can order insulin with a weaker strength online. The insulin sold in the USA is U-100, but until recently in Europe they sold U-40 insulin. You should check if you can still buy this. Maybe your endo would be more comfortable with this option.
I stand corrected, then! I know that all protein based drugs are suspended in buffers which are optimal for stability of the protein. So any tinkering with that could potentially de-stabilize the insulin.
I know that U500 insulin is available…is there U50 available, too? If so, that could be one way you can get less insulin.
