A group for those who use Apidra (insulin glulisine) or wish to know more about it.
Please note: the exchange, sale or giveaway of items between members that require a prescription from a licensed practitioner, including insulin, is not allowed on TuDiabetes.
I am just preparing to start using Apidra, on a small trial basis, after using Humalog in my pump for the past 5 years. I thought having a group devoted to Apidra users would be a good place to consolidate information.
Hi jimt1cgms, this should be a useful group, thanks for starting it. I use Apidra in my pump (which I wear part time). I found Humalog clogged at the entrance to the cartridge.
On MDI I like Apridra for its speed in correcting, and combine it with Regular for slow digestion. Sometimes I combine the Apidra and Regular in my syringe, and sometimes I use them separately, depending…
thanks for starting this group. On the recommendation of my ENDO, I"ve been pumping Apidra for about 3 years now. I have it’s active time set at 2 1/2 hours I’ve never had it clog my infusion set. It acts quicker the Humalog or Novalog and is great for correction boluses. I almost alway do a combination bolus with some percentage up front and the rest spread over time depending on the food.
thanks for the group. I just starting using Apidra (about 1 month ago - currently I’m only on my fourth reservoir with Apidra).
My experience is that the product works well in controlling postprandial blood sugars. My CGM readings are remarkably good. Unfortunately, I’ve had 2 clogs and some odd results after about 48 hours usage. Given that I never had clogs with Novolog (used in the pump since I started 3 years ago) - I’m still in trial mode with the Apidra.
What I can say is that the Apidra works flawlessly for the first 48 hours in the pump (but the more frequent changing of reservoirs and infusion sets is irritating - about twice that of Novolog).
Thanks to all those that have joined so far! I just started my Apidra today and just kind of need to see where this goes. My cgm unfortunately had an issue keeping up with me with some morning lows than a spike. If things settle, I’ll be able to see what my graphs look like for the next fews days.
I am on Day 3. Started Wednesday morning and I am quite liking the graph I am seeing on my CGM. It seems to be working as others have stated. My spikes aren’t as high and I am not chasing my tail toward the end of the “Active” time.
About middle of my day 3, I seem to have gotten a clog. I spiked of course. This is the one annoying thing that I have read about in other places. If you don’t change every 2 days, it seems you run a risk of clogs.
I’ve also had to switch back to Humalog, at least temporarily. Seems I might be experiencing a weird side effect. I can’t say for 100% it was caused by the Apidra. So I will go with the Humalog for about a week again and try switching over. By then I should more or less know if it was me or the Apidra.
Hey jimt1cgms, have you returned to Apidra? I’m curious because I just started with Apidra three weeks ago and I think it’s much better for me, but I am having some issues that I’m curious if you are too.
Hi All, I haven’t wanted to post any responses yet, but I should come clean here. I tried Apidra and unfortunately I did not have good results. Before I go too far, let me say I do hear good stories from people who have very good luck with Apidra. I am just not one of those.
Let me explain the issues I did have:
My basal and bolus ratios had increased causing me to need more Apidra than Humalog. I would prefer to use less insulin. There are secondary side effects of more insulin that I wish to avoid.I am not referring to hypoglycemic effects.
The other issue is basically I’m lazy. I found that I needed to make sure I changed the infusion site at the 2 day mark. If I did not, I find that the cannula appeared to become clogged causing spikes. I am very used to going 3 maybe 4 days between site changes.
Don’t get me wrong, I seem to be in the minority with this. I do firmly believe that many people can benefit from using Apridra. There is a T3 hanging around here that I am waiting to see if she posts her findings in her blog. She has been quite busy but I have heard things are working quite well right now.
I think for all Apidra would be worth at least trying.
i been on a pump a few days with apidra and have yet to really have a problem if it goes high within 2 hours or less later it is usually back down to normal its generally within a hour which is why i tend to prefer apidra over most others.
Hi Jim. As I wrote earlier, I’m on my MM522 part time, using Apidra. I’ve found that the Apidra in the pump cartridge quits at 36 hours. Since I use Sure-T’s that’s long enough; the instructions with Sure-T’s say to remove it at 24 hours. The advantage in not going beyond 24-36 hours is that the site heals fairly quickly and is less likely to leave some sort of bump or infection. (For me on MDI, Apidra is great.)
I posted on April 9 , that I was returning to NovoRapid ; I have given Apidra another try , start Sun July 10 , 6 pm : new reservoir , new infusion set . Mon . July 10 pm new Sure-T set : finger pokes : Tues eve and night , incl CGMS : over 8 ( x 18 ) …unhappy with the results …back to complete set change and NovoRapid Tues. am …goodbye Apidra ! …and will let my Team know .
I, too have gone off Apidra. I’ve been using Novolog for going on 2 mos. now with far better results than I had with the Apidra. There was a brief honeymoon period with the initial results, but like others the change of the site without fail at 2 days and consistantly raising BS after less than of year of use forced my doc to suggest the Novolog change. Much happier with the results.
Alan , in my last case the insulin was fresh …earlier on ( April ) I had to have Doc lance my infusion set due to infection … 10 years of pumping and this never happened before …could it be not just " deterioration " ???
Should it be me you are referring to, I will. I promise. I haven’t wanted to conclude anything prematurely. If it’s someone else, can you tell me who? 