well as I mentioned I m recently finishing with a four year bid in the federal prison system, and now have some real decisions to make concerning my diabetic state of affairs....
During my bid I was forced to switch from using Humalog and Lantus, which was my format pre prison, to going back to the stone ages using Nph and Regular....
It took a year or so of tweaking it with diet,and manipulating my work out schedule to avoid crashes, peaks , especially with heavy cardio, but what I can say is that the diet I Incorporated which included 6 or7 meals , mostly consisting of fruits veggies, and complex carbs did wonders for me ... as I was able to get myself down to 7.1 on the A1c test which is very good for me...
I know ideally I should be on the pump, as i know that is the latest and greatest, but financially that is not a viable option, so Im confronted with the question of whether to switch back to Humalog and lantus, the problem i would have with that would be that humalog only last an hour tops, and so iF I wanted a fruit with some peanut butter, or a 1/2 cup of rolled oats , it would force me to take an additional shot , just for that small meal, so for the diet Im a accustomed to , I would be looking at 6 or seven shot a day compared with the 2 I take currently..whats the way to deal with that ...??
I tend to think sticking with what works makes sense. Diabetes has so many variables, why add more. If you are happy with your routine and it works for you, I say stick with it.
That said, my experience with diabetes is only three years deep. When my son was diagnosed he used Novolog and NPH until he starting pumping. I am not familiar with Regular. I have the impression that the onset of Regular is slower than Nolovog. Perhaps that is a change worth considering - from Regular to Novolog, but keep the NPH instead of the Lantus so you can continue with the snacks you want to have without additional injections? Perhaps the quicker onset of Novolog (assuming that is correct) would improve your BGs even more.
If you have no reason to switch then stick with what you are doing! Granted most people are on pumpos and if they are on MDI it’s not usually Nph and Regular, but that’s because they found advantages in switching. I’m currently on Lantus/Novolog because I want a more flexible schedule than what Nph and Regular gives me. I also find that the shorter duration of Novolog helps me better manage everything. But I also don’t mind injecting several times a day…so I think the best method is what you find easiest to comply with that also gets the results you want (e.g. good A1C, less swings).
Magic,
Welcome to Tu Diabetes!
First of all, with humalog / novalog it starts working in about 15 min. After an hour, about 30% has been used up. After 45 min, about 50% has been used up. After 2 hours, 70% has been used, and after 3 hours, about 90% has been used. Of course this varies from person to person. Times are quicker, from what I understand, if you are on the pump, but those are pretty close. The insulin is not gone in an hour, unless you have some odd absorbtion patterns.
Buy (you can get it on Amazon for less than $10) Gary Schindler’s book “Think Like a Pancreas: A Practical Guide to Managing Diabetes with Insulin.” That book starts by going through the history of diabetes and explains what he went through when he was diagnosed type 1. I liked it because I went through some of that diabetic history over 25 years ago when I was diagnosed Type 1, and since. If you don’t care about history or his personal story, skip the first two chapters. It is a great book and will teach you a lot. If you have questions about what you read, you can ask us. Schindler also talks about how to take on challenges with our diabets and how to change. Don’t try to do everything at once, for instance, when you are making changes.
Considering you’re freaked out, great job on that 7.1 A1c. Some people try really hard and can’t achieve that.
Don’t worry about the pump for now. It isn’t mandatory, and depending on how many strips you have now, it might be safer to not be on the pump, I don’t know. Funny, because I never minded the injections, but I still hate pricking my poor little fingers. Consider Levemir rather than Lantus if you change. I was changed to Levemir about 2 years ago, and it works better for me. I was better on Lantus than NPH, and I am better on Levemir than I was on Lantus. I think Lantus is currently used for Type 2 diabetics, primarily.
