Drinking water helps, especially if you drink a good bit of caffeine which dehydrates (& causes rises for many).
Do you take Novolog just to correct highs, or also before meals? 10-12 units is a lot of Novolog to use as a correction. What was your reading? My guess is that it took that long to bring down your BG because it may have been steadily rising the whole time. Was this shortly after you ate? Were you ill? Being sick requires a lot of insulin to get back in a normal range.