Lyumjev, you are an epic disappointment

I tried Lyumjev in my OmniPod, and I’m wicked disappointed. I think it’s only slightly faster than Humalog, and hardly a game-changing innovation. Rather than calling it a “fast acting” insulin, I’m going to call it a “slightly less slowly acting” insulin.

What have others’ experiences been?

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Try Afrezza! If your insurance covers it, although they do have coupons to get it cheaper. I was having more issues with pod failures,some kind of me issues with pods. I use Humalog in my pump for basal and smaller dosing and Afrezza for meal boluses and correction doses for higher numbers.It works faster but a biggy is more of it works faster. And it’s done within two hours so you know where you stand better

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Funny you should mention Afrezza! My first order arrives tomorrow! I am giddy about it. My plan for Afrezza sounds very similar to yours!

I recently got a couple of Lyumjev pens to try (I normally use Humalog). I found that it did not start working sooner but it did seem to taper off sooner, leading to higher BGs. I am also going through a period of insulin resistance and I don’t know why. It’s been going on for around 6 weeks, so maybe it wasn’t a good time to test Lyumjev. I’ve been using 50%-60% more insulin.

My endo suggested just trying Lyumjev as injections at first, which I did (for meals/corrections) but I did also try it in my pump. I lasted less than 2 days in the pump before going back to Humalog. I did not notice the stinging that many people complain about.

I’m hoping my resistance passes and I’ll try Lyumjev again. I actually got a call yesterday from someone to talk about my experience using it.

I was very disappointed with both Lyumjev and Fiasp. I like Afrezza even though it doesn’t work much faster than Novolog for me.

I would be delighted if my Medicare part D insurance company would approve Lyumjev! My endo gave me a couple of pens to try just before he retired. I don’t know if they made any change particularly in how fast the started to work, but that’s not my biggest concern.

What causes me the most grief is that Humalog on MDI lasts about eight or even nine hours in my body. We normally have dinner between 4 and 5 PM. Yet I find my BG continuing to drop until at least midnight and sometimes until 1 AM. One night last week I went to bed at 10 PM and noted my BG. I woke up at a few minutes after midnight with a low of 69. My BG had dropped 61 points in that time period! Granted, that’s more than it usually does, but still trying to target what BG one should retire with is hard to plan under these circumstances. Lumjev did shorten that action period somewhat, though not as much as I’d like.

Another problem I have with the extended period of action on insulin is that I almost always have overlapping boluses since some of my meals are only about four or five hours apart quite often. So I’m always having to guess how much insulin I still have active. Again, Lumjev decreased the problem, though it didn’t solve it.

@Jaybear I absolutely love Afrezza. I got hooked fast! But I did have some bumps in the beginning, but things seemed to have settled to more expected issues. As a few people have said. It took a while to learn injectable insulin timing etc It takes a little time to learn inhaled.

  1. I can take it when I eat instead of always prebolusing.
  2. I don’t use it when I eat something higher protein or higher fat. I still use my Humalog for that as the Afrezza works too fast. Or I use a combo of both.
  3. I still use my Humalog for the small dosing as the Afrezza just comes in 4 units. There are plenty of videos to show how to easily split the cartridges to 2 units, but I have just been lazy about doing so.
  4. You have to remember to take some insulin later a lot of the time. One thing I didn’t realize is while I know some insulin would hit me later, I didn’t realize I counted on some insulin hitting me later. So that protein or maybe even some fat delaying some carbs, hits later. Most of my Humalog is used in 2 hours and I knew sometimes I had a tail that hit later. But that tail was taking care of more carbs, protein etc than I realized.
  5. Exercise has always stalled a increase in BG level for me and then a drop. Afrezza as IOB gives exercise a nitro effect pretty fast.
  6. But it works great to know it’s not in your system for bedtime if you used it a couple of hours before and the same with exercise. 2 hours and it’s gone, you don’t have to worry about it.

Extremely affordable if your insurance covers it. My insurance does and I recently upped the order, they just questioned the duplication of bolus insulin in both Humalog and Afrezza. I just told them I use Humalog in my pump for basal and small dosing and the Afrezza for food/meal boluses and larger corrections as I was having more trouble with my pods and I was lessening the use of insulin through my pods. It was okayed with no problem.

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Lyumjev is the best insulin I´ve ever tried in my 40 years as a type 1. My setup is Lyumjev, Omnipod and Dexcom G6.

When ditching syringes and and pens for a pump I used Humalog for the first 20 years, then I tried NovoRapid briefly but it was not potent enough for me and left me hanging too high for too long after meals and corrections didn´t really work fast enough, Fiasp did it´s trick but stopped working after two (?) years, Apidra was next but it was like injecting water. Lyumjev is my previous insulin since late 2021.

Lyumjev works as promised. It kicks in after about 30 minutes same as Fiasp for me, lasts only 3,5 hours vs 5,5 for Fiasp. This makes Lyumjev so much easier to use. It´s the most reliable insulin I´ve used and it´s a relief to have an insulin that delivers on it´s promises.

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If you are thinking about afrezza and do not have insurance coverage you can buy direct at insulinsavings.com

Some other tips are in Ginger Vieina’s article. I think she did a nice job. She has one tip on inhaling. There is a facebook group which has others if you cough when taking it. The two biggest issues with it are the cough and under dosing. Putting Inhaled Insulin to the Test

It’s the fastest acting subcutaneous insulin that I’ve used, but it’s just not a meaningful improvement from Humalog for me.

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Thanks for posting those details! I am getting prepared to switch from Fiasp to Lyumjev for Omnipod + G6 even though I’ve had a long good run with Fiasp. (Insurance forced change). Your post is reassuring, thanks again!

@John58

I hope you find Lyumjev works well for you.

Maybe this is old news to you, but Lyumjev has one additiv (Treprostinil) which helps to open up blood vessels. I think that could be the reason some experience that the tissue reacts with bruises or that they can´t inject large boluses. Some may experience that the injectionsite doesn´t last for 72 hours. My injection sites hold only 48 hours but this is the same no matter what insulin I use.

Anyway, hope you find that Lyumjev is a good fit for you. It took me almost a month to get used to how Lyumjev works for me. Don´t give up,- often times there is a workaround.

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Lyumjev doesn’t work for me, as it stops working two days into my t:slim cartridge. Just as well, Imguess, because Medicare Part B refuses to cover it, even though they have no problem with Fiasp.

Medicare part B is not a drug plan. It’s the same for everyone on a pump. They don’t Care which insulin you use. Find a new pharmacist .

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I am active on diabetes social media and I have not yet seen one person on traditional Medicare getting Lyumjev through Part B. People on Facebook keep asking if anyone has gotten coverage and I have not yet seen an answer that they were. I am not saying it is not covered but I have not seen proof that it is. I did a trial of Lyumjev in my Tandem pump and got the most painful site that I have had in almost 20 years of pumping. So I never tried to get Medicare coverage.

Been getting it Through part B and AARP supplement since I went on Medicare in June of 2020. Walgreens

Great to know and you are now the first person I know on Medicare getting it through Part B. Assume it is working well for you and what pump do you use?

I use a tandem with control IQ. Lyumjev has been a game changer. Onset of action much faster. If I take it 5 minutes before eating I can avoid an unacceptable post meal spike. Probably doesn’t last quite as long so I feel I can safely bolus again if I need to. Far fewer delayed lows than Humalog.
The burning is tolerable for me. I get a red bump on day three but it’s gone by the next day. I just retired from my job as a diabetes educator. My Lilly rep who also used it said if you mix it with a small amount of Humalog it stops the burning. She would do 300 of Lyumjev with 20 of Humalog. Since I only fill with 150 I would use 10 of Humalog. Haven’t tried it yet. I gave my Humalog away to someone who needed it.

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Yes!!! You and I have had the same experiences with insulin. I too love Lumjyev. It has been a game-changer for post-meal BGs!

This is interesting! I am going to try!

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I may be weird but I kinda prefer when I can feel the insulin going in, be it burning or whatever. I have so many failed or leaking sites that knowing the insulin is actually going in like it is supposed to gives me peace of mind lol. I am on Fiasp right now, but I might consider giving this one a try. I do have some irritation from Fiasp, but the speediness of action far outweighs it.

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