Novorapid vs Humalog experience

On Humalog, on pump: have you noticed that at about 3/4 days your insulin becomes a little leas “effective” or your site just doesn’t seem to work anymore, boluss don’t work as expected, etc.?
Well recently my nurse recommended that I try using Novorapid - which has leas of a tendency to “freeze” and stop working. And after 4 weeks of using, I can definitly confirm this. Novorapid has worked great- I seem to get more life out of my infusion sites, and they are less sore or infected after 4/5 days when I need to replace.

I haven’t changed my ratios or basal at all, literally just replaced the Humalog with Novorapid.

Just thaught I’d share this! :slight_smile:

Hey Mark,

I used to use Humalog - awhile ago (brain is getting old here) and in those days - I didn’t take as good control of my diabetes as I do now (yes - you can teach an old dog new tricks - woof! woof!). I switched to Novorapid mainly because, and you’ll laugh here, the cool pen needle (looked like a fancy fountain pen in polished metal style). I use it in my pump, and have no complaints.

The only thing I question with you, in order to keep your skin from scarring (deep down) - I’d recommend if you can afford to, changing your infusion set every 3 days. When I first started pumping I had this dude telling me off about keeping the infusion set in for the 5 days (I would change it when my insulin cartridge ran out of juice). Not sure how long you’ve been pumping, but if you want to continue to have good BG’s and good absorption of insulin, it is advised to change your infusion set at least every 3 days (I still sometimes go to day 4 - oops - hope the “dude” doesn’t see this post ).
I also use a stainless steel infusion set (90 degree - 6mm / 9 mm depth), as I have issues with teflon cannula’s, and now when I remove the set, you’d never know I had anything there!

Thanks for the tip, will keep this in mind!

“leas” is a typo and means “less”, right?

yep. mobile site on iphone makes typing difficult… But yes, “leas” is less.

I was interested to read this post. I am switching to a pump, and considering switching from Humalog to Novorapid as well. I have always wondered why my Humalog works so poorly in hot weather (like on vacation), and I’ve heard from a few people that Humalog just doesn’t hold up to heat as well as Novorapid does.

Has anyone else made the switch from Humalog to Novorapid/Novolog and had good results?

they are less sore or infected after 4/5 days when I need to replace

You’d avoid that issue by changing every 2-3 days… reduce the amount of scar tissue you are developing as well.

Mark, I was told by my endo and my CDE as well as the Animas rep that the “shelf life” for insulin in a cartridge was only 3 days, something about the plastic that the cartridge is made of starts to breakdown insulin. I’m not sure if this was a scare tactic but, I only get three days out of my cartridge anyways so I change everything out then. That’s what I do and it’s worked for me! Hope this helps!

Hey Mark,
I did some research in the past, but I am not on a pump. I tried to find it and couldn’t, so here is what I found for you.

Check out this link about the difference of Novolog (aka Novorapid) and Humalog:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5697805_difference-between-humalog-novalog-insulin_.html
I guess the Humalog is supposed to be allowed to be left in the pump for 3 days, and this says it is 6 days for Novolog.

Another link where some people talk about Humalog crystalizing so you have to change your infusion sets every other day:
http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/question/58708/42283

I use humalog and have not had problems except once when I left my purse in the car (with insulin) on a hundred degree Farenheit day, so I don’t know.