Switching from Humalog back to Regular. Anybody done it?

You are right Tim. Regular and I are divorced for life. But I really recommend to not stop with Humalog insulin. Try also brands like NovoRapid and Apidra if your endo is supporting that.

This thread keeps getting more interesting! Some users say Regular is preferred, that the action is either similar to Humalog or better for their diabetes. Others say it's a completely different experience. I'm guessing that, for me, if I jump back to regular I'm going to be in the "don't see much difference" camp. For example, I already have to bolus pre-meal time, some times as much as an hour to match digestion. And no, I don't have gastroparesis (sp) according to my endo. But alot of the posters on this thread see an huge difference in onset and duration of the two insulins. Very interesting. It sure goes to "your mileage may vary..."

I'm nervous about switching back to regular, but based on what I'm seeing here maybe it wouldn't be such a big deal for me.

Yes, the individual differences seem to be huge. For some Humalog might be like water for others it is quick and sufficient. On paper the analog insulins are supposed to work faster. Regular insulin forms complex hexameric structures in the vial. These structures need to dissolve so the insulin can be absorbed into the blood stream which takes time. The analog insulins are modified so that they will form less complex structures in the vial.

If I recall it correctly the insulin VIAject was a faster regular insulin. The trick was to use a lower concentration like 20 IU per 100ml instead of 100 IU. This lower concentration will also allow the regular to dissolve quicker. Obviously you will have to inject more to get to the same amount of insulin units. I am not sure if VIAject is available on the market.

Viaject received a "complete response" letter from the FDA requessting additional phase 3 trials with Biodel's preferred formulation. Rather than do this , they decided to study some newer formulations.
http://www.biodel.com/content/pipeline/linjeta.htm

They are trying to create an insulin even faster than Novolog/Humalog/Apidra:

Their idea is to add some ingredients (which they claim are "generally recognized as safe") to humulin to prevent the hexamer formation, as opposed to the analog insulins which modify the insulin structure itself. They claim "Clinical studies indicate that Biodel’s lead ultra-rapid-acting insulin product candidate, BIOD-123, may be delivered into the bloodstream faster than regular human insulin and rapid-acting insulins."

They have a little flash video cartoon explaing how it works here:
http://www.biodel.com/flash/LinjetaMOA/aPLiteFlash/index.html

They are claiming "In the Phase 1 clinical trial, absorption rates of BIOD-123 and BIOD-125 were significantly faster than that of Humalog® as indicated by 64% and 54% reductions, respectively, in mean times to half maximal insulin concentrations (p < 0.001 for both BIOD-123 and BIOD-125 compared to Humalog®)"

Here is a link to a journal article where they talk about its development:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22920803

Basically they are adding a common preservative, EDTA, found in many processed foods, to destabilize the formation of hexamers. Their early efforts with viaJect caused too much pain at the injection site and so they have been reformulating.