Question:
From Mississauga, Ontario, Canada:
I am a 36-year old male and have had IDDM for 25 years. Recently I
switched from 2 injections a day (mixed R and N Humulin) to 4 injections (3
of Novolin R at meals, Novolin N at bedtime) for tighter control.
I am having some problems with hypoglycemia with this regimen because my R
seems to be lasting very long. For example, my blood sugars are dropping
at 2 mmol/l (40 mg/dl) per hour 7 hours after the supper R, even though
there is no other insulin in my system. I am also experiencing very high
blood sugars 2 hours after supper (13 mmol/l or 250 mg/dl) because the R is
slow in starting to work. I wait at least 30 minutes or more between
injecting and eating.
P>
Could this be a result of switching to Novolin (Novo Nordisk) from Humulin
(Eli Lilly)? These are both human insulins. The package insert for
Humulin R says it lasts up to 6 hours, while Novolin (Toronto) claims 8
hours. Are these numbers due to different measurement techniques, or
because of different binding agents in the insulins?
Answer:
Ask your diabetes team about trying
Humalog [lispro insulin]
(made by Lilly). You will need to use
it with either some NPH in the morning or Ultralente since its effect seems
only to last about 4 hours. The other possibility is that you are making
some of your own insulin and this will work better for you.
SS
[Editor's comment: Lilly's Humulin and Novo's Novolin insulin products are almost
interchangeable. I wouldn't expect you to have problems from switching
brands: and you could always try switching back and see if that makes any
difference.
WWQ]
Original posting 23 Mar 1998
Posted to Insulin
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