m-cresol / other insulin ingredients

[JasonJayhawk]

I noticed m-cresol is in most types of insulin as a preservative.

Just for fun, I looked it up on Google. I don't like what I see! Am I looking up the right thing? It's considered a suspected carcinogen... among other unhealthy things. :dontknow:

I'm not one to be paranoid about this kind of thing, but maybe in twenty years, we'll be saying, "I can't believe we used that!" I had a teacher in high school who tells stories of how the chemistry teacher they had in high school used benzene to clean overhead transparencies, before it was a known carcinogen...

So what's your take on m-cresol?

[BriOnH]

Don't know much about m-cresol (yet ;) ), but hope we don't look back in twenty years saying that! :D .

I found the addition of zinc in nph, which can cause hypounawareness really interesting as pointed out by Deus. I get sudden drops, that can be a little overwhelming at times with novolog, but my sugars are always above 80 mg/dl. I wonder if I supplement more zinc I can maybe not feel those swings as much.

[Les]

I react adversely to both m-cresol and phenol (both of which are in quite a few insulins, I believe in Levemir and perhaps Lantus, and perhaps NPH - altho I do not think they were in UL or L.)
I was on UL for YEARS, and had to get off of it due to its being discontinued.
I tried both Lantus and Levemir,and had adverse reactions to both.
I am now stuck with NPH, and am having allergic reactions to this also (perhaps also due to the protamine?),but at least I can still function (with Lantus and Levemir, after a wk, I could not even walk up stairs, or do much of anything, even tho my glucose levels were good, so it wasn't hi glucose levels that were causing that)
But right now there isn't much a choice with insulins, and if they all have those two preservatives in them, then we're stuck (unless you go on the pump ) Les

[Dewey]

I noticed m-cresol is in most types of insulin as a preservative.

Just for fun, I looked it up on Google. I don't like what I see! Am I looking up the right thing? It's considered a suspected carcinogen... among other unhealthy things. :dontknow:

I'm not one to be paranoid about this kind of thing, but maybe in twenty years, we'll be saying, "I can't believe we used that!" I had a teacher in high school who tells stories of how the chemistry teacher they had in high school used benzene to clean overhead transparencies, before it was a known carcinogen...

So what's your take on m-cresol?
Sorry to drag this back up (for some reason, I didn't see it before). I too, share concerns about M-Cresol. I was under the false impression that it was not an ingredient in Novolog, but spoke with folks from the company who said it was in both Novolog & Levemir. :(

If memory serves, I didn't think it was in Humalog, but now, am not so sure.

My doctor did advise to keep infusion sets away from the breast region for safety's sake. I read the online compositional info. (on Apidra (http://products.sanofi-aventis.us/apidra/apidra.html)) and became very concerned to read about the outcomes of some of the (limited) studies they did on mice. :(

Again, this brings me back to my bit** against the FDA for allowing products with a carcinogenic/possible cellular altering ingredient to be released & used among the general population.

This brings me to my next thought...Is there an insulin (i.e. Humalog, or something) out there that doesn't have this m-cresol **** in it!?

[JediSkipdogg]

Dewey, if the FDA only approved safe drugs then millions would die a day. What about all those drugs that claim a side effect may be "heart attack or stroke"?

Cylert which was a popular ADHD drug until it was banned in 2005 was linked to massive liver failure. However, it was never noted as a side effect, so now there is a class action lawsuit on it.

Heck, take Ritalin for example. It's considered a schedule 2 controlled substance and can cause major agression, depression, suicidial thoughts, outburts, and even sudden death. Yet it's still on the market and being heavily prescribed?

The ONLY non-stimulant ADHD drug on the market is Strattera. And that isn't widely prescribed yet.

I'm not disagreeing with you Dewey, just saying that the FDA has it's hands tied in lots of areas. You may say..."Well, if the FDA only approves safe drugs then that will make companies produce safe drugs." However, that is true, but then that also delays the process for creating some drugs and what about those that have no side effects of any drugs? Punish the vast majority (90+%) because less than 10% have a problem? It's really hard to say which to choose.

And for me, I have been on Insulin (Humalog, Novolog, NPH, R ---not sure what before those) for 24 years and have not had any problems come up, I say give me whatever you need to to keep me alive.

[Dewey]

I think what I'm mostly trying to say is that it would be nice for people to have options! If an insulin company made some insulins without preservatives & some with, it would offer options to those who are allergic (to preservatives), or those who just plain don't like them.

Remember, just cause it's worked for you (or even me) for xx amount of years, doesn't mean that someone else won't suffer a severe side effect, and it's Those people that I'm thinking of as well.

On the FDA front:

I understand that in some areas, the FDA's hands may be "tied." That said, since they are supposed to enforce the "safety" of meds & things, I personally think they should do a Better job & owe it to the people to do so. When folks have died from things like Rezulin & suffered from stuff like Vioxx, it makes me wonder just how many unsafe drugs they're willing to pass & how many lives they're willing to toy with (by releasing unsafe meds).

I don't believe that millions would die a day if an unsafe drug was Not released. I also know that sometimes, the very drugs that are approved for one condition, can (and in some cases, do) indeed cause a host of other problems....

These are my opinions & while I'm open-minded on most things, I am not clouded into thinking that our system is a safe & good one all the way around. There are many aspects and reasons behind why meds are released when they probably should be reviewed a little longer...One of which is money, and in my opinion, money talks a little too much (especially in America)...

[lilituc]

Huh, I suspected it was an ingredient in Novolog that was causing me dizziness, but I'm still not sure which one. Reading up on phenol and m-cresol doesn't help, though. And it looks like Humalog has almost the same ingredients (less phenol, though) so I don't know if switching would help.