Apidra Time

[Cyborg]

Well Folks, I'm due for a site change today and I have no partial vials of Novolog left and 1 sample vial of Apidra to try. I am going to change my site with Apidra in the new reservoir and see how I like it. If I decide I like it more than Novolog, I will call my supplier Monday and I can probably get my next shipment on insulin, which is due next week, changed over.

Target bg: 80 +/- 3
Current bg: 82
IOB 0.97 units
Just ate 2 sm. slices turkey, 1 sm. slice cheese, 1 sm. bag cashews.
I:C ratio 1:5
Should be just about right on Novolog to keep steady with current basal pattern for the rest of the night.

Don't want to do this, but... Not going to eat anything else tonight. I will be doing dinner and night time basal testing.

[Cyborg]

New set in place. Have a nice 9mm Inset in a good place, a little higher up on the abdomen almost in muscle. No discomfort whatsoever during insertion or prime.

As the basal drips into the infusion line I feel the cold foreign liquid coursing into through my veins and into my cells. I can feel my Sensory Amusia begin to sharpen. My Exospacial Psionic Aura is louder than I can ever call. My Estrogen/Pathogen Exchange Program is executing without flaw. A I feel an overall Nano Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning upon me.

[NoelD]

How far before meals do you bolus with Novolog? I try to bolus about 10 minutes prior to sitting down to eat and I 've noticed my BG stays perfectly within target with no spikes 1-2 hours later, without the Symlin. I rarely need the symlin anymore.

I think you'll like Apidra. MUCH faster than anything I've ever used, and gets out quickly.

[valc3]

New set in place. Have a nice 9mm Inset in a good place, a little higher up on the abdomen almost in muscle. No discomfort whatsoever during insertion or prime.

As the basal drips into the infusion line I feel the cold foreign liquid coursing into through my veins and into my cells. I can feel my Sensory Amusia begin to sharpen. My Exospacial Psionic Aura is louder than I can ever call. My Estrogen/Pathogen Exchange Program is executing without flaw. A I feel an overall Nano Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning upon me.


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[KritterMom]

I really liked the Apidra, used it for about 6 months. But, there is always a But, lol, my new insurance doesn't cover it for a reasonable price, so I'm back to Humalog.

[Cyborg]

I've started noticing that by bolusing before eating that I also can do without the Symlin in most cases. If the Apidra makes this even more the case, then I can drop the Symlin (50$) and Novolog (7$) and only get the Apidra (50$) for a net savings of 7$.

I've had a splitting headache all day today, so I called off the dinner basal testing. For some reason, my bg did shoop up a bit after dinner tonight more than I had expected. I guess it's going to take a few days on the Apidra before I can get a good feel for whether I like it or not. With a 206 a little less than 2 hours after dinner, I'm not happy.

[cheryl]

Hi just a thought i heard people like Apidra better because it doesn't last in the system that long so there is no worry of lingering insulin and it works really fast and leaves very quickly your ratio is 1:5 you said probably need more Apidra then less since it doesn't linger around like I said it is just a thought. I want apidra because i hate that humalog sticks around and i go hypo 3 hrs later and if i want to snack i never know what to bolus I have a 1:15 ratio so i am a little insulin sensitive or Apidra might just not be right for you you might need the stuff that linger a bit longer....like i said it is just my thought

Cheryl

[Cyborg]

I may have under bolused tonight, but not likely. I'm having a bit of trouble correcting now also...

[gettingby]

As the basal drips into the infusion line I feel the cold foreign liquid coursing into through my veins and into my cells. I can feel my Sensory Amusia begin to sharpen. My Exospacial Psionic Aura is louder than I can ever call. My Estrogen/Pathogen Exchange Program is executing without flaw. A I feel an overall Nano Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning upon me.
LMAO. I'm rolling here.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[dgrilli]

I bet Apidra will be on file thirteened real soon. Doesn't sound like your matabolism likes it. Who knows could be a personal thing.

Why would you leave Novolog? When you were doing so well?

[jen_slc]

I would give it more time, obviously.

I did not do well with Humalog, better with Novolog, but I am doing fabulously on Apidra. I love it and am willing to pay the extra $10/month for it (it's covered by my insurance but not preferred). I feel so much better on it, I don't get huge post-meal spikes and I don't feel ill after meals like I did with Novolog (but didn't realize I felt that way until I switched back and forth between the two). It works suuuuper fast for me. Love it. :love: Without any other changes to my life (diet, exercise, etc), its already gotten my average to drop 40 points and I can tell my next A1c will be closer to 6.0, something I have never been able to achieve.

I did take me a week or so to get used to its action profile, etc, but once I got doses and timing sorted out, it worked beautifully.

I hope you see some better results soon, but if not, it's not like you were doing poorly on Novolog!

[BriOnH]

a bg target of 78-84 . Man that is incredible. I need to get to that range. Mine has been awful lately.

[Cyborg]

Why would you leave Novolog? When you were doing so well?

I know that Apidra doesn't have the tail that Novolog has and that the Apidra is supposed to work a bit faster.

It's definitely going to take a week of accurate carb counting and testing before I make my final decision.

[belyro]

Does anybody know if Apidra is available in Canada? Everything I've found on the internet so far makes it look like it's not.

Thanks!

[NoelD]

Your sensitivity is probably a bit lower on Apidra than Humalog like I was. My sensitivity on Humalog was 25, but now is 11 with Apidra, but I like the speed of the Apidra better. It's up to you though, just keep experimenting with it until you run out of it and then make a decision.

[Cyborg]

After the first 24 hours, I'm not very impressed. My bg has been running higher than usual and I've been taking more corrections than I normally do.

[NoelD]

I think that's normal because my sensitivity changed when I went to Apidra. I needed more, but it seemed more predictable for me and done it's thing faster. I think they key will be finding your sensitivity to it. Mine is 1:11 (1 unit drops my bg by 11), where humalog was 1:25.

[BriOnH]

After the first 24 hours, I'm not very impressed. My bg has been running higher than usual and I've been taking more corrections than I normally do.

Interesting. Please keep us updated Michael. I have been contemplating the switch myself.

How do you measure sensitivity?

[Dewey]

I used Apidra for around a month or so (about the end of May through end of June/beginning of July, 2005), and did Not like it. The only reason I was on it was 'cause my local endo suggested it when I asked about switching to Novolog (after experiencing problems with lost potency on mail-ordered Humalog). Now, these are Personal experiences, so I'm not trying to offend anyone, but I for one did Not like the things Apidra did to me.

1st, it made me feel like I constantly had to urinate, whether my bg was 95 or 205. It just made me feel like I had one of the pre-diagnosis symptoms (frequent urination), regardless of what I ate, drank, etc. (and Nothing was changed in diet). It also caused a little bladder pain.

2nd, I started getting pimples on my face....I NEVER get them on my face, so this was very odd to me. It was almost like changes were occurring at a cellular level or something. Didn't like that at ALL. Irony is, since being on Novolog, I've never had that happen again. Nor did it happen while on Humalog.

3rd, I did Not ultimately notice a need for a decrease in basal rates. Some people may, but I didn't. I required just as much basal and about the same amount of bolus to lower a high number as with the other two insulins.

Lastly, after about 28 or 30 days (or so), the insulin turned cloudy. Not sure what specifically caused that or why it even happened (it was Not exposed to high heats or too cold of temps, either), but that or any of the other issues I encountered while using it didn’t impress me.

When I went to the endo in Seattle and got on Novolog, I asked if he wanted my unused vial of Apidra. He said "No. I have a whole fridge of this stuff that I'm not willing to give to patients." He stated that it was "too new on the market," and he didn't want to use his patients as "guinea pigs" to test it. Granted, this was in August of '05...

So, from a personal standpoint, Apidra did Not work for me. It's good to hear that others have been able to do well on it, but don't feel bad or alone if it ultimately doesn't work for you either, Cyborg. You are not alone. ;)

[Cyborg]

The 2nd 24 hours has been better. I was going low with correction boluses, so I changed the duration on my pump from 3 hours to 4 hours and that seems to be the sweet spot. I do like that there is no tail and at 4 hours, it is really done working. I've kept the same I:C ratio and ISF. The real test will be a high carb meal. I may just go get a subway sandwich right now and see how I do by pre-bolusing and not using Symlin.

[JediSkipdogg]

I still think that anyone that has the opportunity to try it does. I belong to a pump group through my endo's office and we meet every other month in the everything. She was given Apidra when it first came out and had many doubts especially since she started Novolog from Humalog when it first came out. She says she was on well over 100 units of Humalog before switching to Novolog. Then she went Novolog and all that assisted was helping to reduce some post meal spikes for her, but she was still on well over 100 units of insulin on her pump. Once she was on Apridra though her number was drastically cut in half. Everything else was the same as Novolog, she just simply used 50% less insulin which made up for the price difference to her in Novolog.

I think the entire Novolog vs. Humalog vs. Apidra is a personal body issue. It is just like Pork vs. Synthetic insulin and only the user can really tell if it will work better or worse for them. Heck, we still have people on NPH vs. Lantus and they said NPH works better for them in the long run. It's a test and only the user can know the ultimate decision. Therefore if what they have now doesn't work or they are just just curious to try, they should try APridra and see what happens after a week to 30 days.

Good luck Cyborg and let us know how it works for you.

[Cyborg]

Unfortunately, I can already tell that Apidra is not for me. The cost is high and I would still require Symlin which is also expensive.

I did get a foot long subway for dinner. I was 85 before bolusing. 45 minutes later, I dropped down to 51 and I ate my sandwich within 15 minutes. 1 hour after eating my bg was 180. 2 hours after eating my bg is now 175 and I just took a correction. On Novolog and Symlin, I only would have had to wait 15 minutes before eating and my bg would never have risen about 140.

I'll be switching back to Novolog tomorrow...

[Cyborg]

I ended up finishing the whole bottle of Apidra. Last of it was used by this morning. I went back to my Novolog today and I'd swear my numbers were better all day. :hmmmm:

[cheryl]

I was reading your post, I bet with a high carb meal it would of been wise to use dual wave bolus those type of features with Apidra since it doesn't have a tail end, my only concern if I decide to try it is how fast if works cause i already get a fast absorbtion for my humalog but I hate the tail end especially if I have to correct and then eat 2hrs later I am getting low cause of the tail end of the correction......I like that you posted this so I can see how it affects certain people.........I am still considering it cause I hate the tail end of Humalog.....but then again don't know if I would like how fast the apidra works.....I am still weighing my options......

Thanks for posting

Cheryl

[Cyborg]

I didn't notice much difference in speed of action with the Apidra. I was actually expecting a significant difference between the Apidra and the Novolog, but unfortunately did not see it. I think it's different for everyone as different insulins probably work differently for people. I did see a difference when I switched from Humalog to Novolog and I definitely prefer the Novolog.