Humolog

[TroyS]

I was just put on humolog and was wondering how often I should test myself. I am injecting 5 units befor meals and had a low last night before bedtime. Iheard 30 min. after meal and also heard 2 hours after meals. do not want to keep going low!

[xMenace]

Test just before your meal, two hours later, and for a newb 4 hours later. Try eating the same meals for awhile until you can figure out what the correct ratios to use are. Do you count carbs?

[UpNorth]

2h after meals is always good...


I test when i wake up, 2h after breakfast, before lunch, 2h after lunch, before dinner, 2h after dinner and before sleep, and that's my minimum... I often test in between those times aswell, and i test if i feel like i'm high or low...

[TroyS]

Yes I am counting carbs (40g a meal). What are carb ratios?

[UpNorth]

It's the amount of insulin you need for X carbs... I take 1 unit for each 10g of carbs. Started off with 1 unit per 15g carbs, but ended up on the high side, so had to adjust until i found the right combination :) Trial and error :T

[TroyS]

OK sounds simple enough since already have to do it for diet purposes. Thank You

[TroyS]

What if I inject at 9 (breakfast) and before lunch (noon) at 88 still inject before lunch. Afraid of going to low not used to this yet. Will the one at nine still be in my system

[Alice]

They usually start people out at one unit of Humalog for every 15 g. of carb...that way you don't take too much if you aren't eating a lot of carbs...or too little if you are eating more. You can then increase or decrease the amount of Humalog per carb eaten.

In my case, if I took 5 units, I would have to eat at least 75 carbs (a lot for me) to avoid a low.

Remember also that your Humalog will stay in system for about 3 hours...tapering down at 4...look at the packaging graph for action ...I find it to be very accurate.

Good luck...it does take some getting used to...and some days are just different than others for unexplained reasons. Keep glucose tabs with you at all times...especially during your "rookie" training days! It's a great insulin.

[JediSkipdogg]

I test when I wake up, before each meal/time I inject, and before I go to sleep. I generally don't do a 2 hour test unless I'm unsure I carb counted correctly or feel odd at that time. My reason is because I eat so often in a day that I rarely go 3 hours without eating.

[Eddy]

I was just put on humolog and was wondering how often I should test myself.


Test often at first. See if you can find out the rate at which Humalog drops you... in me, each unit drops me 25 mg/dL per 1U, is mostly done at 1 hr, and totally done in 1.5 hr. Others express shock at the fast action, and note that Humalog takes twice as long in them.

I initially tested about 15x/day. Now I average 8x-9x daily. Today I pulled off a 4-test day. (I may need to test once more before bed.) I recently had some 12-test "bad days" where my sugar ranged ~ 3.0(55) to 10.0(180).

It also makes a difference what you eat. For me, rice milk and pineapple act faster than Humalog. Conversely, whole-grain rice spaghetti releases glucose slowly enough that I use 60% Humulin-N (yes, protamine) + 20% Humulin-R + 20% Humalog to cover that.

I know that I'm not directly answering your question. My intended point is that there are enough variables that I suggest: Figure out how you react to your insulin(s), to various foods, and to different environments (stress, exercise, et cetera).

Or, in an attempt to give you a more direct answer... when figuring out a new food, I check:

1. At mealtime, to establish baseline.

2. "Soon" after. Perhaps 40 minutes, to see where I stand before Humalog starts kicking in. Maybe 1 hour, when Humalog is mostly done. Sometimes 1.5 hours, when Humalog has finished.

3. At 2 hr. This is when Humulin-R finishes.

4. At 4.5-ish hr. Humulin-N completion time.

Note that these times are for _me_, and _much_ shorter than what others observe.

Even when I only bolus with, say, Humulin-R, I still like to check at the other times... that way I can calculate what (if any) adjustments to make.

Once I understand a food well, I might not make any post-prandial checks.

I hope my rambling helps. :)

[Olidus]

Also keep in mind to also follow your senses.
If you feel something is not right 1.5 hrs after you inject - test. You do not have to wait for the 2 hrs on the nose. If you took too much insulin then you will more then likely start to feel it around the 1.5 hr mark.
When in doubt TEST - you can never test too much, especially when your new and looking to find out how you react to insulin and different foods.

[TroyS]

What is the difference between humalin R and humalog?

[Eddy]

What is the difference between humalin R and humalog?


Humulin-R is normal human insulin. It's produced using genetically-engineered _E. coli_, but is the same stuff a human pancreas makes.

Humalog is "insulin lispro", a modified version of the hormone. A couple of the amino acids are swapped around, making the resultant hormone less likely to "clump together" with itself. This makes it faster acting.

Humalog costs about 2.5x as much as Humulin-R. :(

[Cyborg]

I try to test every 2 hours and always before eating, driving and going to sleep. Being on a pump makes it easy for me to take correction boluses without much worry for stacking. The frequent testing allows me to learn more about how new foods affect me and allows me to catch lows before they become dangerous. I also count carbs and make sure I use my I:C ratio to take the correct amount of insulin for what I am eating.

[TroyS]

What is the best storage for insulin, does it matter if you leave it out at room temp during the day and refrigerate at night.

[Eddy]

What is the best storage for insulin, does it matter if you leave it out at room temp during the day and refrigerate at night.


Manufacturers state that it lasts a month after opening, regardless of refrigeration.

I refrigerate as much as possible (all night and most days), and keep using it as long as possible. I usually get ~9 weeks before having to toss the remainder.

[Scratch]

What is the best storage for insulin, does it matter if you leave it out at room temp during the day and refrigerate at night.
I just recently finished off a vial of Lantus that lasted me over 60 days, since my basal shot is usually 14 to 15u of Lantus daily. Once it came out of the fridge, it stayed out and on my nightstand for the time I was using it. Just don't expose to extremes in temperature and I saw something which stated that insulin viability will be affected by exposure to sunlight. So keep the insulin out of the sunlight as well.

[Alice]

I only refridgerate insulin when storing inventory in my fridge. My day-to-day Lantus and Humalog is kept in a plastic box in my bathroom drawer. I also keep a Humalog pen in my purse...the day-to-day is fine out of the fridge. Just avoid "extreme" heat and cold...otherwise, you're fine. Even in summer, I don't have a problem with insulin in my purse. If I'm leaving luggage in a trunk on a hot day, I usually pack an ice pack (left over from an insulin shipment) in my carry-on.