Not sure my insulin is working

[jeggeman31]

I don't go see the DR until May 16th when he comes back from vacaiton, so I figured I would ask all of you.


I am on Humalog Mix 75/25
70 units A.M and 40 units P.M

My sugars are always over 200. Now to why I think this insulin is not working.

Correct me if I am wrong but Humalog is a Fast Acting insulin correct ?

I can give myself 70 unts at 8 A.M and with a bs of 242 and not eat anything until 1pm and still have a bs over 150 at 1pm.

So am I correct in thinking that it is not working for me, or am I missing something.


Thanks

[camjen1]

If fast acting is all your taking then yes you can expect to be higher. Fast acting is to be takin with meals then on top of that you should have a long acting in the background to cover you when your not eating. When you take your fast acting and then eat, your basically using all that insulin to cover what you just ate therefore leaving you with no insulin in between meals.

[rzrbks]

jeggeman31

Correct me if I am wrong but Humalog is a Fast Acting insulin correct ?

I can give myself 70 unts at 8 A.M and with a bs of 242 and not eat anything until 1pm and still have a bs over 150 at 1pm.

So am I correct in thinking that it is not working for me, or am I missing something.

Yes, Humalog is a Bolus insulin( fast acting) to cover what you've eaten.

You should, it would seem to me, be on a Basal insulin, such as Lantus to hold you Basal readings to their proper level in between meals, eating, amd just as a normal baseline.

[Cinnabon]

I was taken off those premixed versions of insulin a long time ago and I was on it for a short time. There is really no "true" control of how much you are taking of each with them.

[DeusXM]

If you're on humalog mix then actually you're not taking a fast acting insulin - you're taking a mixture of a fast acting one and a slow acting one.

Mix insulins 'work' but they really don't give you decent control at all. In the first case it sounds like your body needs more insulin than you're currently taking anyway, but if I were you I'd ask your doctor about going onto MDI. It's more jabs but you'll get much, much better bgs as a result.

[Erin]

You should mix, not shake, the vial before you inject (roll it slowly between your hands) That way you will truly be getting the mix that you're supposed to be getting. You could be getting more or less of the long acting insulin if it somehow separates in the vial. (i dunno if that happens with the 75/25 stuff, but I know NPH would separate in the vial)

I would definately talk to my doctor about going on Lantus (or a different basil dose of insulin) and Humalog. You will be able to get much better control with more injections of more specific working insulin. If your doctor is resistant to trying a different type of insulin then I would consider switching doctors.

To me 110 units of insulin a day seems like a lot, but insulin use depends on a lot of different factors. You'll either see yourself needing less insulin (when you're on more appropriate types of insulin) or more insulin to keep your numbers in target range. Are you going low at some point during the day? Maybe over night? Try checking your sugars every few hours one day to see what exactly is going on.