Humalog vs Novolog

[mmaderas]

Hi everyone. My son is a pump user. A few months ago my insurance company notified me that they are no longer covering Humalog. So Novolog has been the insulin of their choosing. My son doesn't seem to do well on it. Over the last 2 months he had 2 severe lows which caused a seizure both times. To me it seems like Novolog works so much faster compared to Humalog and while the Dr has decreased his basal rate from 1.6 down to 1.35 and now down to 1.00 he is still having lows below 60. I'm terribly concerned and get little to no sleep checking his BS every hour once he's gone to bed. Anyone else have this?

[Shalynne]

I hope some pumpers come along soon with real info.

I'm a syringe-and-vial person, myself, but I've used both Novolog and Humalog and, yes, Humalog is a tad less powerful.

Humalog, in fact, is cheaper than Novolog in most regions. Switches from one to the other are common ... but this is the reverse of the usual.

Please pardon a couple of questions. They might help the group help you:

-- How old is your son?
-- Is he on Humalog only, or is he on a basal insulin as well?

Hope you find answers ASAP!

[mmaderas]

He is 16 years old and only on Novolog

[Strawberry]

What kind of a pump does your son use? Is it Medtronic, Animas, T-slim or OmniPod? All of these pumps have what is called a "temporary basal rate". If your son is continually running low with Novolog, ask his Doctor to teach you how to use the 'temp basal' feature of his pump. Or if you or he prefer to do your own adjusting, get yourself the book "Pumping Insulin" by John Walsh.

Your son, being a teenager, will have ups and downs and some of that variability is due to the fact that he is growing and his hormones will influence his blood sugar levels.

How does your son feel about his pump? How long has he been diabetic and what type of diabetes does he have, Type 1 or Type 2?

[Ronnie]

My husband uses novolog in his medtronic minii pump. We must make frequent adjustments but truthfully, i think we just haven't quiet learned to keep his carbs low enough and to frequently let him eat too many of the wrong sort of carbs. On the other hand, his last a1c was 5.9. I think it will be higher in September. We do aim for a low carb diet but sometimes when we eat out, he wants something that doesn't work for him and I try to adjust his insulin to no avail. I am awake now at 2:30 AM because I keep having to feed Ronnie. I think we have gotten the low carb diet right lately and now we need to adjust the carb to insulin ratio or the basal rate.
Belinda

[Shalynne]

If you're having to adjust constantly, no matter what he's eating ... I'd look at adjusting the basal. When we get the carbs right, basal often needs to go down ... 1u per day, until it's right, is the safest way to go.

In my experience, carb:insulin ratio doesn't change much.

[Ronnie]

Thank You Shalynne! we'll try it.