I had my last vial of Humalog break tonight and I can't pick up the prescription anywhere in the middle of the night. The local 24hr. pharmacy will sell me Humulin R over the counter - I've never taken this drug. Any body have any suggestions on a sliding scale to use? Can I use Humulin R in my pump until the morning? Is Humalog rapid-acting and Humulin R just fast-acting? Please help!
hopefully this graph helps (try not to mind that its from a site about dog diabetes lol, the graph pertains to humans as well)
http://www.caninediabetes.org/insulinprofile3.gif
I've never used Humalin R, but from what I understand is that it peaks later that Humalog and lasts longer in your system. You may want to try anticipating your meals then taking your insulin 30-60 minutes before you eat and change the insulin duration setting in your pump to 6-8 hours.
It shouldn't affect your pumping too much except for the initial few hours of onset, you might be high then all of the sudden go low from your normal basal rate. Just keep an eye on your blood sugar as often as possible. Good luck.
Thank you so much for this information! I got my Humalog this morning - and took Humulin R in the night - my BS dropped in the morning, but I think I'm back on track now.
Thanks!
Hilary
I take both every day for years so I know how both react and how quickly. As you know Humalog reacts with 10 to 15 minutes. Humulin R reacts much longer, about 30 to 45 minutes. If I have to take R instead of Humulin I take the same amount of units but I need additional additional lead time before eating. I hope this helps you.
