Battle of The Brands

-

     Due to changes in insurance, I unfortunately have had to change the brand of insulin that I use.  While this isn't the worst thing in the world, it still felt like a huge change because I had only ever used 1 brand and changing that just felt wrong.  However, after getting past that stage, I can now say that I have had experience with 3 different brands of insulin and can tell you how it has affected me if you are going through the same situation.

    I first started on Humalog.  This was the brand I started with and used every day for 9 years.  Then my family changed to an insurance that no longer accepted Humalog.  When I first found this out, I was upset and didn't know how to feel.  But I didn't let my feelings get the best of me and I knew it would be a change I could handle.  

    I switched to Insulin Aspart first (which is the "off-brand version of Novolog).  With almost identical packaging to Novolog (shown below) you can tell that the two products are related.  If I'm being honest, I didn't notice any real differences between Humalog and Insulin Aspart.  After all, they are both short-acting insulin, just different brands obviously.  This made me feel a lot better about switching since I couldn't notice anything different.




    After 6 months with Insulin Aspart, I decided I would try Novolog just to see if there were any differences with the other 2 brands in terms of absorption.  I think that compared to Humalog and Insulin Aspart, Novolog might absorb slightly faster.  Meaning it causes blood sugar to go down faster than the others.  I have seen other people post about this same thing in Facebook groups.  The fact that other people are claiming the same thing makes me think that this is true.

     

    Overall, if I had to choose one brand as better than the others, it would be hard to pick one because they all do basically the same thing.  One doesn't heavily stand out from the others besides that Novolog might absorb slightly faster.  The main takeaway from this is that if you are in a similar situation that I was in when having to change insulin brands, it should be a relief to hear that different brands actually aren't that different from each other.

Another good article with a review between Humalog and Novolog is provided here.

If you have any other questions about my experience with different insulin brands, feel free to leave a comment below or use the "Contact" link at the top of the page and sent me an email!


If you are interested in purchasing merch such as t-shirts, a mug, and a hat from DiabeticDecipher, use the link provided to view useful, everyday products branded with a logo made by DiabeticDecipher!  

https://www.cafepress.com/diabetestalk

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Your Pick - Insulin Delivery Methods

-
Image
Introduction:      Caring for type 1 diabetes comes in many different forms and there is not one set way that works for everyone.  Personally, I have tried a variety of different methods that I have tried and experimented with.  All of the methods that I mention in this post I have personally used.  The main point I want to get across here is that until you have your body figured out, it is all trial and error.  And trust me, there will be A LOT of error at the beginning.  The important thing is that you don't get discouraged and simply try new methods until one clicks.  My goal with this post is to teach how to use each delivery method and share my personal experience with each. Insulin Delivery: Syringe and Vile     When I was first diagnosed, I started out being taught how to use the syringe and vial method for insulin delivery.  It was important to start out by learning this method because when moving to other insulin deliv...
Read more

The Savior

-
Image
 Introduction     When I was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I was very scared.  I was 11 when I was diagnosed so, I didn't really know a lot about the disease.  I remember being extremely confused and worried about how the rest of my life would be.  If you have been newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I am here today to tell you that it is going to be okay and you can live a normal, healthy life with type 1 diabetes. A Real Life Saver     When first diagnosed with diabetes, you have to walk through the motions and learn how to give yourself a syringe injections because if anything in the future were to go wrong, you would at least know how to get insulin this way.  Once you prove you can do this easily, you can then move on to getting an insulin pump and a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor).  I briefly went over this combination in another article. " The Cure ," but I want to specifically focus on the CGM here.  When I starte...
Read more