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 delivery methods in the future, the syringe and vial can be
Read more

The Cure

-
Image
Introduction   Type 1 diabetes has been a disease since the ancient Egyptian times.  Will there be a day when we have a cure for the disease? It seems to be a hot topic about once a year where there are claims that we are getting close to a cure, but no results have been uncovered yet. How is it Done?      In order for a cure to be made for type 1 diabetes, a solution to the underlying problem needs to be presented.  In other words, a cure for type 1 diabetes would need to make the body produce insulin again and ensure whatever made it stop originally wouldn't happen again.   This seems like it would be a daunting task as there is a lot of unknown information, obviously.   What We Have Today      There isn't a cure for diabetes yet but with technology, we are very close to a cure.  Through the use of insulin pumps and CGM's (continuous glucose monitors) it makes managing one's diabetes a lot easier and more automated.  The pump can increase insulin doses if the CGM read
Read more

T1D and Alcohol

-
Image
 Introduction     Drinking alcohol while being diabetic obviously comes with a risk.  But, as does almost anything else, including eating.  In this post, we will be going over both sides to whether or not alcohol should be consumed while being a diabetic. It Should Be Avoided     One side to the argument is that alcohol should be avoided because it makes the blood sugar unpredictable.  Like many other aspects of diabetes, there isn't a fool-proof method that works for everyone.  Alcohol can have different effects for different people.  Personally, alcohol makes my blood sugar drop several hours after I start drinking.  It can be a scary issue because if I'm in a place where I don't have access to carbohydrates or something to eat/drink to raise my blood sugar, then I obviously wouldn't be able to get my blood sugar back up.  I really don't drink often but when I do, I make sure to have plans in place to prevent a situation like that form happening.  But, sometimes p
Read more