Humulin N

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pistachioboy

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Greetings-

I've been keeping Gorda fairly tightly regulated - a combination of her still free-feeding and using a fairly short-acting insulin have made that pretty easy to do, actually. So she had three insulin shots yesterday, and I managed to keep her under 200 for the whole day.

My question is this: I hear that at least some people here have had some luck using Humulin N. How? What's the best strategy? Is three shots a day a bad idea?

Thanks for any help you can provide,

-Steve
 
Hi Steve,

You are not getting many responses because we have so few people using Humulin. At the moment, we might a newbie or two in Canada but they are not posting on a regular basis. We do have a few experienced people who used Humulin. I will see if some will stop by and contribute to your thread.

In general, TID dosing is a bit of a last resort. It is a little scary to try with Humulin because most cats have that first drop early in the cycle. A cat who is going to experience that three times a day will be on a real roller coaster.

I was thinking you were getting a longer duration than usual from Humulin - like surfing into the 6-7 hours instead of dropping at 3 hours and shooting back up. Would you please set up a spreadsheet so we can see the patterns and numbers you are getting? Setting up a spreadsheet It's a good tool for you and for us - especially when you would like dosing help.

If I remember right, money was an issue. There are some offers for free or inexpensive longer lasting insulins in the supply closet. You would need to have vet buy in for a change, but they would be easier to work with, and you would have a lot more support: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=15
 
Hi Steve,
We used Humulin N for ~18 months (BID) then switched to PZI and shot TID

If you can shoot TID, Humulin N might work pretty well for you and Gorda

The key with TID shooting is that you are taking advantage of the overlap in insulin effectiveness -- shooting before all the previous insulin is used up.
Humulin N lasts between 8 to 10 hours in most cats -- so TID is better than BID if you are testing blood sugar at home before every shot.

What insulin are you currently using? Do you have a profile published anywhere?

A spreadsheet does help us understand how Gorda is doing on the insulin - and give better advice.

I'm a mechanical engineer and I do data analysis for a living -- after Norton passed away from cancer in 2008, we adopted another diabetic cat, Tiggy. He is doing very well on Levemir.
 
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