When is the best time to administer Humalog insulin?
Humalog should be injected within 15 minutes before eating a meal or immediately after eating a meal. Humalog is a rapid-acting insulin that is used to help control blood sugar in people with diabetes. Insulin is most commonly administered as a subcutaneous (under the skin) injection.
Humalog is a brand name for insulin lispro, a rapid-acting insulin. It is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for adults and children ages three years and older with diabetes mellitus.
Insulin is dosed in units. The exact dose to inject is determined by several factors, including your current blood sugar and how many grams of carbohydrate are being eaten. One risk of insulin injections is having your blood sugar drop too low (called hypoglycemia). This can happen when a person eats less than he or she planned. Rapid-acting insulins, like Humalog, can be administered immediately after eating, so you know how many grams of carbohydrates have actually been eaten.
Insulin is a hormone that helps your body to use the sugar (carbohydrates) from food for energy. In healthy individuals, insulin is made and stored in the pancreas. It is normally released by the pancreas in response to rising blood sugar levels. Individuals with diabetes mellitus don't make any or enough insulin of their own, so they must give themselves insulin.
There are different types of insulins. One way they differ is by their time profile: how rapidly they start to work, when their peak effects occur and how long their effects last.
Insulins are categorized as:
- Rapid acting
- Short acting
- Intermediate acting
- Long acting
- Ultra-long acting
Most individuals with diabetes need to use more than one kind of insulin each day to achieve the best control of their blood sugar.
- Insulin is often self-administered by individual subcutaneous injections either by drawing the insulin up into a syringe from a vial or by using a prefilled pen. All the insulin types may be given this way. Injection sites are rotated and include the abdomen, thigh, upper arm or buttocks.
- Some people use an insulin pump, which delivers the insulin subcutaneously but as a continuous infusion.
- In a medically supervised setting, such as a hospital, insulin may also be given as an intravenous (IV) infusion.
Humalog may be delivered all three ways.
Related questions
References
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Humalog. November 2019. Available at: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2019/020563s196s198s199,205747s022s025s026lbl.pdf. [Accessed July 3, 2021].
- American Diabetes Association. Diabetes. Available at: https://www.diabetes.org/diabetes. [Accessed July 7, 2021].
Read next
Is Trulicity a form of insulin?
Trulicity is not a form of insulin, it mimics the effects of GLP-1 a naturally occurring hormone that stimulates insulin secretion. Trulicity is only suitable for people with type 2 diabetes who still have functioning insulin-producing cells in their pancreas. Continue reading
What are the different types of insulin?
Insulins are usually grouped as fast-acting, intermediate-acting, or long-acting. Within these groups, they can be further classified as human insulin and human insulin analogs. An insulin analog is a human insulin that has one or two amino acids changed which affects how quickly it is absorbed after injection and how fast or slow it acts. Insulin analogs are usually given within 15 minutes of a meal or at the same time as food. Continue reading
When does insulin lispro peak / how long does it last?
Lispro peaks 30 to 90 minutes after administration and lasts for less than five hours (usually two to four hours). Continue reading
Related medical questions
- What type of insulin is Humalog?
- What is insulin icodec?
- Is Toujeo a fast or long-acting insulin?
- How fast does insulin lispro work?
- Is Admelog fast-acting insulin?
- Levemir vs Lantus: What's the difference?
- What is the difference between regular insulin and lispro (Humalog)?
- Humalog vs Novolog (Novalog): What's the difference?
- Are Humulin and Humalog the same thing?
- Are glucagon and glycogen the same thing?
- Toujeo vs Tresiba - What's the difference between them?
- Is there a list of drugs that require cold storage?
- Humulin N vs Humulin R - What's the difference?
- Is Novolin the same as Humulin?
- How long can Humulin be unrefrigerated?
- Does Tresiba cause weight gain?
- Is Humulin fast or long-acting insulin?
- How long does Humulin last?
- Insulin vs Glucagon - What do they have in common?
- When does NPH insulin peak?
- Which type of insulin has the longest duration of action?
- What's the buzz on Ozempic and Wegovy?
- Is Tresiba a long acting insulin?
- Can regular and lispro insulin (Humalog) be mixed?
Drug information
Related support groups
- Insulin (88 questions, 223 members)
- Humalog (17 questions, 46 members)
- Diabetes, Type 2 (498 questions, 1,425 members)