The topic of third day fade with Humalog in pumps has been
discussed here several times. Summary - It appears to be a
site problem rather than a problem with insulin degradation.
If you change the site and continue to use the apparently
degraded insulin, the problem goes away. Bill Van Antwerp
has suggested antibodies as a possible cause. The problem
does not seem to be too wide spread. The Insulin Pumper's
Organization site reports that 11% of pumpers change sites
every 2 days and 49% change every 3 days. Their statistics
are dominated by Humalog users (77% vs. 17% for Novolog).
I have experienced periods of third day fade. I eventually
noticed that when I changed my site from one side of my
abdomen to the other, or from abdomen to arm or buttocks, I
didn't see any fade. My site rotation pattern used to be 5
sites on one side of my abdomen in a W pattern, buttocks and
arm on the same side, switch sides and repeat. I changed to
abdomen, arm, abdomen, buttocks, abdomen, arm, abdomen,
buttocks, abdomen on one side, switch sides and repeat. I've
been doing this for about 6 months and haven't seen any
three day fade in that time.
If three day fade is a problem for you, it is
something to try.
--
-------
Charly Coughran [email hidden]