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Does Novolog Interact With Symlin?

Posted on Tue, 20 Dec 2016

Question: My PCP has been asked by my insurance provider to change my insulin from Humalog to Novolog to save money. It would appear that Novolog would work almost almost the same in my Medtronic pump and I am assuming the strength of both of the drugs are roughly equivalent (?) so that I would take the approximate same dosage at each meal. (I am a 10+ year pump user). So I do not see an issue with the change unless you think differently. However, I also use a 120 Symlin dose with each meal. If I switch to Novolog, should I continue to use Symlin? or is use of Novolog / Symlin not recommended? I am 67 YO and on Medicare with Aetna as my drug provider.

Answered by Dr. Mirjeta Guni (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
There is no difference between these two types of insulin.

Detailed Answer:
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!

I can understand your concern regarding to insulin switch but I would like to inform that there is no difference between these two types of insulin.

Humalog is the brand name of rapid acting insulin lispro and novolog is the brand name of rapid acting insulin aspart.

The only difference between them is the time when they start the effect after injection. Novolog's effect starts 5 min earlier than Humalog. You are in insulin pump and it will not make any difference. So you can switch to Novolog without hesitation.
You can use Symlin too with novolog.

Hope the information will help.
Kind regards,
Dr.Mirjeta

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee