Insulin Use For Bodybuilding - question/answer thread

[GearHeaded]

I've recently been helping some guys out through PM on how to safely and properly implement insulin protocols into their bodybuilding and addressing some of the reasons behind why its done in the first place.

So, I figured why not have an ongoing thread where peoples concerns, questions, etc.. could be openly discussed for everyone to learn and be safe.

Feel free to open the discussion with any concerns, questions, or experiences or knowledge you'd like to pass along as well.

My next post I will post about the reasoning as to why insulin is used in bodybuilding and the best way to use it for physique enhancement. as well as some basic safety protocols, use protocols, etc etc..

[tarmyg]

Good stuff! I'll never use it but I love learning so I am all ears :-)

[GearHeaded]

Some points about insulin use for bodybuilding and why and how we use it

Insulin is an “anabolic ” hormone that drives nutrients into muscle cells and turns on/promotes protein synthesis. It takes glucose from the blood and drives it into muscle cells to be stored as glycogen. When this happens and insulin “opens” the cell then other nutrients are taken in and carried along for the ride, like creatine and amino acids. The more glycogen and nutrients taken into muscle cells the bigger they get and the more they are able to grow and repair. Insulin indirectly promotes growth

Insulin is synergistic with HGH and the two of them ran together will greatly increase the production of IGF from the liver (IGF is a very anabolic growth factor). This will improve recovery, cell repair, and growth.

Continuous HGH use can cause a person to run high blood sugars, essentially making them border line diabetic. Insulin use will help keep blood sugar levels in check. Using HGH without insulin and having elevated blood sugar levels continuously will cause your pancreas to start trying to crank out more and more insulin and could eventually wear out the beta cells of the pancreas, in which case you become a true diabetic. Using exogenous insulin will give your pancreas a break and keep this from happening. So if you plan on running HGH long term at higher dosages then you should plan on using insulin as well.

There are 3 basic types of insulin used in bodybuilding. rapid acting, short acting, long acting.
Rapid acting kicks in in 20 mins and peaks in about 45 mins and is out of your system in 90. Its very quick and great post workout. Short acting kicks in in about 30 mins and peaks in about 2 hours and out of your system in a few. Its great pre-workout to sustain your intra workout nutrition for a long session and will carry over to your post workout meal. Long acting is super slow and steady release over an 18-24 hour period. Its great to keep blood sugar levels in check.

A few different ways of how I use insulin and why

During a majority of our day most of our blood is around our organs and other areas and there is not a ton of blood flow to the muscles. However, when we work out we can get about a 70% increase of blood to muscles. Blood is what contains every nutrient and everything needed for a muscle to repair and grow. So what better time to have something in your system that “opens” the cells up to receive these nutrients then when we have a ton of blood flow to the muscles we want to grow . So I primarily use insulin around the workout , pre and post.

Pre workout I take HGH, IGF, and Insulin. Then during my workout I consume a drink that contains amleopectin (fast absorbing carb), Essential Amino Acids, and Creatine. My pre workout meal (about 50 mins pre workout) contains carbs and protein. My intra workout drink contains more fast acting carbs and protein. So when I take the insulin and I’m going to workout and have a ton more blood flow to the muscles, my blood is going to be saturated with the nutrients that they need. The insulin is there to ‘drive’ these nutrients into the cells as well as replenish what I’m burning up during the workout
Post workout I take more insulin with more protein and more carbs. This is to help replenish and recover. The nutrients and insulin will cover me for 2 hours helping speed up the building process.

Pre cardio insulin is another method I use. I dose a very small amount of insulin before my cardio sessions (which are separate time of day from my weight training) with NO carbs. This is to get my blood sugar very low. When my blood sugar is low (not going totally hypo of course) I’m better at mobilizing body fat to fuel my cardio session. Also getting blood sugar lowered is a goal when running lots of HGH cause it causes high blood sugars.

Micro dosing insulin. I’ve used this method a few times. The main point is to help be synergestic with HGH and get more IGF production without having to take a large bolus of insulin at a single time and risk going hypo. You still get some of the nutrient uptake benefits but to a smaller degree. I now prefer doing larger bolus of insulin around the workout.

Couple of last notes

Mess up your dosing of insulin and you will likely end up in a coma or dead. This is not like AAS where you can accidentally take 800mg instead of your planned 400mg and feel no difference.
If you plan to dose 10iu of insulin but accidentally draw 1cc and shoot that , then you’ll be in a world of hurt.

Having said that, don’t be an idiot and know precisely how to dose stuff and you’ll be just fine. Use a blood glucose meter and constantly monitor your blood sugar and learn how your body responds to the dose of insulin you took and the dose of carbs you used along with it. Play it safe and start with 10g of carbs for every 1iu of insulin, then go down from there. Eventually you’ll get to the point of knowing exactly what carbs you need for a workout if you plan to shoot 10iu pre-workout, or exactly how many iu you can get by with using with no carbs at all dependent on what your blood sugar was to start.

Fats can mess up your insulin protocol. They greatly slow down the digestion of Carbs. If you were dialed in with a certain amount of carbs for a certain dose of insulin but you consume fats with those carbs, then its going to be way off. I simply stay away from consuming fat sources when using large bolus amounts of slin.

POTASSIUM. Even more dangerous then going hypoglycemic could be going hypokalemia. That is when your blood potassium drops very low and then interrupts your heart function. You could go into heart arrhythmia or A-fib and your heart just stops and you die.
Insulin needs potassium. Insulin uses potassium to “unlock” the cell membrane and when it does this the potassium is then used up out of the blood stream , thus lowering your blood serum level of potassium. So if your injecting lots of exogenous insulin then your also using up a lot of potassium. You can easily fix going hypoglycemic by simply ingesting carbs, its not that easy with going low blood potassium though. So I recommend supplementing with potassium and eating potassium rich foods like potatoes (a great source to get your carbs and potassium in one).


Anyhow, enough said. That’s a lot in one post to chew on

[charger69]

You mentioned the effects of insulin on the muscle. If you are working a particular muscle, there will be greater blood flow to that muscle. Would the insulin have a greater effect on on the muscle that you worked because it will have more nutrients? In other words, if I have a lacking body part, and I only took insulin on the days of that muscle workout, will it bring that muscle up to speed faster?

BTW- great idea GH!

[kelkel]

Great post GH and great idea for a thread! Look forward to the Q & A's.

[GearHeaded]

You mentioned the effects of insulin on the muscle. If you are working a particular muscle, there will be greater blood flow to that muscle. Would the insulin have a greater effect on on the muscle that you worked because it will have more nutrients? In other words, if I have a lacking body part, and I only took insulin on the days of that muscle workout, will it bring that muscle up to speed faster?

great question and the asking of it shows you get the big picture on how this all works. Theoretically the answer would be yes. especially when you think about cell signaling and when we damage a cell it begins signaling for repair.
but the body is so damn complicated and two steps ahead of us we can't say yes for sure. heck we could have such homeostatic disruption and stress from our chest workout on Monday that when we train back on Tuesday all our insulin and nutrients taken during that workout are still being used to recover our chest (the back may be being put on the 'back burner' sort to speak until the chest is repaired, idk).

I do think however we could have valid reason to practice what your question suggests. I would however do it different . instead of using insulin ONLY on your lagging body part days, I would simply double my insulin and intra workout nutrition on that day, and use smaller doses on the non lagging body part days.
if your legs were a weak point and you trained legs once per week and therefore only did insulin once per week , then your not really getting the whole benefit of what insulin provides. you'd be cutting yourself short. run a basic insulin protocol all week and then double it with more nutrition on the leg day without cutting the rest short.

thats just my opinion . I have zero experience doing what your question suggests. however I know guys have tweaked their actual nutrition around weak body part training with success (and insulin is really a nutritional enhancement)

[charger69]

How do you dial in the carbs? First priority was to understand my bodies reaction and take a bunch of carbs. Now I am to the point of trying to dial it in so that I can cut.
3:15 am 10 egg whites, 4 corn tortillas, 1 cup oatmeal
4:30 10 iu pre workout
I only took 3 sips of 50 g carb mixture. I specifically was trying to see my tolerance
7 am took blood 98. Finished carb drink.
7 am 10 iu post workout. Are pritein only. Intentionally did not take carbs.
9 am started feeling a little woozy. Checked blood- 67
Ate rice, rice cake, and part of second carb drink post workout. In 5 minutes I was good.

I think that I am taking in too many carbs on the first PWO since I am within the range after the workout and only 3 sips.
I think that I could half the carb drinks before and after as long as I had the meal with carbs at 7 am.
Please provide your feedback and if I am using the correct technique for trying to figure out how my body reacts.

[1moreset024]

I have a question GH?

WHEN it comes to slin such as levimir and basalagar (24 hour bolus types) what is causing slow release? Esters or is it PH corrected to precipitate when infected?

[GearHeaded]

How do you dial in the carbs? First priority was to understand my bodies reaction and take a bunch of carbs. Now I am to the point of trying to dial it in so that I can cut.
3:15 am 10 egg whites, 4 corn tortillas, 1 cup oatmeal
4:30 10 iu pre workout
I only took 3 sips of 50 g carb mixture. I specifically was trying to see my tolerance
7 am took blood 98. Finished carb drink.
7 am 10 iu post workout. Are pritein only. Intentionally did not take carbs.
9 am started feeling a little woozy. Checked blood- 67
Ate rice, rice cake, and part of second carb drink post workout. In 5 minutes I was good.

I think that I am taking in too many carbs on the first PWO since I am within the range after the workout and only 3 sips.
I think that I could half the carb drinks before and after as long as I had the meal with carbs at 7 am.
Please provide your feedback and if I am using the correct technique for trying to figure out how my body reacts.

first things first , make sure you always use the exact same carb source to get you dialed in. don't use oatmeal one day then white rice another day (totally different absorption rates and will give totally diff blood sugar results). IF your going to use just your carb drink intra workout then that works just fine.
take your blood sugar before you workout and pin the insulin . you should see a reading of around 90-100 (dependent on how long before your last meal and how many carbs, but keep that meal consistent so you end up with a consistent number day by day). Then when you are done with your workout and your intra workout shake, before pinning more insulin, take your blood sugar again (I'm assuming this is going to be 1.5 - 2 hours later by time you get to having your post workout meal . . unless your doing 30min workouts is all). This blood sugar number should be 80-115. If its lower then 80 then you consumed too little carbs during the workout, if its over 115 then you consumed too much.

After doing this for a week you'll know exactly how many carbs your going to need intra workout with your 10iu of insulin. Being your dieting it is very important not to over do your carbs and blow your diet just to fuel the insulin your taking.
your insulin should be fueling your current nutrition, not your nutrition having to fuel the insulin (unless your bulking).

now thats for intra workout nutrition and pre-workout insulin use. your post workout insulin use and nutrition is going to end up being a different carb amount then your pre workout. This is because your burning through blood sugar during your workout and you won't be doing this post workout so your blood sugars will stay naturally higher , thus you'll require fewer carbs.
Test your blood sugar 2 hours after your post workout meal. adjust either the amount of insulin you used post workout or the amount of carbs you consumed dependent on your readings. if your low then either up the Carbs or lower your post workout insulin dose. If your high then cut back on the carbs in that meal (dependent on what your diet calls for).

Keep in mind if your using a short acting insulin like novalin r, that your going to have some over lap of dosing being your first dose is still going to be active 2 hours after it was injected when you likely get ready to take your second dose. This is fine because your having enough carbs to cover you.
if you were using rapid acting then this would not matter. its only in your system for 45 mins

[GearHeaded]

I have a question GH?

WHEN it comes to slin such as levimir and basalagar (24 hour bolus types) what is causing slow release? Esters or is it PH corrected to precipitate when infected?

slow acting ones like Lantus insulin analogs were designed to have low solubility in water at a neutral pH, such as that found in body fluids . Lantus becomes completely soluble only at an acid pH of 4. Once this is injected under the skin, the acidic solution is neutralized leading to the formation of micro-precipitates. The micro-precipitates allow small amounts of insulin to be released slowly over time. This release results in a relatively constant concentration of over 22 hours with a minimal peak in activity.

[David LoPan]

GH, do you have your A1C checked often? Are you concerned with becoming insulin depended diabetic? My background as a nurse screams DO NOT take Insulin but you seem to know what you are doing. The world of bodybuilding has led to so many discoveries in AAS and Peptides so this is the first post I have ever read that makes since on why one would take insulin.

For those that might read this and do not know much about diabetes here is a little information on the subject. There are 2 types of diabetes.

Type 1: (juvenile diabetes) is an autoimmune process in the body that mistakenly destroys the insulin-producing cells, or beta cells and occurs in genetically predisposed individuals. This is something that you are born with. Some people do not know they actually have type 1 diabetes until later in life due to a number of factors.

Type 2: (Adult onset diabetes) This is when your body has too high of a sugar content and our body cells don’t respond normally to insulin. This is called insulin resistance. Your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond. Eventually, your pancreas can’t keep up, and your blood sugar rises, setting the stage for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. High blood sugar is damaging to the body and can cause other serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.

If you need more information please visit one of these sites and make an appointment with your doctor and review your risk factors for diabetes like race, body fat, family history, etc. and have your bloodwork done . IMHO you should have your A1C checked before starting using insulin.

https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/home/index.html
American Diabetes Association®
https://dtc.ucsf.edu/

I would also like to note: GearHead is an extremely smart guy with a lot of research and training. Using insulin is not for a beginner or intermediate athletes. This is advanced stuff. Like stated before, This is not like AAS, this stuff can kill you on your first dose!

[Obs]

Im not gonna talk about it in the open for fear of kiddos getting the wrong idea. I see the benefits, especially with my job. Every day of the week off blast my body gets more and more drained and my muscles are in disrepair until I get a day off. I have literally came home from work 15 lbs lighter than when I left.

My hope is to bridge the gap between blasts and not lose anything because of my work. Added benefit is I have to watch my diet like a hawk and I don't have a choice . I am given two, four hour periods in the day where I can't be messing up which is good.

As David said though this is serious to no end and I don't wish any little dumbass kid that logs on here at 18 getting into his grandma's insulin because he thinks he will get jacked.

This is hands down the most dangerous way to go about anabolics next to mibolerone and anyone considering it should know there are more effective and safer ways to go about improving muscle mass.

We have very very large vets on here that have never touched insulin so that kind of goes to show it is not imperative. I am using it because I have sold my soul to this.

Think about what you are doing before you start using insulin

I tell my kids to listen to the things I tell them the first time because you may not get to hear me say them a second time. I say, "STOP" and you aren't listening to dad and I can't tell you again, because you have been run over by a car.

Life isn't what we plan, gotta be smart or wind up dead early. I discourage anyone from using insulin for bodybuilding purposes at any amount.

Honestly when I found out Dallas died eating I was instantly sure it was insulin even though it turned out it wasn't. Its no game. Be smart everyone.

[GearHeaded]

GH, do you have your A1C checked often? Are you concerned with becoming insulin depended diabetic? My background as a nurse screams DO NOT take Insulin but you seem to know what you are doing. The world of bodybuilding has led to so many discoveries in AAS and Peptides so this is the first post I have ever read that makes since on why one would take insulin.

No I don't but I probably should. I'm due for blood work anyhow so will get it checked.

I'm actually more concerned about becoming 'diabetic' from all the growth hormone I use, not the insulin use. The insulin use is actually somewhat needed to help this out (if I did not use it then I'd be putting way to much strain on the beta cells of the pancreas and possibly burn out my ability to produce natty insulin , so taking exogenous insulin is giving these cells a break)

I woke up this morning with fasted blood glucose of 118 . Thats essentially pre-diabetic . BUT if I stopped taking the HGH and GH sercretagogues then my blood sugar would drop into the 80s. I'll take insulin with my breakfast. then later I'll take a small dose before my cardio. by time I'm home for another meal my glucose level will probably be in the 80s where it should be. so the insulin is a tool, as well as an enhancement.

me not running insulin with that much HGH and the high blood sugar that causes is probably more of a health concern then running insulin

[GearHeaded]

More info on insulin for bodybuilding

You here some people saying that insulin is NOT anabolic and has no purpose for muscle building and will just make you fat.

well.... consider these thoughts.

Insulin is what we call a glucose disposal agent, essentially it 'opens' up the cells to receive glucose and other nutrients (which includes amino acids and also other hormones and drugs in the blood) , this causes a drop in blood glucose levels (we know as hypoglycaemia).

Another mechanism is the effects on IGF serum levels, IGFBP serum levels and IGF Receptor affinities . We know that all insulin types can increase IGF levels, most to a significant degree, they also lower levels of IGFBP - increasing availability of IGF, another great feature of insulin is it can actually bind to the IGF-1 Receptor , especially insulin glargine which binds to the IGF Receptor with an affinity higher than that of any other insulin currently.

We also have studies indicating that insulin may decrease SHBG (sex Hormone bindings globulin) increasing availability of testosterone . We believe that insulin is antagonistic to growth hormone meaning that when one is raised the other is lowered meaning with exogenous insulin, growth hormone levels decrease, which is why GH is recommended with insulin and vice versa.

So there are many mechanisms of growth with insulin usage, 1: Nutrient shuttling, increasing the nutrients available to muscle cells, 2: IGF, increasing IGF levels, decreasing IGFBP and binding to its Receptor can cause hugely Anabolic affects to muscle cells, 3: Possibly decreasing SHBG, increasing testosterone, and other androgenic steroids availability to bind to receptors.

thats pretty anabolic in my opinion

[GearHeaded]

I woke up this morning with fasted blood glucose of 118 . Thats essentially pre-diabetic . BUT if I stopped taking the HGH and GH sercretagogues then my blood sugar would drop into the 80s.

so 24+ hours with no HGH use, no GHRPs, and no exogenous insulin use . fasted blood sugar was 83 this morning.

just goes to show that natty insulin production and insulin sensitivity after HGH use can bounce right back and recover that quick

[charger69]

Is there a difference if you take 20 iu all at once or 10 iu pre and post workout?
Is there a saturation point? Ie protein or creatine consumption. For example how much protein and creatine should I take to maximize the benefits and when is it being wasted?
You recommend potassium. All of the potassium I’ve seen is 100 mg which is only 3% rda: how much should we take?

[GearHeaded]

Is there a difference if you take 20 iu all at once or 10 iu pre and post workout?
Is there a saturation point? Ie protein or creatine consumption. For example how much protein and creatine should I take to maximize the benefits and when is it being wasted?
You recommend potassium. All of the potassium I’ve seen is 100 mg which is only 3% rda: how much should we take?

yes there is a difference . I prefer to take slin pre and post workout, rather then one large bolus pre. the reason why is that the pre-workout insulin is going to carry you through the workout with your intra workout nutrition. the post workout insulin with your post workout meal is going to help aide and speed up recovery and is going to carry you through that post workout time when cell signaling is high .
there is also quite a bit of time between the two doses. 20 mins pre workout your pin 10iu. then your workout is probably at least an hour or more. then by time you leave the gym and get home or to work and prep your post workout meal is another 30 mins.
so your probably looking at 2+ hours between the dosing. a short acting insulin is going to kick in in 30 mins and will peak at about 2 hours. so by spacing it out you get about 4-5 hours of coverage. and thats all during a time your insulin sensitive and nutrients are going to be needed in the muscle and used up.

as for how much protein and creatine . I suggest 5g of creatine and 10g of EAAs in your intra workout drink. post workout I like 30-40g of whey isolate. and of course the amount of carbs needed to stay in your ideal blood sugar range.

potassium can be checked with blood work. if you look at your last blood work and see where your levels were, and then get new blood work while you've been running insulin and see if they are a lot lower.
I supplement with 300mg per day . but I also consume potatoes as a carb source and they are super high in potassium.

couple things to note in regards to potassium.
-when you are on cycle your body has a much better ability to retain electrolytes and minerals. if you use insulin when off cycle then you need to pay even more attention to your potassium intake.

-if you take in a bunch of insulin and then end up going out binge drinking with your buddies, you can very quickly strip your body of potassium. don't combine lots of insulin with lots of alcohol.

-be careful if you use diuretics that are non potassium sparing while using insulin. again you can strip your body of potassium very quickly

-if you monitor your blood pressure daily (which you should) and your monitor has the ability to catch irregular heart rhythym and one day it picks this up then thats a sign you may be very low in potassium. as potassium is involved in regulating heart rhythym (i.e., keeping control of the electrical balances of the heart)

[kronik420]

would it have the same effect if your a diabetic? type 2.

[Obs]

***Notice***

DO NOT ADMINISTER IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING STOMACH SICKNESS SUCH AS DIARRHEA OR NAUSEA

I had a terrible fight last night trying to get glucose into a stomach that wasn't accepting it. If your blood glucose is crashed and your digestive system is not accepting nutrients, you will be in for one hell of a fight.

[GearHeaded]

***Notice***

DO NOT ADMINISTER IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING STOMACH SICKNESS SUCH AS DIARRHEA OR NAUSEA

I had a terrible fight last night trying to get glucose into a stomach that wasn't accepting it. If your blood glucose is crashed and your digestive system is not accepting nutrients, you will be in for one hell of a fight.

very true. the best bet is to have a carb supplement drink, like carbolzye , to try and get down liquid carbs if you can.
but if your stomach is fucked up, don't even bother pinning the slin

[GearHeaded]

would it have the same effect if your a diabetic? type 2.

yes but dependent on how insulin resistant the diabetic is (of course around your workout your going to be the most insulin sensitive)
also you have to be even more careful because more then likely your already running a long acting insulin , so dumping 15iu of fast acting pre-workout on top of that could really drop the blood sugar.

[Obs]

very true. the best bet is to have a carb supplement drink, like carbolzye , to try and get down liquid carbs if you can.
but if your stomach is fucked up, don't even bother pinning the slin

I struggled for two hours to get my blood over 70 and I was chowing down on everything. Miserable night.

[kronik420]

yes but dependent on how insulin resistant the diabetic is (of course around your workout your going to be the most insulin sensitive)
also you have to be even more careful because more then likely your already running a long acting insulin , so dumping 15iu of fast acting pre-workout on top of that could really drop the blood sugar.

Type 2. Don't take insulin. Just metformin

[GearHeaded]

Type 2. Don't take insulin. Just metformin

ok well the metformin is just acting as a GDA and helping out your insulin sensitivity anyways . so yes you would have the same effect from insulin use pre and post workout as a non diabetic would.
whats your fasted blood sugar generally run ?

[kronik420]

Last time I checked was high. 13 ish normal range is 4 - 6

[GearHeaded]

as a diabetic its actually HGH that is more of a concern then insulin use. HGH would definitely throw off your A!C reading on a blood test

[GearHeaded]

Last time I checked was high. 13 ish normal range is 4 - 6

ok thats mmil/L. . I'm in the US we use mg/dl. if my math is correct then that is 234 mg/dl, which is very very high. was that fasted first thing in the morning? how much metformin do you take?
you would probably benefit from taking exogenous insulin

[kronik420]

Yea was fasted. Prescribed 1000mg 2x daily

[kronik420]

I've got a thing to go get blood work done. Probably go in the morning get it done. Well in like 4 hours

[GearHeaded]

I'd get with your doctor. get your A1c checked. he may end up prescribing you insulin . then you can always supplement more around your workouts and take advantage of it for bodybuilding purposes as well

[kronik420]

When I was diagnosed at 13 years old. BGL was about twice that around 26.6

[kronik420]

I'd get with your doctor. get your A1c checked. he may end up prescribing you insulin. then you can always supplement more around your workouts and take advantage of it for bodybuilding purposes as well

Was thinking exactly that

[kronik420]

lol found 2 blood work forms, guess it's been a while since ive gone... says

Glucose; Glycosolated haemoglobin (Hb Alc); Lipid studies (chols/trig);HDL (including LDL; LFT; Urea, electrolytes, creatinine; FBE; ALBUMIN/CREATININE RATIO; iron studies (iron, transferrin and ferritin); vitamin D

fk looks like they gonna take a few vials...

[GearHeaded]

When I was diagnosed at 13 years old. BGL was about twice that around 26.6

least you know the metformin works for you , but again you probably need a little more help controlling that blood sugar

[charger69]

I struggled for two hours to get my blood over 70 and I was chowing down on everything. Miserable night.

Why does Obs struggle and I can feel better in 5 minutes? I fear that I have a false sense of security. My intraworkout carb drink is all I need, however at first I used rice and that worked well.

I know that people are different and different carbs have different absorption rates, but 5 minutes to 2 hours is drastically different.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[GearHeaded]

Why does Obs struggle and I can feel better in 5 minutes? I fear that I have a false sense of security. My intraworkout carb drink is all I need, however at first I used rice and that worked well.

I know that people are different and different carbs have different absorption rates, but 5 minutes to 2 hours is drastically different.

Obs is running Humalog , rapid acting insulin (you get a full peak in like 30 mins then its out of system), your using Novalin r, a short acting insulin which is a bit more steady and slower acting then Humalog , it kicks in in about 30 mins but does not peak until 1.5 to up to 2 hours later. If Obs takes 15iu then he's going to get 15iu in the blood stream rather quickly . If you take 15iu its going to be bit more slower and steady and easier to control blood sugar (it gives you time to drink your carb drink, get a meal in etc..)

also insulin sensitivity . if a guy is more insulin sensitive then he is able to much more efficiently drive glucose into muscle cells and that will lower blood sugar quicker then someone that is not quite as insulin sensitive. more chance of going hypo

[Obs]

Obs is running Humalog , rapid acting insulin (you get a full peak in like 30 mins then its out of system), your using Novalin r, a short acting insulin which is a bit more steady and slower acting then Humalog , it kicks in in about 30 mins but does not peak until 1.5 to up to 2 hours later. If Obs takes 15iu then he's going to get 15iu in the blood stream rather quickly . If you take 15iu its going to be bit more slower and steady and easier to control blood sugar (it gives you time to drink your carb drink, get a meal in etc..)

also insulin sensitivity . if a guy is more insulin sensitive then he is able to much more efficiently drive glucose into muscle cells and that will lower blood sugar quicker then someone that is not quite as insulin sensitive. more chance of going hypo

Novolog

[GearHeaded]

Novolog

ok so a very rapid acting insulin . pretty much the same thing as humalog as for as action is concerned , but Novolog actually kicks in even quicker then Humalog.

so basically Novolog is so quck acting you would NOT want to pin it at home, and then drive to the gym and get your intra workout shake ready and then sip on it (you could go hypo driving to the gym) you'd want to take the Novolog at the same time you begin taking in your carbs.

With Novolin however I can take that and not start taking in my carbs for a good 30 mins or so later.

I like Both, they both serve a purpose

[Obs]

ok so a very rapid acting insulin . pretty much the same thing as humalog as for as action is concerned , but Novolog actually kicks in even quicker then Humalog.

so basically Novolog is so quck acting you would NOT want to pin it at home, and then drive to the gym and get your intra workout shake ready and then sip on it (you could go hypo driving to the gym) you'd want to take the Novolog at the same time you begin taking in your carbs.

With Novolin however I can take that and not start taking in my carbs for a good 30 mins or so later.

I like Both, they both serve a purpose

Interesting, I thoight humulin and novalin were faster acting but I guess I was confusing fast acting with shorter duration.

[GearHeaded]

Interesting, I thoight humulin and novalin were faster acting but I guess I was confusing fast acting with shorter duration.

Novolog is rapid acting insulin (thats thats the fastest acting insulin as far as when it kicks in)

Novolin R (r stands for 'regular') is a regular or 'short' acting insulin . not as fast as rapid acting in regards to when it kicks in


we can look at charts and see when these things peak and the onset , but really whats most important is when is the drug in my system and beginning to drive down blood sugar. this is the most important thing for non diabetics because when we go to take insulin we will have normal blood sugars to begin with, and they can get driven down to hypo rather quickly (whereas a diabetic may take this drug and have very high blood sugar to begin with)