Types of Insulin

The six types of insulin are

• Rapid-acting

Rapid-acting, insulin lispro (Humalog)
Starts working in 5 to 15 minutes.
Lowers blood glucose most in 45 to 90 minutes.
Finishes working in 3 to 4 hours.

Rapid-acting, insulin aspart (Novolog)
Starts working in 10 to 20 minutes.
Lowers blood glucose most in 1 to 3 hours.
Finishes working in 3 to 5 hours.

• Short-acting

Short-acting, Regular (R) insulin
Starts working in 30 minutes.
Lowers blood glucose most in 2 to 5 hours.
Finishes working in 5 to 8 hours.

• Intermediate-acting

Intermediate-acting, NPH (N) or Lente (L) insulin
Starts working in 1 to 3 hours.
Lowers blood glucose most in 6 to 12 hours.
Finishesworking in 16 to 24 hours.

• Long-acting

Long-acting, Ultralente (U) insulin
Starts working in 4 to 6 hours.
Lowers blood glucose most in 8 to 20 hours.
Finishes working in 24 to 28 hours.

• Very long-acting

Very long-acting, insulin glargine (Lantus)
Starts working in 1 hour.
Lowers blood glucose evenly for 24 hours.
Finishes working in 24 hours and is taken once a day at bedtime.

Lantus should not be mixed together in a syringe with any other form of insulin before use.

• Premixed

NPH and Regular insulin mixture
Two types of insulins mixed together in one bottle.
Starts working in 30 minutes.
Lowers blood sugar most in 7 to 12 hours.
Finishes working in 16 to 24 hours.

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