Apidra: Take it or leave it?

Finally, a post about something that actually relates to diabetes!  It's been quite a while since I wrote one.  So, here's the deal...a few weeks ago, I visited with a diabetes educator about switching over to Apidra from Humalog.  From what I've heard and understood, it's thought that Apidra has less of a peak and not as much of a kick on the tail-end.  Really, I haven't had any problems with Humalog, except that I occasionally forget to bolus before eating.  Apidra supposedly takes less time to work into your system too, which is why I was interested in it.  So, for the last few weeks, I've been pumping Apidra.  To be honest, I haven't noticed much difference.  I have noticed that my blood sugars start coming down within 15 minutes of bolusing, but other than that....well, I could take it or leave it.  I don't feel strongly about it either way and since the Apidra is $30 more per month than Humalog, I'll be switching back.

Now, for the flip-side.  A couple weeks ago, we had Lily's appointment with her endocrinologist.  We've had some issues with Lily's blood sugars for quite some time.  She hits that Humalog-peak and comes crashing down.  She plummets.  At night, we can't give her the full correction that her pump tells us to give.  During the day, if it's been about an hour since her last bolus and she starts weeping and crying and throwing incomprehensible tantrums, it's time to check a bg again and shove some sugar in her.  It can be pretty frustrating.  Combine that with the fact that we still can't bolus for her entire meal before she eats because she's not always consistent (we do about 80% pre-meal and 20% post-meal), and we've got an A1C at 8.8.  I'm not too terribly unhappy with that or incredibly concerned.  Her endocrinologist says anything under 9.0 at her age is considered A+.  But, there's definitely some tweaking that can be done.  So, we adjusted a few basal numbers, adjusted her morning carb ratio and left the office with a bottle of Apidra to try out on Lily.  For Lily, the Apidra has been MAGIC!  Seriously, her numbers have been fantastic!  She's been running in the 100s most of the days since, with an occasional spike if she's had a low (rebound) or if we've messed up a carb count.  But it's been fantastic.  She hasn't had those plummetting death-spirals an hour or so after a bolus.  She doesn't have the huge drop-off at the end of the active time.  The IOB has been a whole lot more spot-on lately.  Now, take all of that with a grain of salt since there are times when Lily just seems to go perfectly and other times when it's a constant struggle.  Maybe it's the Apidra or maybe we're just in the midst of one of our everything's-going-right stages.  Heck, it could have something to do with the phases of the moon, the chirping of the birds, or the buzzing of the June-bugs for all I know!  But for Lily, we are definitely keeping the Apidra!

Funny how you can have two very different perspectives on the very same substance, isn't it?  For me, Apidra was a "meh".  For Lily, it's an "oh my goodness, I'm in love!" 

Before I head off to bed to snuggle with my little beastie-boy (yes, he's still sleeping in our bed and I'm okay with that!), I thought I'd share a few new things with the kids....Leo has his very first major crush.  He's been watching Reyna's V-logs with me and as soon as her speaking parts are over, he asks for me.  I think he just might be as in love with her as the DOC is!  He's also developed a few new sayings...."Leo, want a nap?"  His response: "NO, I CAN'T DO IT!"  "Leo, are you ticklish?" As he writhes and twists while I tickle him: "No, I not ticklish."  Oh, I love him!  And just so I don't leave Lily out at all....whenever we're out in public, we hear quite often from strangers that Lily looks just like a Precious Moments doll.  I caught this picture of her the other day and wow, does it illustrate that point!

Man, do I ever love that little face of hers!  I don't know how I got so lucky to have the two amazing kids that I do, but am I ever grateful for them!