I’m a 17 year old male and I have diabetes and I am wondering if Humalog has to be taken with food. My nurse at school thinks it does, so after lunch when I’m high she says unless I eat something then I can’t take any Humalog and I would really like to set her straight!

In answer to your question, you are both right. Humalog is rapid acting and is used to cover food eaten and can be used to touch up high blood sugars. We usually work out a Humalog dose to match the amount of carbohydrate being eaten and how to adjust for a high blood sugar before the meal. Testing 1-2 hours after the meal is feed-back on that decision. Humalog can work up to 4 hours after it is taken so you want to show caution in giving extra right after eating to avoid risk of low blood sugars.

KS
Additional comments from Jeff Hitchcock, The Editor:

Many people use small amounts of Humalog to correct high blood sugars, even if nothing is eaten at the time of injection.

JSH