Types of insulin

There are several types of insulin available that vary in how quickly and how long they can control blood sugar. Frequently your doctor may recommend combining more than one type of insulin. To determine which types of insulin you need and how much you need, your doctor will consider factors such as the type of diabetes you have, your glucose levels, how much your blood sugar fluctuates throughout the day and your lifestyle.

The general types of insulin therapy include:

• Long-, ultralong- or intermediate-acting insulin. When you're not eating, your liver releases glucose so the body continually has energy. Long, ultra-long or intermediate-acting insulin helps the body use this glucose and keeps glucose levels from rising too high.

  Examples of these insulins are glargine (Lantus, Toujeo, others), detemir (Levemir), degludec (Tresiba) and NPH (Humulin N, Novolin N, Novolin ReliOn Insulin N). These insulins work for between eight and 40 hours, depending on the type.

• Rapid- or short-acting insulin. These insulins are ideal for preventing blood sugar spikes after you eat. They begin to work much faster than long-acting or intermediate-acting insulins do, sometimes in as little as three minutes. But they work for a much shorter period of time, usually about two to four hours.

  Examples of these insulins include aspart (NovoLog, Fiasp), glulisine (Apidra), lispro (Humalog, Admelog) and regular (Humulin R, Novolin R, Myxredlin, ReliOn R).