Lispro (Humalog®, Admelog®), Aspart (Novolog®), _______________________

Why does my child need this medicine?

• This insulin starts to lower the blood sugar in 5-10 minutes and works for up to 4 hours.
• Rapid-acting insulin helps your child use the food they eat.
• This type of insulin also lowers a high blood sugar over about 2 to 4 hours in children with diabetes.

What does this medicine look like?

• This medicine comes as a clear liquid in a small vial, cartridge or a prefilled pen.

How should I give my child this medicine?

• You will use an insulin syringe, an insulin pen, or an insulin pump to give this medicine.
• Use a new needle every time you give an injection and remove the needle after the injection.
• Your health care team will teach you how to do this.

When should I give my child this medicine?

• Give this insulin before your child eats a meal.
• Give this insulin before your child eats a snack if your health care team tells you to.
• Give this insulin with high blood sugars based on advice from your health care team.

Special advice for giving this medicine with other medicines

• Do not mix rapid-acting insulin with long-acting insulin in a syringe.
• If you give rapid-acting at the same time as long-acting insulin, you must give the two injections in different places of your child’s body.

Possible side effects

Call your doctor or nurse immediately if your child has:

• Allergic reaction (moderate or severe):
  • Rash all over the body.
  • Trouble breathing (call 911).
  • Fast heart rate.
  • Sweating.

If your child has these side effects, tell the doctor, nurse or pharmacist:

• Allergic reaction (mild): redness or itching at the injection site.
• Low blood sugar. Follow low blood sugar guidelines.
• Lumps under the skin if the insulin is given many times in the same spot. Do not give insulin into a lump as it will not work well.

How to store insulin

Keep this medicine out of the reach of young children.

• Insulin should be kept in the refrigerator between 36 - 46° F until you start to use it.
• Unused insulin is good until the expiration date when it is kept in the refrigerator.
• Once you take insulin out of the refrigerator to use it, it is good for 28 days.
• Mark the date you start using the insulin on the pen or bottle.
• Keep used insulin at room temperature (less than 86° F) and do not put it back in the refrigerator.
• Insulin will stop working if it freezes or gets too hot (see package insert).
• Store insulin pens with the cover on.

When to throw insulin away

• Throw the insulin your child is using away after 28 days or sooner if it becomes cloudy or you see something floating in the bottle or cartridge.
• You can throw insulin away in the garbage.

For more information

https://kidshealth.org/ChildrensWi/en/parents