Fast acting insulin (1770)

Key points below

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Call your child’s doctor, nurse, or clinic if you have any concerns or if your child:

Is vomiting. This can be a sign of ketones building up in the body, which could make your child sick quickly. Check for ketones and call with the result.
Has special health care needs not covered by this information.