Known brand names include Humalog, Admelog, and Lyumjev.
A rapid-acting mealtime insulin injected within 15 minutes before a meal or right after eating. It covers the rise in blood sugar that follows a meal and is usually paired with a longer-acting insulin. It can also run in an insulin pump or, in the hospital, by IV.
Insulin lispro does the job of the body's own insulin. It helps muscle and fat pull sugar out of the blood, and it signals the liver to stop making sugar. It also keeps the body from breaking down stored fat and protein and helps build new protein.
Unit for unit, it lowers blood sugar as much as regular human insulin, but it is absorbed faster after an injection. In healthy volunteers, blood levels peaked 30 to 90 minutes after a dose. It starts working sooner and wears off sooner than regular insulin, though timing varies with the person, the injection site, and exercise. Too much drops blood sugar too low, which can happen suddenly, and if an insulin pump fails, blood sugar can rise quickly and lead to ketoacidosis, a diabetes emergency.
Insulin lispro is a fast-acting insulin for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In type 1 diabetes the body makes no insulin, and in type 2 the body does not use insulin normally, so sugar builds up in the blood. It is meant to improve blood sugar control, and it is timed to cover the rise in blood sugar that comes with a meal.
It is used by adults and children, injected under the skin shortly before a meal or right after one. Injected this way, it is usually paired with an intermediate- or long-acting insulin, and in type 2 diabetes it may also be used with diabetes pills. It can also run through an insulin pump, and in a hospital or clinic it can be given by IV under medical supervision. It should not be mixed with other insulins inside a pump.
Low blood sugar is the most common side effect, and it can come on suddenly. Itching, rash, reactions where it is injected, and skin changes from injecting in the same spot also happen. The label treats severe low blood sugar that can cause seizures or death as the main danger, along with mix-ups between insulin products, serious allergic reactions, and low potassium. It also warns about heart failure when combined with certain diabetes pills, and about high blood sugar and ketoacidosis if an insulin pump fails.