Different types of insulin are generally classified by how long they take to begin action, peak, and last. The five basic different types of insulin are rapid-acting, short-acting, intermediate-acting, mixed, and long-acting.
Rapid-Acting Insulin
Rapid-acting insulin, like the one released from the pancreas, swiftly lowers blood sugar. It’s typically taken at the beginning of a meal. When taken at dinner time, it can effectively prevent severe drops in blood sugar (hypoglycemia) during the night.
Some commonly prescribed rapid-acting insulins are:
- NovoRapid (insulin aspart): Begins to work in 9 to 20 minutes, peaks in 1.0 to 1.5 hours, and lasts 3.0 to 5.0 hours.
- Fiasp (faster-acting insulin aspart): Begins to work in 4 minutes, peaks in 0.5 to 1.5 hours, and lasts 3.0 to 5.0 hours.
- Apidra (insulin glulisine): Begins to work in 10 to 15 minutes, peaks in 1.0 to 1.5 hours, and lasts 3.5 to 5.0 hours.
- Humalog (insulin lispro): Begins to work in 10 to 15 minutes, peaks in 1.0 to 2.0 hours, and lasts 3.0 to 4.75 hours.
Short-Acting Insulin (Regular)
- Humulin R and Novolin R: Begin to work in 30 to 60 minutes, peak between 2 and 4 hours, and last 6 to 8 hours.
- U500 (regular with 5x concentration): Begins to work in 30 minutes, peaks in 30 minutes, and lasts 18 to 24 hours.
Intermediate-Acting Insulin
- NPH insulin: Begins working in 1 to 2 hours, peaks in 4 to 12 hours, and lasts 14 to 24 hours.
Long-Acting Insulin
- Basaglar (insulin glargine): Goes to work in 1 to 1.5 hours, maintains a steady level, and lasts 11 to 24 hours.
- Levemir (insulin detemir): Goes to work in 1 to 2 hours, maintains a steady level, and lasts for as long as 24 hours.
- Tresiba (insulin degludec): Goes to work in 30 to 90 minutes, maintains a steady level, and lasts 42 hours.
Mixed Insulin
- Humulin 70/30: Goes to work in 30 minutes, peaks at 2 to 4 hours, and lasts 14 to 24 hours.
- Novolin 70/30: Goes to work in 30 minutes, peaks in 2 to 12 hours, and lasts as long as 24 hours.
- Novolog 70/30: Goes to work in 10 to 20 minutes, peaks in 1 to 4 hours, and lasts as long as 24 hours.
- Humulin 50/50: Goes to work in 30 minutes, peaks at 2 to 5 hours, and lasts 18 to 24 hours.
- Humalog mix 75/25: Goes to work in 15 minutes, peaks in 30 minutes to 2.5 hours, and lasts 16 to 20 hours.
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