Apidra SoloStar supply news

Looks like Sanofi will have the supply of their Apidra SoloStar pen back to normal levels in the second quarter of 2012. Sanofi has made the FDA aware of their timetable and SoloStar users should be happy again in just a short time.

The company has produced a web page that can help a SoloStar user navigate the supply issues and they've also extended their free Apidra offer as a way to help soften the sting of this inconvenience. We've taken advantage of the free offer even though Arden doesn't use the SoloStar pen... Nothing better then free insulin, right?

Arden's A1c is at it's lowest ever since we switched to Apidra so I'm more then excited and happy to let you all know that it's out there and for a while longer, free. 

Trusted my instincts

 

Last night before bed, Arden's BG unexpectedly spiked up. I resisted the urge to play it safe and trusted my instincts to bolus. I covered the high BG and encouraged a small snack that I did not cover. We had an early dinner and while I didn't understand the spike I knew that the insulin without anything in her stomach would likely cause a low later. So I popped some corn and Arden had a few (of her) handfuls with melted butter to get some fat into the mix.

I must have been a bit unsure initially because I posted on FaceBook that I just bolused and didn't know what to expect. Two hours later her BG was in a good place and drifting gently to where she woke this morning, 85.

This morning she woke up in such a pleasant mood and immediately began talking about all sorts of funny stuff. She hopped out of bed when I asked her to, didn't linger in the bathroom or mess around while she ate... she didn't even complain about brushing her teeth! All of that makes me wonder just how much varied and fluctuating blood glucose levels effect her personality, mood and feelings.

Free* Apidra from now until 4/30/12

I just got my card. It only took a few minutes...

All you have to do is go to this link and answer a few simple check box questions. The system will then generate a printable card for you to take into your Pharmacy and just like that your Apidra is free! Visit the link to get your card now and for more details. There is a bit of fine print... I've included some of it below.

If you want to know about more offers in the future please follow me on Twitter, FaceBook and Subscribe to Arden's Day - links are in the sidebar to the right.

Follow @ArdensDay

Please use the "share article" link just below to spread the word.

From now until April 30, 2012, Apidra® vials are free for patients with commercial insurance*. ACCESS also provides Certified Diabetes Educators for on-demand support and counseling.

 *Offer is not valid for patients participating in Medicare, Medicaid, or any other federal- or state-funded benefit programs. Offer not valid in MA (except for cash-paying patients). Void where prohibited by law. Cards are the property of sanofi-aventis, and must be returned upon request. Both parties reserve the right to rescind, revoke, or amend this program without notice. Maximum offer value $250 per prescription. Cards valid through April 30, 2012.

I have not been compensated in any way for this post. Just good information for our fellow insulin users.

That shook me

I was sitting at my desk today when I heard Arden walk upstairs. I made that subconscious T1 parent note, "Arden upstairs" and with that I glanced over my shoulder to see where Cole was... "on the sofa". Last, I wonder where Kelly is (she is on vacation, so home with us). All this happend in an instant of course and I do stuff like this all day long, quietly "managing" almost everything that happens in our home. For example, if Cole is sitting on the sofa, "should he be reading for school, does he have practice today?" When Arden goes upstairs I'll think, "do I know what her BG is and how long until I should check on her?". I'm sure you know what I mean. In the past I've likened this to people as the parental equivalent of being an international spy. Checking all of the exits when you walk into a room and figuring out what on the table can be used to kill the bad guy.

I digress...

Arden walked upstairs, Cole was in the room with me and Kelly was somewhere in the house. Moments later a huge BANG came from above my head, I looked up perplexed at where the noise seemed to eminate from and thought, "why would Kelly be jumping on our bed?" Then my eyes fixed on the ceiling above me and I began to raise my voice to tell whoever was destroying my poor bed to stop but as I did, I noticed that the exterior wall of our house was swaying back and forth and I began to feel a bit woozy.

Even though I've never been in an earthquake, I knew that was exactly what was happening. I immediately did the following things, in this order.

• Brought Cole close to me
• Called for Kelly
• Called for Arden, told Kelly that Arden was upstairs and yelled for everyone to met in the family room
• Began taking insulin, OmniPod, DexCom, battery, FreeStyle test strip and even ice inventory in my head

I instantly began to wonder how many days of insulin we had, considered where pharmacies near us are (we use Medco mail order) and just as I was about to spring into emergency level daddy action, the shaking stopped. The entire moment lasted all of 30 seconds. There wasn't even time to seek shelter before it stopped and thank goodness that wasn't necessary!

In that moment I wanted my family to be safe but that urge was being overwhelmed by a more guttural instinct, a reaction that made me feel as if someone was trying to kill Arden... by separating her from insulin.

My entire world felt smaller in the hours after the shaking but not becasue the earth may one day splay open, that I could deal with. If the earth does open and swallows me, well that would suck but it's not what I'm afraid of.

It's the idea that the refrigerator may get warm and Arden's insulin with it or that Medco may not be able to get Apidra to my house in 24 hours - that stuff absolutley terrifies me. We have created a world for ourselves and in that world Arden has what she needs, if that enviroment of mailorder drugs and food being available at every corner went away... that's my idea of a disaster.

Honestly, an earthquake felt up and down the east coast is a dramatic way of making this point but it's how I was reminded today of how lucky we are to have access to the things that Arden needs, when she needs them.

This moment also prepared me mentally for our next adventure, the one where we drive toward a hurricane. That post is coming Friday and has wonderful photos of wild horses.

Apidra Blog ptII

Back in February I wrote about my experience with changing from Novolog to Apidra. This post is a continuation of that writing... 

This part of the story begins in March. Arden had her endo appointment in March and though I knew we hadn’t been using Apidra long enough to see any improvement in her A1C, I was stunned when her test came back 0.8 higher then the previous quarter. Shocked is actually too polite of a word, I was devastated. Arden’s A1C had always been within .3 of her original test (after diagnosis). It’s not as low as I’d like but it is in the lower portion of the range for her age. Always room for improvement but not bad to say the least.

I promised our NP three months ago that the Apidra was working much better for Arden then the Novolog and I said that we would definitely see a better number at her next test. 

Which brings us to yesterday...

Arden’s A1C dropped .9 to 8.0, which is .1 lower then the test from six months ago and the lowest number that she has had since mid 2009, in fact, it ties her lowest number ever. and here is, in my opinion, why...

(For Arden) the Apidra has a shorter action time then Novolg but more importantly it doesn’t have a tail like the Nov did and it doesn’t cause accelerated declines. Here’s something that the CGM users will gasp at... Arden has only seen three, that’s 3, double arrow down readings on her DexCom since we switched to Apidra. For my money that’s a huge improvement because it allows me to be more aggressive with borderline BGs. I wouldn’t have had the nerve to bolus those numbers with Novolog.

Some more reasons why Apidra helped me bring Arden’s A1C down.

Shorter action time allows for quicker readjustments of poorly calculated meal boluses.

No significant BG declines allow for less overnight bolus stress. 

Slower acting time allows for very aggressive pre-meal bolusing.

As mentioned above, adjusting borderline BGs is less frightening.

Fasting BGs are beautifully steady.

Our NP told us yesterday that even though the literature she refers to doesn’t show a statistical reason to suggest Apidra over Novolog, she just switch another patient based on Arden’s results. In the future if you are interested, I think I’d like to take each of the above bullet points and expand on them one post at a time. Thoughts?

The stuff at the end - I’m not nearly a medical person. I’m just a guy that takes care of a little girl with type I... I just happen to have an opinion, a keyboard and an idea about how to post a website. Please do your research, speak to others and then go over everything that you’ve learned with your healthcare professional. Please also know that this site is not supported by any ads, hand outs or pressure from any pharmaceutical company or device maker. I’m just trying to spread good information to the people that need it the most, as best as I can.

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The following are archived comments from this post. You can post new comments below.

Denise aka Mom of Bean

Hi!  Just popped over from D-Mom's Type 1 Tuesdays.  So glad I did!
Bean (my 7yr old) has been using OmniPod for 9 months and we're on week two with the DexCom.  I always 'knew' that she would spike after a meal, but to SEE those mountainous graphs are just plain yucky!  I was figuring it might be that her basals are off or her ratios needed to be tweaked, but now I'm thinking it could just be the NovoLog.  Her averages are pretty good, but those mealtime spikes are wreaking havoc on her, her A1c and me!! ;)
Thanks for sharing your experience.  Apidra is definitely on the list for our next appointment!!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - 06:17 PM

Lorraine

We are indeed needed to change every 2 days now and it is decidedly because of the insulin change. I was very resistent to draw this conclusion as I know there are others, like Arden, who do not have this issue.

Caleb never did gets alarms though. Just unrelenting highs at the magical 48 hour mark.

It's definitely made everything "softer" though, like your point about calmer overnight corrections. I don't think Caleb ever had a lot, if any, double arrows down before, and I can't remember seeing double arrows in any direction in a while for that matter. :)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011 - 04:54 PM

Scott

How are things for Caleb since to 48 hour pod changes or did you switch back?

Friday, July 29, 2011 - 01:13 PM