Examples of Insulin Classes

Rapid-acting insulins are given 15 minutes before a meal or within 20 minutes after meals. Regular insulin is best injected 30 to 45 minutes before meals. Rapid-acting insulin has a faster onset of action, about twice as fast as regular insulin. The timing limitation could be inconvenient for some patients, thus making rapid-acting insulin a better choice.

Intermediate-acting (NPH), neutral protamine Hagedorn insulin’s onset of action ranges from 1 to 3 hours with a duration of 12 to 16 hours. This could necessitate 2 or more injections per day.

Long-acting and ultra-long acting insulin analogs are absorbed more slowly leading to a longer duration of action. These synthetically manufactured insulins are given once daily. Low blood sugar is not associated with these insulin analogs.

Rapid-acting insulin analogs include aspart (NovoLog), glulisine (Apidra) and lispro (Humalog).

Regular insulins include Humulin R and Novolin R.

Intermediate acting insulins include NPH (Humulin N and Novolin N)

Long acting analogs include detemir (Levemir) and glargine (Lantus).

Ultra-Long acting analogs include degludec (Tresiba) and glargine (Toujeo).