Insulin is a medicine that helps your body use glucose (sugar) for energy.
If you have type 1 diabetes, your body cannot produce insulin. You'll need to be prescribed insulin to stop your blood glucose from getting too high.
How you take insulin
You can inject insulin using an insulin pen. This is a device that helps you inject safely and take the right dose.
Some people use an insulin pump instead of a pen. This is a device you attach to your body that gives you small amounts of insulin throughout the day and night.
When you're first prescribed insulin you'll be shown how to use your pen or your pump.
Read about living with type 1 diabetes, including managing blood glucose and how to inject insulin.
Types of insulin for type 1 diabetes
Most people with type 1 diabetes take both:
- a long-acting insulin (also called background or basal insulin) once or twice a day
- a rapid-acting insulin (also called mealtime or bolus insulin) before meals
This combination is sometimes known as a basal bolus regimen.
You'll need to calculate your rapid-acting insulin dose for each meal, depending on the amount of carbohydrates you'll be eating (carb counting).
If you use an insulin pump, you'll only need rapid-acting insulin. Your pump will give you small doses throughout the day so you do not need to take a long-acting insulin.
Your diabetes care team will discuss your insulin treatment with you and recommend the treatment they think is best for you. The type of insulin you take and your dose may change over time.
Long-acting insulin
There are different types and brands of long-acting insulin.
Your diabetes care team will usually recommend taking insulin detemir (Levemir) twice a day.
They may recommend insulin glargine (Lantus, Toujeo, Semglee or Abasaglar) if you either:
- cannot take insulin detemir
- prefer to have fewer injections
Insulin glargine is usually taken once a day.
Your diabetes care team may recommend a type of insulin that lasts for longer, called insulin degludec (Tresiba), if you either:
- get low blood glucose (hypoglycaemia, or hypos) at night
- need help from a carer to take injections
Insulin degludec is taken once a day.
Rapid-acting insulin
There are different types and brands of rapid-acting insulin. Your diabetes care team will usually recommend either:
- insulin aspart (NovoRapid, Fiasp or Trurapi)
- insulin lispro (Humalog, Admelog or Lyumjev)
- insulin glulisine (Apidra)
You'll usually need to take this around 15 minutes before each meal.
Some brands, such as Fiasp and Lyumjev, work more quickly so you can leave a shorter gap before eating.