What are the advantages of mixing different types of insulin together?

It is appealing to just take one shot in the morning and then forget about your diabetes for the rest of the day. Many pediatricians (doctors who look after children) used to give a once a day cocktail of two, three, or even four different types of insulin as a single shot in the morning. The syringe would contain some fast-acting insulin to cover breakfast, a medium-acting insulin like NPH to cover the middle of the day, and a very long-acting insulin to cover the evening and overnight.

A more common approach that I still see used a lot is for people to take an insulin that has fast-acting and medium-acting insulin mixed together so that they only need to take two shots a day. Seventy/thirty insulin contains 70 percent NPH and 30 percent Regular. There is also a 50/50 mixture of NPH and Regular and a 75/25 mixture of Humalog and a longer-acting insulin. Nobody enjoys giving themselves injections, so fewer insulin shots seems like a good idea. If both you and your doctor believe that these “premixed” insulins give an early peak from the fast-acting insulin and then a later peak or a flatter basal amount of insulin a few hours later, all from a single shot, what’s not to like about that?

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