Hi everyone!
New here, came across this forum while googling Novolin vs Humulin. Posting to share some info.
My Westie was diagnosed last July 2013. After many curves we finally got her perfect on 5 units of Humulin N 2x a day. I've been getting the prescription filled at Target this entire time. Two weeks ago I go to pick up her insulin and they had subbed Novolin N for her Humulin since it was on backorder. I noted the difference and they said that since it was on backorder thats what the supplier sent and that it was the same. Did a little googling when I got home which led me to some older threads on this forum. Made me hesitant to change to Novolin especially since vet said that I should watch her to make sure she didn't go into shock. Target said that they wouldn't take the bottle back since it had left the store and they couldn't dispense it to anyone else (even though it was unopened at the time because it would be a loss to the store. So I was super paranoid and started her on the Novolin when I was home and could watch her. Everything seemed fine and I thought she was going to be okay with it.
Over the next week, I noticed her drinking a lot more water than usual. Noticed her panting even though she wasn't being active, just sitting on the couch looking out the open window. The clincher was that she had three accidents in the house, when she hadn't had any in MONTHS. I was DONE and new I had to stop giving her the Novolin. I called around to see if anyone had Humulin in stock and found it at Costco. I had the vet call in a new script and picked it up today.
Moral of the story is that I should have gone with my instinct and declined the Novolin. Because they are indeed different. Now I'm stuck with a $110 full new bottle of Novolin since it was only used for a week but at least I feel better that I was able to get my hands on her regular insulin. Hopefully she'll be back to normal soon.
I wanted to post so that if someone is ever in my shoes, and are googling like I was, they can find a recent post about what I experienced.
Thanks!
WestieGirl
New here, came across this forum while googling Novolin vs Humulin. Posting to share some info.
My Westie was diagnosed last July 2013. After many curves we finally got her perfect on 5 units of Humulin N 2x a day. I've been getting the prescription filled at Target this entire time. Two weeks ago I go to pick up her insulin and they had subbed Novolin N for her Humulin since it was on backorder. I noted the difference and they said that since it was on backorder thats what the supplier sent and that it was the same. Did a little googling when I got home which led me to some older threads on this forum. Made me hesitant to change to Novolin especially since vet said that I should watch her to make sure she didn't go into shock. Target said that they wouldn't take the bottle back since it had left the store and they couldn't dispense it to anyone else (even though it was unopened at the time because it would be a loss to the store. So I was super paranoid and started her on the Novolin when I was home and could watch her. Everything seemed fine and I thought she was going to be okay with it.
Over the next week, I noticed her drinking a lot more water than usual. Noticed her panting even though she wasn't being active, just sitting on the couch looking out the open window. The clincher was that she had three accidents in the house, when she hadn't had any in MONTHS. I was DONE and new I had to stop giving her the Novolin. I called around to see if anyone had Humulin in stock and found it at Costco. I had the vet call in a new script and picked it up today.
Moral of the story is that I should have gone with my instinct and declined the Novolin. Because they are indeed different. Now I'm stuck with a $110 full new bottle of Novolin since it was only used for a week but at least I feel better that I was able to get my hands on her regular insulin. Hopefully she'll be back to normal soon.
I wanted to post so that if someone is ever in my shoes, and are googling like I was, they can find a recent post about what I experienced.
Thanks!
WestieGirl
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