# Surviving on $50 with no prescriptions or insurance

**URL:** <https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/surviving-on-50-with-no-prescriptions-or-insurance/1806>\
**Category:** Type 1 & LADA\
**Tags:** nph, r-insulin, cost-of-health-care, cost-of-diabetes\
**Created:** [August 31, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/surviving-on-50-with-no-prescriptions-or-insurance/1806 "2017-08-31T18:14:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Jen](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/jen/32/4777_2.png) [@Jen](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Jen)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/surviving-on-50-with-no-prescriptions-or-insurance/1806/41 "2017-09-08T18:04:29Z")

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> [@Sam](#):
>
> Can I talk you into starting a thread about that? I’m really interested in how well it does or doesn’t work

I’d be interested as well, since I’m looking at next year to get a new pump. Assuming the 670G and t:slim have both arrived in Canada by then, those are the two I’ll be debating between.

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**Author:** ![drbbennett](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/drbbennett/32/604_2.png) [@drbbennett](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/drbbennett)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/surviving-on-50-with-no-prescriptions-or-insurance/1806/42 "2017-09-08T19:15:13Z")

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@Sam @Jen --Thanks for the suggestion. Done!

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**Author:** ![Aaron](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/aaron/32/1454_2.png) [@Aaron](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Aaron)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/surviving-on-50-with-no-prescriptions-or-insurance/1806/43 "2017-09-08T19:39:32Z")

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Back to R/NPH - I actually did MDI quite successfully with R/NPH in the mid 1990’s (just post DCCT). Previous to that it was the 2-shot a day R/NPH (morning/dinner) regime). I had high 6 A1Cs at the time.

I used pens - I had a Humulin R pen and an NPH pen.

The basic routine was:

1. Take NPH first thing in the morning for daytime basal.
2. R shot 45 minutes to 1/2 hour before a meal based on an estimated carb count + correction
3. If I had a meal, I usually had a small carb snack (like 15g) 2 hours later because of the long duration of the R.
4. NPH shot before bed for nightime basal.
5. Target of 8.0 mmol/l (144) before bed and usually had a small amount of carbs before bed to cover the NPH peak as well as the dinner R.

I loved this regime at the time. It was liberating as compared to the two shots a day thing - as @drbbennett calls it the “Eat now or die” regimen of insulin dosing.

When Humalog came out, I switched from R to Humalog and got rid of the long prebolus times that were needed with R. So was on Humalog / NPH for a while

When Levemir came out, I dropped the old night-time snack as levemir did not cause those nighttime lows.

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