I am Christel from Diabetes Strong and
in this video I’ll be talking about Walmart’s ReliOn insulin
I’ll go over what types of insulin are available from the Walmart’s ReliOn brand
what they cost, how they work and overall if they're a good option for us
living with diabetes is expensive
and if you live with insulin-dependent diabetes you don't
really have a choice you just have to pay up
I live with insulin-dependent diabetes, I’ve lived with type 1 diabetes since 1997
and I have fairly good insurance, it's expensive
it's fairly good insurance, with that insurance I pay $60 per prescription for
my long-acting insulin and I pay $35 per prescription for my rapid-acting insulin
the rapid-acting insulin is only that cheap
because I choose to use a manufactured coupon and that way my cost
gets pulled down a little bit but not everyone has access to good insurance
and not everyone can pay those co-pays
so here in the U.S a lot of people are turning to
Walmart insulin when they find that their prescriptions are becoming too expensive
Walmart carries different types of insulin and what makes it so attractive
is predominantly the price and a lot of them do not require a prescription
Walmart has been carrying several different insulins for a while
so first one is insulin R, or Regular, then you have the NPH, insulin N,
and then finally a 70/30 mix and what makes those insulin so attractive
is that they do not require prescription and they cost about $25
as of July 2021 Walmart also started to sell their ReliOn Novolog product
so that product do require a prescription and it's a little bit more expensive
a vial costs $73 and a pen of, a box of five pens, will cost you $86
but before you run out and get your Walmart insulin you should really
spend some time understanding how the different insulin works
because insulin is not just insulin they do work differently
Walmart’s ReliOn Regular insulin and NPH
are both what's called synthetic human insulins
so all of us who were diagnosed with diabetes before the year 2000,
most of us had at one point used synthetic human insulins,
so it's the older ones
the ReliOn Regular insulin it's also what we call short-acting insulin
so that's a type of insulin that you'll take several times a day
to cover all of your meals
it used to be our only option for managing blood sugars around meals
but compared to the rapid-acting insulin,
the fast-acting insulins, that we have available today
it does work a little different, so first of all, it stays in the body way longer
it can stay in the body up to 8 hours
and it doesn't really peak until 4 hours after injected
so if you don't eat every 3 to 4 hours while taking multiple
injections of the Regular insulin
you are a very high risk of having low blood sugars
so let's just compare that to the modern insulin
such as your Humalog, Novolog or Apidra
because they do work a little differently so the big difference is that those insulins
will enter the bloodstream within 15 minutes of you doing your injection
and they'll only
stay in the body for 3 to 5 hours that's a big difference here because
that does mean less risk of low blood sugar and you also you don't have to
“feed the insulin” every 2 to 3 hours and then we have the ReliOn NPH insulin
also called intermediate insulin so that used to be the only option
we have for background insulin so remember we have our background
insulin and then we have what covers for meals if you use multiple daily injections
so NPH just like the Regular insulin doesn't quite compare to the modern insulins,
it is different
NPH insulin only stays in your systems, so in your body,
for anywhere between 10 to 16 hours
so it's one of those insulins that you do have to take twice a day
to make sure that you cover your full 24 hours
it also takes several hours for the NPH to become
active in the bloodstream and usually peaks about 4-6 hours after injected
so this is a little different from a lot of the modern long-acting insulins
so if you look at your Toujeo, your Tresiba, your Lantus, your Basaglar
most of these last longer in the body and they do not or they have very small peaks
the fact that NPH does peak can make it
very challenging for some people to keep their blood sugars level
and for some that means that they have to keep a very rigid eating schedule
and then we have the ReliOn 70/30 so that is a mixed insulin,
so it's pre-mixed and it is 70% NPH and it's 30% Regular insulin all in one shot
if your doctor has recommended a mixed insulin for you,
you just have to remember with the ReliOn is that it will enter your bloodstream
about 10-20 minutes after injective, it will peak about after 2 hours
and it will stay in your body up to 24 hours
and of course because the mixed insulin is a mix of NPH and Regular insulin
it has the same downfalls as those two have alone
but despite some of these downfalls,
I know plenty of people in the diabetes community who really likes
using NPH or Regular insulin so it's, it's, a choice again
so you have to figure out what works for you,
I guess what works for your wallet as well and make the choice that's right for you
and then we have the ReliOn Novolog so ReliOn Novolog is manufactured for
Walmart by Novo Nordisk
and it's similar to their own Novo Nordisk branded Novolog
it's a rapid acting insulin that can be used for meals as well as for corrections
so once injected it starts to work in the body within 10 to 15 minutes
it generally peaks about after an hour and will stay in the body 2 to 4 hours
alongside Humalog,
this is the type of insulin that's most often used in insulin pumps
so I’ve used both Humalog and I’ve used Novolog in the past
and for me they work exactly the same so I wouldn't have an issue
switching between the two as I mentioned some of the ReliOn insulins do
not need a prescription some of them do though
so if you're looking to buy the ReliOn Regular,
the ReliOn NPH, or the 70/30 mix you do not need a prescription
however you won't find the insulins just out on the shelf next to the painkillers
you'll just have to go to the counter, talk to the pharmacist
and ask for whatever insulin you want
however if you want the ReliOn Novolog product you do need a prescription
so you will have to get a prescription from your doctor
if you already have a Novolog prescription,
so not for the ReliOn product, a general Novolog prescription
you do not need a new prescription you can just take that prescription
to the pharmacist at Walmart and they'll switch it out for the ReliOn product
and when it comes to ReliOn Novolog,
there's no reason to reach out to your insurance company
so according to Walmart's website
it'll be the same price whether or not you use insurance or not
so a little word of caution here, synthetic human insulin
and the newer insulin, analog insulins, do work differently as I’ve talked about
so it's really recommended that you do see a medical professional before
switching between the two
just so you can get the proper guidance on how to use them
unfortunately, we have had some very sad cases in the U.S
where people have switched from analog insulin over to human synthetic insulins
without completely understanding how it works in the body
insulin is dangerous if not used right so please you know be careful
thank you so much for watching this video on ReliOn Walmart insulin
I hope you found it helpful
and hopefully, the information that I provided here can help you make
an informed choice of whether or not ReliOn is a good option for you or not
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