Hello, Thank you for your query. I understand your concerns. Your heart specialist is correct regarding Avandia and Actos causing heart problems (usually heart failure) and kidney problems. You could benefit with insulin as it is safe in both heart and kidney disorder patients. Humulin is insulin. I will try and explain to you in brief. There are 3 types of Humulin. 1) Humulin S/Humulin R: This is short acting (S) or Regular (R) insulin. This needs to be taken 30 minutes before meals. Its action starts about 30-60 minutes after injecting, and it has its peak action at about 3 hours after injecting and the action lasts for about 6-8 hours. It is usually given twice a day. This insulin helps to reduce the blood glucose spike which is seen after a meal; hence this is given before the meals. 2) Humulin I: This is Isophane/intermediate acting (I) insulin. It is given once a day usually. Its action starts after 2-4 hours after injecting, its peak action is around 5-10 hours after injection, and the action lasts for about 16-18 hours. This insulin helps to reduce the background blood glucose levels (there is a constant supply of glucose in the blood throughout the 24 hours and this is synthesised from the liver and muscles by a variety of chemical messengers like glucagon, cortisol, adrenaline etc.) 3) Humulin M3, M5: These are pre-mixed insulins and these insulins have both the short acting and the isophane insulins mentioned above in varying ratios (30/70; 50/50). This is to be injected 30 minutes before meals and has the advantage of taking two insulins with one shot. Disadvantage is that it is slightly tricky to titrate your dose if your sugar is fluctuating. I am not sure how your blood glucose level is. If it is very high you could benefit with morning and evening doses of Humulin S along with bed time dose of Humulin I. Once your sugars are under control you could switch over to Humulin M3 twice daily. I would advise you to see your doctor, so that you could discuss with him in detail about the various insulins. I hope this answer has been helpful to you. Regards Dr Sunita Sayammagaru