Basal Rate Blues

rachems

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hi guys, I'm brand new to the pump and need a little help with my basal rate. (I'm on the Medtronic Paradigm Veo if you wanted to know.)
I started the pump 2 weeks ago and my basal rate was 0.4 flat rate. Since then it has doubled to 0.8. I'm still getting the odd high and low at random points in the day but every morning I'm waking up with my BG in double figures :( usually around 15. Iv increased my rate during the night to 0.85 to see if this helps. I'm also having regular appointments at my diabetes centre and my diabetes nurse has been encouraging me to tweak the rates myself to what I think I need.
Its just a bit disheartening when the 2 people who started the pump the same time as me have been having near perfect bloods from day 1 on the pump and mine have been crazy :(
My carb ratio is 1:1 and iv been told to keep this the same.
Any tips as far as basal rate is concerned would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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mrman

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,419
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Basal testing would be a good place to start. Also, because of the way the pump deliveries qa insulin as basal continuously, it may have an effect on your bolus ratio, but, by basal testing and getting that correct you can then work on bolus ratios confidently.

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iHs

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,595
Hi

Create some basal rate time slots (12 is a goodish amount to start off with) and then start to test bg levels every 2hrs by doing some basal rate testing for about 6hrs at a time. This unfortunately means getting up in the night and bg testing and then looking at the results in the morning anf then doing some changes go the basal rates in the time slots youve created.

Roughly for me an adjustment of 0.10u alters my bg levels by approx 1mmol.
If you look at Bret's other msg today, there is a link to a basal rate adjustment website. Look at the table in the website and then look at the second row from the top which will give you a rough guide on how much to adjustyour basal rates by according to what you are alreacy using.

Dont fret as basal rate adjusting takes a while to get right.....a lot of trial and error before you start to get to your ideal target.
 

hale710

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,903
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi! I started pumping 3 weeks ago and am at the same stage as you. And on the same type of pump!

Have you done fasting basal testing? I've done overnight and mornings so now I know my basal needs at those times. I am doing afternoons next week the. It will just be evenings left. It's tough but worth it to really check your settings!


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novorapidboi26

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,828
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
as everyone else has suggested, in order to get the right basal rates over the 24 hour period, you need to test the dose, in smaller time slots.......

I always believe that testing the overnight needs is a good place to start as you are not going to be eating anything and of course getting a good blood sugar to start the day is advantageous, it also lets you pick up the dawn phenomenon and when you need to increase your rate in the middle of the night.......

are you aware of basal testing?

I am going to assume you do even if its only the basics, as your on a pump......:)
 
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iHs

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,595
Have just found the link that I referred to
http://diatribe.org/issues/26/thinking-like-a-pancreas

Look at the table ..... remember that there's 0.1 meaning 0.10 and then there's 0.01. The adjustment to basal partly relates to the basal delivery on the pump you are using so remember to look at the decimal point . 0.10u will make your bg move a lot more than 0.01u.
I would guess that most of your basal rates are somewhere between 0.40 to 1.00u so if that's the case, then look in the centre colums and take it from there. Just remember that the table is only a guideline... so you will need to test bg levels to see what the effect on bg the changing does.
 
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ElyDave

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,087
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
And remember that you typically need to make the change an hour or two before the aberrant BG readings, hence chopping the basal day into smaller chunks.

I'd also read Think Like a Pancreas and Pumping insulin if you haven't, both excellent for pumpers and those of us still on MDI