Confused by insulin on board

steveo4

Well-Known Member
Messages
216
If you have got insulin on board on your pump would you still take a correction. Eg blood was 14.2 so was giving myself a correction of 3 units which should have taken it down to 5.2 but my pump handset indicated I had 1 unit on board so only gave myself a correction of 2 units because I didn't want to go low. However I was told by my dsn that I should have taken the full correction dose of 3 units. I'm confused can anyone help.
 

sleepster

Well-Known Member
Messages
749
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
How was your blood after the 2 units? Were you still high?
My pump adjusts corrections if I have active insulin, do you have to manually adjust on yours?
 

steveo4

Well-Known Member
Messages
216
How was your blood after the 2 units? Were you still high?
My pump adjusts corrections if I have active insulin, do you have to manually adjust on yours?
Yes it was 10.2 so maybe I should have taken the full amount but was just worried about going low.
 

sleepster

Well-Known Member
Messages
749
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hmm but in theory 2 units should have taken you down to 8.2, so on this occasion whether you had the 2 units or the 3 units isn't really relevant as the insulin you had didn't do what was expected. Do you have insulin resistance when you're high?
 

steveo4

Well-Known Member
Messages
216
Hmm but in theory 2 units should have taken you down to 8.2, so on this occasion whether you had the 2 units or the 3 units isn't really relevant as the insulin you had didn't do what was expected. Do you have insulin resistance when you're high?
Not usually no
 

sleepster

Well-Known Member
Messages
749
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
If I were correcting and I was in your situation (14.2, correction of 3 vs correction of 2 etc) I'd go for 2 units but I am insulin resistant when I'm high so I'd probably need an extra correction so would check my blood after the correction of 2 units. My pump would adjust the correction for the active insulin I had.
Your correction hasn't done what it was meant to so I'd try and work out why that was, if you're not insulin resistant when you're high was it that you were still digesting a meal or illness or one of the other 6027 things that can affect BG levels ;)
Sometimes active insulin and corrections are straight forward to work out but sometimes it's trial and error.
 

MarkMunday

Well-Known Member
Messages
421
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I find the required correction dose increases exponentially as blood glucose rises above about 8. High blood glucose seems to cause increased insulin resistance. That 3 units of insulin was not enough to correct a 14 doesn't surprise me.
 

Jaylee

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
18,214
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
If you have got insulin on board on your pump would you still take a correction. Eg blood was 14.2 so was giving myself a correction of 3 units which should have taken it down to 5.2 but my pump handset indicated I had 1 unit on board so only gave myself a correction of 2 units because I didn't want to go low. However I was told by my dsn that I should have taken the full correction dose of 3 units. I'm confused can anyone help.

Hi,

Was this "insulin on board" a bolus for a meal? How long was it actually on board? How long prior did you dose for the meal?
 

steveo4

Well-Known Member
Messages
216
Hi,

Was this "insulin on board" a bolus for a meal? How long was it actually on board? How long prior did you dose for the meal?
Yes it was a bolus for a meal. I took it just before I had the meal. It was on board for 2 hours.
 

gto19660

Member
Messages
13
If you have got insulin on board on your pump would you still take a correction. Eg blood was 14.2 so was giving myself a correction of 3 units which should have taken it down to 5.2 but my pump handset indicated I had 1 unit on board so only gave myself a correction of 2 units because I didn't want to go low. However I was told by my dsn that I should have taken the full correction dose of 3 units. I'm confused can anyone help.
I'm new with the insulin pump but from what I understand and I'm no doctor that insulin on board means that the insulin you took from your last bolus is still active however it's there he keeps you from stacking so if you have a t Slim there are tutorial videos on YouTube but your best answer comes from your support team mainly your trainer so I would call them first to get a better understanding