First day with pump and bg levels rising...

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Hello,

so today is my first day with an accu check combo pump (with insulin in it) and over the last three hours my bg has been on a gradual rise - even though I have been delivering bolus and fasting (except for lots of water).

I had dinner of gammon, cauliflower and new potatoes at about 6 and haven't eaten anything since - at dinner my levels were 6.2, I gave the bolus the pump advised. then at 7.30 my levels rose to 12.6, I gave the advised 1.3u bolus and tested again at 9pm when my levels had gone up 13.8, another bolus of 1.4 and at 10.15 my levels are 14.1.

I really don't know what to do about this...I have given another bolus of 2u at 10.15 and intend on testing again, but this seems an unstoppable rise :-/

I am looking for some advice/reassurance/anything really!

 

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Okay so now it's 10.8....seems to be coming down....

 

[weeezer]

Hi...I went on accu-chek combo in August, I posted on here about high numbers at first, remember they start you off safely and it's often not enough insulin. It may be that you need more basal, but you should record your readings for a bit before making any adjustments.

Were you advised to set an alarm & check your bg during night? Just keep correcting for now, as long as bg's aren't rising too badly it's unlikely to be the pump not working or anything.

Out of interest, my mum started on an accuchek combo also today...in Swindon, with 5 other people, you weren't one of em were you!?!?




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[Stefano]

I started in October with a medtronic and I had similar issues.
My readings were right all day but they always started rising at 11pm- midnight going from a value like 7 to a value like 15 and sometimes also 20 or more.
It was really very frustrating as I was very worried of ketones and unfortunately had to test so often throughout the night to make sure, after extra boluses, blood sugar was going down again...and sometimes had to inject many times.
I had to increase my basal in the night, slowly day after day till I found the right basal for myself. It can take time and can be so frustrating but believe me once you'll get the right basal you will never think again of coming back to insulin pens.
It took me long time but now my blood sugar stays almost perfect all night and for me this is the biggest achievement after 33 years of diabetes.


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[SpikyMike]

I'll be starting on an Accu-Chek Combo on 17th June, so am anticipating a disruption to blood/glucose readings for a while... but this is to be expected.

The better control that a pump will give me, will be well worth the initial upheaval.


Type 1 since 1969.

 

[iHs]

I'll be starting on an Accu-Chek Combo on 17th June, so am anticipating a disruption to blood/glucose readings for a while... but this is to be expected.

The better control that a pump will give me, will be well worth the initial upheaval.


Type 1 since 1969.

Hi

The good thing for you starting your pump date in June is that the weather temp will be ok instead of how it is now, cold, warm, cold. Weather temp can really play havoc with bolus insulin in pumps as bg levels can be very changeable so May is not the best time.

About 7 days before you start the pump get up in the night and test your bg levels every 3hrs so that when the dsn starts you off, they will have a good idea of what basal rate to use to keep you stable instead of just using one basal rate for the whole of the 24hr period. The first night I had my pump I was continually going hypo and this was even with drinking lucozade every 2hrs. It turned out that from midnight to about 3am, my basal need for insulin was virtually half the amount the dsn started me off on. Looking back, I always needed to eat a snack before going to bed to prevent going low in the middle of the night and it was because my need for insulin overnight wasnt that much. The pump proved all that. So do test in the night and write all yr bg levels down and then when you start the pump you wont be very low or very high. Also, make sure that your GP will prescribe you sufficient teststrips as you will need approx 250-300 strips easy.

The meter unfortunately has still got the fault of not turning on at times (even though Accu chek say the fault has been fixed) and this can be sorted by taking the batteries out and re inserting them again. Ive now had 3 meters and all of them have the same fault so dont be surprised to find that after 7 days of using the meter it doesnt turn on and that you need to take out the batteries and re insert them again. It will then be ok for another 7-14 days and the same thing will happen again. After that time, the batteries will probably be ok for about 30 days and then will need replacing as they will have gone flat.

Good luck with it all........

 

[weeezer]

Icheesright...how have things been today? My mum has been around 10-12's today, she has corrected but still double figs. She's happy to keep recording & adjust basal in couple of days.

Ihs...your meter, what a pain! I've had mine since aug and its never been a prob, always turns on and only had to change batteries twice, despite using it ALOT! Have I just been lucky? Or is it about to go kaput!?


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Hey people!

Thank you for all the replies - the support is being felt right here I have only one friend with a pump and she lives in the USA so I think it's all a bit different there.

Weeezer - Crazy that both your mum and I started on pumps yesterday, but alas, I am in Plymouth not Swindon - I hope she is getting on a bit better now.

My levels came down quite consistently from when I last posted, I just got extremely worried - today has been very good, mainly 5/6...some readings of 8 after meals and things but I think that is to be expected....although saying that, I just tested and I am 10.5. Perhaps in the evening I need more basal, but as you have all said, I will stick with what I am doing and then when I meet up with my DSN next week I will go over all the data from my pump and the meter and figure it out

 

[SpikyMike]

IHs, can only hope that the weather is good in June, as we have very variable/unpredictable weather in Caithness, so fingers crossed!

The DSN had mentioned just starting me off on one basal rate, so will do some overnight testing, to see if a different rate is required for nighttime.

That's not good re the meter. Hopefully that's not a common problem, as I've not heard it mentioned elsewhere on here.

Will be starting off with the flex-link cannula, and hopefully they'll work ok for me.

So, just slowly counting down the days until mid June...


Type 1 since 1969.

 

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SpikeyMike - it's starting to work out really well for me, I think it has shown me that in the evenings I need a higher basal rate, which explains a lot from the last 5 years!

thus far I have had no problems with the meter, but now I am on alert, so it if happens I will be ready!

I use the Tenderlink infusion set - it's really good for me as I play a lot of contact sport and need something that allows me to be flexible - plus it's teflon so it's a 3 day change!