Insulin pump

[Ca2910]

Hello all,
I asked my diabetes team for advice and they have told me to increase my background rate by 0.1 every hour from 2am till 8am - only problem is that they haven't explained how to do this - does anyone know how I would do this myself?
Thanks


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[CarbsRok]

It would help if you actually said what pump you had Simple solution though is to read your manual.

 

[Ca2910]

The accu-check aviva combo - and I have been looking through the instruction guide but I can't see anything about it


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[CarbsRok]

Try under basal settings I have an animas pump and all I do is click on basal then edit. Suspect you have to go into set up though for the combo.

 

[mrman]

On the meter,
Select pump
Press the left button 8 times till you get to basal rate programming
Press right button to access your basal profile, press left button and your in the menu to change hourly basal rates, press the left button to change to next hour using the up and down arrows to alter basal rates each time. Remember to press the right button (tick) to save.

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[Ca2910]

Thank you Brett - so when it says 0.1 how much do I up it by
It says 1.00u/h and it goes up in 0.5 so do I put it up to 1.10 or - it's just all confusing
Thanks again Brett your a real good help


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[mrman]

yeah, if your dsn advised to up by 0.1 and your currently on 1.0, change it to 1.1. See what happens with the changes.

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[Ca2910]

Thanks again Brett - just a quick question - when you put a canular in sometimes does it bruise a lot - because about 2/3 canulars I bruise and come out in purple bruises


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[mrman]

Never had that myself, but, some pumpers do have very sensitive skin. All I get is a tiny dot for a few hours after removing cannula. for me, I found after trying the lot of diff cannulas the flexlink worked best, but, have to use the inserter device.

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[Ca2910]

Oh ok thanks again


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[mrman]

No prob

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[ConradJ]

On the meter,
Select pump
Press the left button 8 times till you get to basal rate programming
Press right button to access your basal profile, press left button and your in the menu to change hourly basal rates, press the left button to change to next hour using the up and down arrows to alter basal rates each time. Remember to press the right button (tick) to save.

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Jeeeeeeeeeeeeez us! I wouldn't want to be going hypo whilst doing that - I'd end up retuning the TV

 

[Saber]

I have suddenly been getting normal blood sugars on the insulin pump. I have not seen normal sugar levels for many years. Could this be a breakthrough. I am using animas vibe. Also these readings have been occurring whilst the weather is hot. Why would that make a difference?
(I might have posted this in the wrong place. I was wanting to post under Insulin Pumps.

 

[iHs]

Hi ca29

ive now got an animas pump but digged out my Spirit Combo as I 4got how I used it lol ....

If you look in the A4 size ring binder training manual, go to page 38 and then you can see how to program the new hourly basal rates. Go to Basal Rate Programming 1 either on yr pump itself or using the bg meter handset. To increase by 0.1 means probably increase by 0.01 so if you are using 0.50 change to 0.51. If you change by 0.10 then it could be 0.60. There are different ways of understanding basal rate adjustments so yr dsn need to be a bit more exact me thinks...

it does take a while to get used to inserting sets esp if yr service of it all. Try to relax a bit and dont press the inserter device down on yr skin too hard as that could cause the bruise.....just hold it rexting on the skin and then release the spring. I always put mine in standing up which will make yr tummy be flat for the inserter device to rest on.

Hope you get to like pumping. Take it step by step

 

[ConradJ]

Thanks again Brett - just a quick question - when you put a canular in sometimes does it bruise a lot - because about 2/3 canulars I bruise and come out in purple bruises


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Hi @Ca2910 ,

As @brett says, there are many different reactions to the cannula and I would take his suggestion to try out the different versions.

I used to use a 9mm nylon cannula, but it caused heavy tissue scarring plus I often found myself puncturing the odd vein or five. When I asked Animas, they talked through the different versions and then sent me some samples boxes of each. I've ended up settling for a low-profile steel cannula of 6mm, which needs changing every two days rather than the three days a nylon one can stay in for.

Like so much else, diabetes is an individual journey and as much as we can all tell each other how we do things, etc., what works for you will be down to a lot of trial and error ... and finger pricking.

Good luck, keep posting , and call Accu-Chek (Roche) for some other types (if you're not too chunky, it's usually better to go for shorter cannula, PLUS you may want to lower the bolus rate (if that's possible on the Combo)... reducing the amount and speed of the insulin bolus rate can improve site health and comfort, as well as reduce the risk of lipoatrophy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipoatrophy

 

[ConradJ]

I have suddenly been getting normal blood sugars on the insulin pump. I have not seen normal sugar levels for many years. Could this be a breakthrough. I am using animas vibe. Also these readings have been occurring whilst the weather is hot. Why would that make a difference?
(I might have posted this in the wrong place. I was wanting to post under Insulin Pumps.

Hi @Saber ,

A couple of questions:

1. How long have you been using the pump?
2. What were your BGs before this recent bout of normal results?
3. Have you done anything else differently that may contribute to lower BGs? Eg. eaten less, walked in the sunshine more, eaten differently (such as salads rather than sandwiches, etc.) or just been less stressed as a result of all this glorious sunshine (and Vitamin D)

 

[iHs]

Forget my msg.... Ive just realised that yr hourly rate is 1.00u per hour so the increase is 1.10.
Sorry lol

 

[Ca2910]

Thanks for the comments everyone been a real help - a lot of the comments have helped me loads so thank you again - would tag you in this but don't have a clue how haha


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[Saber]

@ConradJ

1. How long have you been using the pump?

About a year and a half

2.What were your BGs before this recent bout of normal results?
Anything between 2.8 and 27
3.Have you done anything else differently that may contribute to lower BGs? Eg. eaten less, walked in the sunshine more, eaten differently (such as salads rather than sandwiches, etc.) or just been less stressed as a result of all this glorious sunshine (and Vitamin D)
I have been eating a bit less. And I have been using a book by Chris Cheyette a dietician at Kings college Hospital. It shows portions of Carbohydrate and caloreis and I have been using that as a guide.
I learnt in the old days of the eighties about Carbs and some things were not accurate and also I got a few things wrong like rice in the measurements.
I was wondering if the heat has made the insulin work better in my body?
I actually am on antibiotics for cellulitis and I think that is improving. So recent highs were not helping.
My HBA1 c has gone down from 9.4 to 8.8. It is not much but for a year it was not budging down and just going up.

 

[ConradJ]

@ConradJ

1. How long have you been using the pump?

About a year and a half

2.What were your BGs before this recent bout of normal results?
Anything between 2.8 and 27
3.Have you done anything else differently that may contribute to lower BGs? Eg. eaten less, walked in the sunshine more, eaten differently (such as salads rather than sandwiches, etc.) or just been less stressed as a result of all this glorious sunshine (and Vitamin D)
I have been eating a bit less. And I have been using a book by Chris Cheyette a dietician at Kings college Hospital. It shows portions of Carbohydrate and caloreis and I have been using that as a guide.
I learnt in the old days of the eighties about Carbs and some things were not accurate and also I got a few things wrong like rice in the measurements.
I was wondering if the heat has made the insulin work better in my body?
I actually am on antibiotics for cellulitis and I think that is improving. So recent highs were not helping.
My HBA1 c has gone down from 9.4 to 8.8. It is not much but for a year it was not budging down and just going up.

Hi @Saber ,

Well that sounds like a pretty good result - you don't want to lower your HbA1c too fast as it can actually exacerbate retinopathy, plus - as my own experiences have proved, it can cause imbalance and chaos, resulting in severe swings in daily BGs.

Like you, much of my diabetes information was completely out of date and it's thanks to a Carb-counting course (at Stoke Mandeville) and this forum that I've found myself taking ownership and control of my diabetes.

Anyway, in response to your question about heat - the answer is yes, it can alter your sensitivity to insulin (I've also a suspicion that increased access to sunshine also raises our vitamin D levels, and diabetes is linked with a low level of vit. D). However, by how much it does is just about anyone's guess - we're all different. I suspect, if we 'googled' it, we'd find something about percentages and ratios!

You'll also find that illness affects levels, so as the antibiotics kick in and tackle the infection your body will be better at using the insulin, so you'll need to keep a watchful eye (and testing) once the infection has gone so as to keep the downward trend going.

I hope that helps.

Best wishes - and good luck!

Ps. What's the name of Chris Cheyette's book?