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8 days and still have high bg levels

C

Charisma_1630

Well-Known Member
Messages
204
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
noblehead said:
Once you start pumping insulin it might take a few weeks to get the basal rates right so don't get disheartened during this time, good luck and hope it all works out well @MegMeek19.
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I switched to pumping with insulin 8 days ago now and am still consistently high, considering I wasn't often high on injections it's been a struggle to adjust. The hospital is lowering them but not as fast as I'd like, I can see patterns that I'm tempted to adjust myself but don't want to go against their advice!
 

Maybe speak with them again if your still too high, I adjusted my own basal rates (I:C ratio's stayed the same) without the pump clinics input but felt confident in doing so, but 8 days in it might take a few days yet to settle things down.
 
If you are concerned about going against their advice consider this approach.

Review your patterns, determine what you think is the correct action and then call them and tell them what you plan to do.

If it's rational and sensible, then there is little that they can do to say no.

When I got a pump from the hospital I presented them with what I was going to set up as a fait accompli, with the supporting evidence (I'm totally confident in my own ability to do that though) and said that I would be responsible for the tweaking from there on in. They were happy with that.
 

And if the disagree do it anyway!
 
Well my IC ratio must be set way too high (or low, however it works) every day I start from whatever number I wake on and each meal I eat it gets higher and higher and I have to correct and correct just to get it down to low teens. I understand they don't want me to have lows as it'll put me off but going up to 19/20 everyday is starting to get me down! I upload my pod info every day so they can see it and keep saying to just ride it out and it'll get better!
 


Sounds like a basal issue? could you not eat any carbs and do some basal testing?
 
While I've been keen to start doing tests, my nurses said I shouldn't do any basal testing until my numbers come down a bit!
 
Charisma_1630 said:
I understand they don't want me to have lows as it'll put me off but going up to 19/20 everyday is starting to get me down!
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I bet it is, those levels are really high.

Obviously don't know why your clinic are being over cautious about not wanting to put you off pumping but you need to ask to see the pump DSN in person, often when you start on a pump they will start you off on one basal rate which over time does needs adjusting.

Btw @charisma started a new thread for you.
 
Thank you for putting this in a new threat. It's hard to give a picture over the 24 hours obviously, but they have already set me on a few different basal rates at different times over night so they are doing something and tweaking things slowly! And the reason it's high throughout the day is by the time it starts coming down to a reasonable level it's time to eat again and shoots up. I'm having around 1.8 units in the morning when I used to have say 5 or 6 units. I know it works differently now but I'm convinced it's my ratios. I'm due to check in with my pump nurse tomorrow morning by phone so I will ask about changing ratios. It just seems such a slow process and spending weeks up in the teens must be doing so much damage to my body!
 
Good luck tomorrow, don't get down hearted though just try see this period of highs out but explain to your DSN tomorrow the concerns you are having running numbers so high. If possible it may be worth a try setting a TBR to say 110% so basically a 10% increase for 2-3 hours (1.5 hours before and 1.5 hours after eating) just to see if that improves your readings at all, but make sure you test more often 2 hours after you have started the TBR
 

A basal check would confirm if it's your I:C ratio or insufficient basal delivery.

However your bolus dose for breakfast does seem quite low when you used to inject 5-6u, as said earlier my I:C ratio's remained much the same, on MDI I would bolus 5u for breakfast and still do now using a pump.
 
I was told when I was put on the pump 4 weeks ago that it is expected of me to make alterations.

Anyway I have had Low BG's since day one of pump therapy but have been knocking down by using the temp basal rate feature then set it up as a permanent thing. I record on paper my new settings for good reference.

My Basal rate when on injections was 36 units and the day I went on the pump it rose to a whopping 64 units, it put a stop to the Dawn Phenomenon though. I really wished I had questioned this whopping dose! I've now reduced my basal to much lower than when I was on Injections and still Dawn Phenomenon free.
I still haven't been able to do any basal testing because of the lows so I'm tackling the Carb Ratios. It takes time and I think everyone will agree that you should take note of any adjustments so that you can step back or step back a little bit if needed.
I re record my carb settings on paper highlighting the actual ratio that I have changed purely for ease of seeing the change, it helps me anyway.

Good luck.

Regards

Martin
 
Last edited by a moderator:
1 month on now...

My morning ratio seems to be almost right. But my lunch and dinner ratios are still way off. I've spoken to my nurse and she seems so concerned with doing basal and breakfast bolus testing constantly rather than looking at why I'm in high teens after lunch/dinner. Is there a reason she would be doing this?? Am fed up of highs all the time!

Also, I keep wondering as I did this a lot with MDI's. Say I test, bolus and eat, then decide I want a little more of the carb I was eating straight after, is there a way to bolus for the extra carb without having to retest?
 

Did you basal test to see if your basal rates are correct? As said earlier you need to do this before looking at your I:C ratio, once you know your basal is right then you can make adjustments to your I:C ratio's.

Charisma_1630 said:
Also, I keep wondering as I did this a lot with MDI's. Say I test, bolus and eat, then decide I want a little more of the carb I was eating straight after, is there a way to bolus for the extra carb without having to retest?
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You don't have to retest, you can bolus without doing that.
 
I did a basal test about 2 weeks ago. It stayed flat throughout the night until lunch time with one small dip at around 3am. I asked if I should try doing a lunch time basal test and she said to do another breakfast one instead
I'm not sure if there's method to her madness
 
It can take several months to get things working right. Don't give up <3
 
Why don't you just do an afternoon / evening basal test?

You need to start taking control yourself....doing a basal test in afternoon/ wvening may give you some confidence in your own abilities...

Providing you stop if you go go high or low whats the harm? If you go high and have to do a correction - well its a chance to see if your correction bolus is right as you should be back to your target level within 5 hours.

Like others here, I was never controlled by my nurse...its your health...
 
I actually did this yesterday, an afternoon basal test. Although I'm not sure how I should adjust my basal to match my results but I'll send that to my nurse and ask her advice. But you're right, I need to start to do regular basal testing without them promoting me.
 
More importantly though you need to find out how to adjust your own basal rates. My nurse carefully told a trainee on day one of her training how to adjust hers and to do it.

The idea of pumping is to give you the flexibility to look after yourself better and you need to....

The nurse should explain why she makes certain changes.

Have you got the book pumping insulin?

Glad you tested but you must now find out how to change things for yourself...
 
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