Basal rate testing

brett said:

if that was an earlier time than usual for you to exercise due to a day off, I would repeat test on a working day to be certain. May of been that the exercise you did helped your basal along, If you exercised at a similar time on a regular basis it wouldn't be a problem. As someone suggested earlier it is best to repeat tests to help ensure its not a one off rise\fall in levels.

Disclaimer:~ I am not medically trained, opinions expressed are my opinions only. Please seek proffesional medical advice.

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Good advice Brett and I fully agree with your disclaimer. Wise words. Tough to get a "typical" day as I don't exercise every day and times can vary and some days I'm extremely busy and others not so much on. The joys of diabetes lol !

Once you also add the effect of the bolus on top of the basal level controlling bg levels between 5-6mmol every hour, you may find that your bg levels drop a bit too much and your awareness starts to change due to bg control that is too tight. Be careful ok....

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iHs said:

Once you also add the effect of the bolus on top of the basal level controlling bg levels between 5-6mmol every hour, you may find that your bg levels drop a bit too much and your awareness starts to change due to bg control that is too tight. Be careful ok....

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This one confuses me. I would have thought that the more hypos you have the more you lose your awareness. So in my slightly warped mind, if you've got fab control and stay between 5-6 then you're rarely hypo and so would immediately notice the change.

I know you're right because my doctor said the same lol I just can't get my head around it yet!

NicolaAnne1994 said:

Any tips on not feeling like absolute s**t when fasting? Haha it's putting me off wanting to do the test again even though I know I have to do it?


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This is why I only have ever done overnight tests haha

NicolaAnne1994 said:

my overnight bloods are fine though always have been :/

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And that's the beauty of the pump, you can leave your overnight basal rate alone and tweak the day time rates

NicolaAnne1994 said:

then I guess another day time test is on the cards then D:

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Just remember how nice it'll be once you r got this sorted though and you can be pretty confident your BG will be stable(ish)

NicolaAnne1994 said:

Any tips on not feeling like absolute s**t when fasting? Haha it's putting me off wanting to do the test again even though I know I have to do it?


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Nicola

Have a look at this video link done by Accu chek about how to go about basal testing and adjusting
https://www.accu-chek.co.uk/gb/pumpther ... -rate.html

Its a bit simplistic as it makes it look as though diabetics can have the same basal rate running for so many hours whereas in real life, many diabetics including me have found that the basal rate adjustment does need to change a bit more as we all try to achieve the sameish bg level every hour but the adjustment process is the same where you adjust the hourly basal rate 1 or 2hrs before the high or low bg level.

Have you got some Accu chek pump blood glucose diaries? These are really very good and will allow you to write down all your hourly basal rates, your bg levels, carb eaten, bolus, correction bolus, basal rate change,TBR, infusion set change. There is also room to write down what your carb ratios are, target range, correction factor, acting time of the insulin etc, on the adjoining page. If you write down all the data that you've got in doing the basal rate test with your bg levels, you should be able to see what basal rates you will need to adjust. Its knowing how much to adjust the hourly basal rate by that gives the problems. John Walsh of Pumping Insulin has done a table for diabetics to use as a guide for basal rate adjusting so if you haven't yet got the book, try and get it as it will explain things in a bit more detail.

As for doing another basal rate test, well if you do what I have said above, you may be able to adjust some of the basals yourself without fasting again but of course, whether you have adjusted the hourly basal rate correctly, will only be found by what your bg levels start to do when you do bg tests in the day with the carb ratio you are using for your meals. If your bg levels start to behave a bit better, then you know you are going in the right direction....

You're lucky you had your dad, I'm doing it all alone! My parents wouldn't know how to check my BG, never mind advise on how to correct it! I'm 23 and diagnosed 7 months. This forum has taught me everything I need so far!

NicolaAnne1994 said:

I was only 13 at the time when I was diagnosed and my mum had died suddenly so I guess he was just worried about losing me or something but I turned more independent when I was 17!

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I'm sure he would have been the same even if your mum hadn't passed away, parents are like that. My folks are interested but since I moved out 6 years ago now when I went to uni they don't have much of a chance to learn about it.