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Females on insulin pump

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Hi, Are any of you ladies on the insulin pump? I am and I'm having a bit of a nightmare at the moment everything has being going fine until I have come on my period and i am quite heavy (sorry for the details haha) and well my bloods are staying around the 19-21 mark despite correcting them! I have tried to ring my diabetes nurse all day but haven't been able to get hold of her! any suggestions as to what i should do?
 
Hi Nicole, are you correcting via a pen syringe or through the pump? You may need a little more than a correction dose to sort this out. If you're feeling okay and not showing ketones, I would keep monitoring and take your corrections as necessary. Do you normally run a bit higher on your period?
I find corrections via a pen syringe help quicker than ones from the pump.
 
Hello, well my pump calculates all my corrections and gives it to me! but i last corrected using my pen! so will test it at 5 and see what is happening, and no they arent usually this high or this heavy even :/
 
Best thing to do if you hit those high levels is to change everything,, batteries, sets, tubes the lot....and then you would be able to know yourself whether it was pmt or pump probs.

I will always change everything if I rarely go past 12.0. And ninet 99% of time its set or a pump problem....at those levels I would have corrected by pen, changed the lot and started again. If then remaining high it would be my body, if came normal then it would probably be the set that had problems, or bsttery starting to run down, or an air bubble in me..

No longer have periods, but personally Unless you are running in the 12's normally I would not think that periods could make you swing this high...
 
How are you reading now? I'd follow donnelysdogs suggestion and change your set, better to be safe than sorry and it could easily be a kinked or blocked set.

I'd always correct with a own above 16 as that would work quicker than the pump correction.

Did you manage to hear back from your DSN?
 
Hi NicholaAnne,
my bgs can run this high on my time of the month, I usually have to run a temp basal during this time too as well as the initial correction. If your correction isn't helping via the pump then change your set and take a correction via pen.
Also have you just started on the pump? I went through a period after starting on my pump where my periods were a lot heavier and lasted longer as the improved control clicked by body into working properly again, from having bad control through my teenage years. That might not apply to you just a thought.
 
Hello,

sorry for the late replies, well over the weekend my bloods were pretty much back to normal but this morning my bloods were 29.4!! and i corrected and at lunch they was 18.4 and about 20 minutes ago 19.7 :( this is so frustrating, because im not eating sugary things really! And I have rung my nurse but all nurses are in clinic today :(
 
I have that problem when im on im on injections at the moment i have to raise my background at this time and a couoke of days after too i am less sensitive to insulin too so a bolus +10% is what i nornally do

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I have been told not to let my pump give me any dose (correction or mealtime) over 5u. Apparently by the time the entire dose is absorbed the insulin is no longer as effective. The way round this is to use multiwave or extended delivery, or to set a temporary basal rate until your BG starts to come down.
 
Hi

I seriously think that when you start to get levels above say 10 or12 that you correct using an injection and then change your tubing and set.... If correcting using an injection you know this insulin is going in to you... With a pump you can't be 100% sure.

If the correction doses by injection bring you down, you pretty much know it was a pump difficulty. If they don't lower you, then you will know it is your body... And you can whack up the tbr to bring your levels down. If you are going up to the 20's you will more than likely need to double your correction doses you give.

High's like this should be minimal, seriously few and far inbetween.

You may well be coming down ill, but even so, your healthcare team should be advising you how to stop these excessive highs.

My advice is that if you go above 10 or 12 you need to be manually correcting, constantly testing and changing everything.

If you are eating more because it is christmas you also need to keep your basal / bolus ratio's in line as this can also lead to highs if you don't.

Contact your dsn....
 
Dougal

Have never heard that about not giving more than 5 units in a bolus...is there any literature on this, or just your medical team advice?

I've never been restricted on giving 5 or more units, that amazes me. Especially as a standard bolus on a pump is the same as giving by injection... And many people inject over 5 units for food. I fear that your health team may not have given correct advice tbh, the most important thing to me is to be aware of high fat content in meals and the need to multwave or extend then.

If we werent allowed to bolus more than 5 units as a standard bolus... Then pump manufacturers would have to by law stop the ability on pumps for this to be done.....also they would not have a standard bolus set up as their main function for food... They would set the pumps up to have a special food programme and have that set up so that multiwaves were the norm for food bolus's.

I think the advice you have given here is unusual, but will gladly follow if others and or yourself can give details on literature where this is stated....
 
donnellysdogs said:
Dougal

Have never heard that about not giving more than 5 units in a bolus...is there any literature on this, or just your medical team advice?

I've never been restricted on giving 5 or more units, that amazes me. Especially as a standard bolus on a pump is the same as giving by injection... And many people inject over 5 units for food. I fear that your health team may not have given correct advice tbh, the most important thing to me is to be aware of high fat content in meals and the need to multwave or extend then.

If we werent allowed to bolus more than 5 units as a standard bolus... Then pump manufacturers would have to by law stop the ability on pumps for this to be done.....also they would not have a standard bolus set up as their main function for food... They would set the pumps up to have a special food programme and have that set up so that multiwaves were the norm for food bolus's.

I think the advice you have given here is unusual, but will gladly follow if others and or yourself can give details on literature where this is stated....
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I've bn advised by my healthcare team never to correct by more than 5 units. I think it depends on the individual persons ratios too. 1 unit can correct blood sugars by 3 so if I took a 5 unit correction dose it would bring my levels down by 15. I was also advised only to do corrections at meal times. Not sure if this helps
 
I have been pump user for 5 years and was told right at the start not to use more than a bolus of 4. Now it is not to administer more than 5. This is because the pump cannot handle a higher dosage as effectively so to use multiple bolus. I have also been told to use correction bolus once if that does not work, use pen for correction and change everything on the pump. Also you could just check the connection between you pump and transfer set, if this has worked lose or you have not tightened it sufficiently when changing it can result in not getting the correct insulin and therefore high readings and on set of ketones.
 
Not bolus more than 4 units a time? I put anything from 2 ~25 units depending on meal, activity level etc (in one go), not been a problem. As for doing correction doses you need what you need, if you we're 10mmol, likely mis calculation of previous dose. and, if 1 unit drops you 0.5mmol you need to put in 8 units to get you to 6mmol. if 1 unit drops you by 2mmol you would need 2 units. The key is to know your correction factor. However, if you were in the high teens or more you would need to change cannula, tubing etc, as very likely due to pump problem, correct with pen in meantime.

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