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DebbieJoe

Newbie
Messages
4
Location
Duabi
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
Diabetes
I have been on an insulin pump for around 6 years with good control. However over the last 9 months my HbA1c has gradually risen and at the last check was 7.8. My Doctor has said to try out different Basals as I am fluctuating between high and low. He is not an expert with pumps. Any one got any suggestions?
 
DebbieJoe said:
I have been on an insulin pump for around 6 years with good control. However over the last 9 months my HbA1c has gradually risen and at the last check was 7.8. My Doctor has said to try out different Basals as I am fluctuating between high and low. He is not an expert with pumps. Any one got any suggestions?
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You need to test if your basal is right. Basicaly you dont eat anything and test your sugar levels every hour. You do that in blocks, morning, afternoon, evening and night time. I would start from night time and sort out this one first. You can have a normal dinner at about 7 pm (nothing too fatty or calorific), and then start testing at about 11pm (4h after taking your bolus). If your levels stay flat it means your basal is right. If not, you need to adjust hourly rate but remember that novorapid reaches its peak after 2h. So if your levels rise at 3 am you need to adjust it from 1am. It is quite well explained in "Think like a pancreas" book but if you google basal testing you will find lots of info. Good luck :)
 
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DebbieJoe said:
I have been on an insulin pump for around 6 years with good control. However over the last 9 months my HbA1c has gradually risen and at the last check was 7.8. My Doctor has said to try out different Basals as I am fluctuating between high and low. He is not an expert with pumps. Any one got any suggestions?
Click to expand...


Ask for a referral over to the hospital diabetes clinics, your average gp will only have a brief knowledge of insulin pumps as where at a hospital clinic you will see a specialist DSN/ Consultant.

However in the mean-time do go back to the basics and start with some basal testing as Ewelina has advised, the following has a good explanation on basal testing in different time-frames:

http://www.salforddiabetescare.co.uk/index2.php?nav_id=1007

Just one more thing, if you've not got the book Pumping Insulin by John Walsh & Ruth Roberts then I suggest you purchase it. Good luck.
 
Thank you for the advice and the links. I always do a test first thing in a morning when I wake up and that is usually around 5.00 which is good. Its during the day that things go wrong, Especially in a morning. I am either too high or crashing and can't work out why, I will start by testing every hour to see if my basal is right. I live in Dubai and although I see a diabetic specialist he is not a pump expert. I have yet to find one that really understands them. I will also get the books recommended as I don't have them. I really appreciate your help.
 
May I ask have you ring your pump company? Sometimes they can be a good area to go to as they have nurses to help in some. Also not to scare but is the pump functioning so you feel
 
It does worry me that the pump might not be working properly and I am not certain how to test it. I sometimes have had to change the quickset before time as I am worried that I have disturbed it as it doesn't seem to be working. When this happens I give myself an extra shot of insulin via injection to make certain that I have definitely had it. It is making me feel that I should go back to injections but when my control was good with the pump I achieved lower HbA1c's than with the injections.
 
I had this issue a few years back. I rang the pump company who asked me to send it to them. In the meantime I went on injections and my control was so much better. It's very rare but the pump can malfunction without saying as this happened to me. All I can say is can you loose anything by ringing them? And I wonder how much you could gain from one phone call? If nothing else than a possible eased mind
 
I will give them a call as you have suggested. I agree there is nothing to loose. It comforting to know that someone else experienced the same problem.
 
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