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Pump to pen formula

A

avi

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people who act like they are the diabetic police!!!
Hi
Does anyone know what the calculation is for going from a pump back to pens. Going on hols so just in case.
T
 
Normally it would depend on which insulin you use for your basal when using pens and whether you would split the basal insulin.

It also depends on whether you account for Dawn Phenomenon in your basal rate on the pump in the early morning.
 
that is a really good question
I have sat doing some calculations just now and on a pump i am using about 73% of what i used on MDI for a TDD.
in other words about 60u per day on a pump and about 82u on MDI
so in simple terms for me 82 divided by 60 is a 36% increase for MDI instead of pump.

obviously we are all different .
 
As @himtoo states I think both pumps and pens should be split about 45% to 55% basal to bolus, and that generally when moving to a pump the first estimation is reduce your TDD by approx. 25% , so if I needed to quickly work it out, I would just multiply out each basal and bolus carbF dose I apply by 1.33.
 
@himtoo, @paulliljeros It's quite dangerous to just multiply out your basal rate by the reduction. If you have a dawn phenomenon adjustment in your basal rate and you then take your basal (lets say it's 20u) and divide it by your reduction factor, (let's say 0.75) you end up with 26.6, which I'd use as 26.5.

If you account for DP in that basal amount, then the likelihood is that you are going to find that your basal is too high and you will potentially have an overnight hypo.

This is also why it's important to understand the insulin you have in your pens and when you used to do your pen injections for basal as this will guide what you do for your conversion factors.
 
avi said:
Hi
Does anyone know what the calculation is for going from a pump back to pens. Going on hols so just in case.
T
Click to expand...

Not sure what the calculation is @avi, why don't you contact your pump DSN and they will go through it all with you. Enjoy your holiday :)
 
tim2000s said:
@himtoo, @paulliljeros It's quite dangerous to just multiply out your basal rate by the reduction. If you have a dawn phenomenon adjustment in your basal rate and you then take your basal (lets say it's 20u) and divide it by your reduction factor, (let's say 0.75) you end up with 26.6, which I'd use as 26.5.

If you account for DP in that basal amount, then the likelihood is that you are going to find that your basal is too high and you will potentially have an overnight hypo.

This is also why it's important to understand the insulin you have in your pens and when you used to do your pen injections for basal as this will guide what you do for your conversion factors.
Click to expand...
I agree, but an adjustment for Dp is likely to be a unit or Two, and once that extra insulin is spread over 24 hours it is, in reality minimal. I was giving a best efforts approximation, and as already stated, everyone is different. The OP asked for a discussion, and personal views on what to do in an emergency. If our standard and only response to questions like this were "ask your dsn", then it would get quite boring and repetitive.
 
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