• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Pumps and night shifts

LooperCat

LooperCat

Expert
Messages
5,222
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Other
I have my first ever nightshift tonight, 1900-0700. Can anyone give me some hints as to how to manage my pump settings? Normally I’m asleep :D

I usually run a fairly steady rate through the night, this programme is tried and tested for this particular phase of my cycle and keeps me dead level when fasting.

Thank you :)

5149A8B1-A683-40AC-AC85-E3FBD5F0F7E0.jpeg
 
Hi Mel,
Copy the current settings, but reverse them. You may need a transition setting as well and even an afternoon shift. I have only done limited night shifts, but routine is critical and that is for those that aren’t diabetic.
Good luck.
 
I would always just keep them the same until the data shows I need to adjust.......and then a basal pattern can be programmed in ,allowing it to be turned on and off at leisure....
 
Thanks guys. It’s a one off for now, but I’m planning on doing a few (I’m a volunteer first responder, just accompanying an ambulance crew) before my paramedic course starts and I have to do the things for real, so I can see what the impact is and preempt any changes. Just spent the afternoon asleep in preparation, which was rather nice!
 
Chowie said:
Hi Mel,
Copy the current settings, but reverse them. You may need a transition setting as well and even an afternoon shift. I have only done limited night shifts, but routine is critical and that is for those that aren’t diabetic.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
As a one off, to see if it works, could you temporarily move the clock forward (or backwards) 12 hours as you would if you travelled to New Zealand (from the UK ... not from Australia)?
Obviously, don't forget to reverse the change when you go back to day shifts.

This approach would have the added bonus of confusing HCP who try to make sense of the numbers in Diasend. Mine struggle because I move the clock on my pump when I travel (and with DST) but have forgotten how to do it on my meter.
 
So far I’m running a little high with conservative corrections. I’ll be able to glean a fair bit from my CGM and pump outputs just from this so far, I think. Just on a blue light run over a mountain road, but no adrenaline spikes.
 
Currently running a steady 6.2 and on a meal break. Just sticking to olives, Quorn and coffee as I don’t want to throw any carbs in the mix. Wonder if the usual DP will kick in?
 
As someone who has night-shifts at work but has never been scheduled on one, was just wondering how you got on? Did DP kick in as normal?
 
It was an odd night really, as it coincided with when I would change my basal program for some pre menstrual insulin resistance. I didn’t change over and ended up running a little high, in the 7s and 8s but smoothly - so I guess DP kicked in as usual, so there wasn’t a low at 3am to coincide with the extra insulin I have at that time.
 
Interesting! Thanks for taking the time to respond!
 
It’ll be interesting to see what happens when I’m on placement and doing four nights on the trot...
 
Best of luck!
 
I think the question is how long does it take on consecutive nights for DP to change timing, if ever ??
My impression years ago on MDI and doing night shift for 7 days at a time was that the DP did not disappear - but that was with intermittent BSL finger prick monitoring only.
And yes I swapped Levemir doses over and 'breakfast' to dinner, 'lunch' to about 12 md and 'dinner' to 8 am with pre-meal short-acting insulin.
 
Back
Top