Monday, July 14, 2008

Things that Annoy Me

Diabetes.

Started the new insulin pump today. You know, I don't really use a lot of insulin. I've been reading these forums where there are people using something like 80 units of insulin a day. 80 units? Srsly?

I've been adjusting my basal rate all day for lows. I'm going to suspend it altogether for my workout at 10:30. And I already had a pretty low set point (.65 units an hour to start. Have changed to .45 already based on the morning's trending. I'm reading that there are people set at 2 and 3 units an hour who are in the 200s). Of course, this could be because I spent 3 hours moving furniture yesterday, so I'm trending lower than I should.

Watching my numbers this morning was fascinating:

Target is 80

5:30 am: 180 +5 .65 basal
7:08 am: 110
7:33 am: 91
7:56 am: 79
8:13 am: 65
(took 2 lifesavers, adjusted basal to .45)
8:40 am: 92
9:09 am: 70
9:20 am: 61
(OK, srsly, I'm having a fucking bagel)

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

2 comments so far. What are your thoughts?

Jackie M. said...

Wow, those numbers look like my Dad's mild Type II.

Is it possible to not use the basal rate for a day or two? Maybe just use the monitor and to keep an eye on the numbers to see what your body actually does do on its own, now you can actually check it every 15 minutes?

(Though I'm also curious what the nighttime basal rate will do to your morning sugar spike. Curious, and maybe a little worried about hypoglycemia, given this morning's performance...)

Kameron Hurley said...

The morning high was because I had Chipotle last night. Carbs at night always result in an elevated high, even when I correct at 1am.

You can't actually run the pod with *no* basal. You can lower it to .10 or "suspend" delivery for 2 hours, but if you try suspending for longer than that, it beeps at you every 15 minutes.

The beeps are really annoying.

I'm thinking it's a matter of finding the correct basal. I'm pretty active, so I think my basal rate is just going to be lower than other t1s.

Basically, insulin pumping is kind of a crap shoot the first couple of weeks while you calibrate.

On the upside, I got through my morning workout no problem, and ended the workout at 111, whichw as pretty spectacular. We'll see how the rest of the day goes with the lower basal rate (.65 to .45. During exercise, I have it at .35 for that hour).

One of the cool things about the pump is that you can program how much basal you get by the hour, which is awesome for somebody like me who has pretty set routines. You can also just configure it to "lower" by 20-50-75% for an hour or two if you have unplanned exercise. I'm kinda diggin' the flexibility.

Nighttime basal is set higher (.65) from 3am-6:30 am, since that's when my sugar spikes the most. From 12-3am it's still at .45, so I'm thinking I should avoid going low at night (if I have a low, it's generally around 11-1am).