I don’t have a pump so I have never had to bolus myself, however I have forgotten to take my insulin shots. I do have a question…If you take insulin and you have a BG of 200+ how much insulin should you give yourself if you are not on a sliding scale? It may help to know what type of insulin I take. Lantus-70 units 2X day and Novolog Aspart-35 units before meals. This would be considered a bolus, right?
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I did forgot just the other night. Wasnt too happy with myself lol
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I just forgot this morning. It was not a good meal to forget either
I had 3 pancakes, bacon, eggs, and lactaid
was rewarded with a 640 w/moderate ketones 
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Yesterday, I was being “good” and pre bolused 2 units, at July 4th friend’s BBQ. I figured, a few slices of steak with BBQ sauce, 1/2 sausage with BBQ sauce, a taste of corn, a spoonful of potato salad. One hour later, Dexcom low alarm for 80, confirmed with fingerstick of 79. I went for some watermelon…not too much, maintained BG below 150 for the remainder of the evening.
I was estimating about 30 g of carbohydrate for the BBQ sauce, a spoonful of potato salad and a taste of corn…am I just very bad at “guesstimating” carbs?
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Yes, I’ve forgotten a few times to bolus. Also forgotten a few times to hook my set back up after a shower. You name it–I’ve forgotten it. oh, yeah, I once forgot to take my meter with me when I had a job interview. THAT was a nerve wracking afternoon. I could hardly concentrate, not knowing my bg’s, so I PIGGED OUT to be sure I wouldn’t get hypo. When I got home I was higher than a kite. I think I’ve forgotten my meter once or twice since then, which was back in the early 90’s. I’ve also gone to restaurants only to discover my pump’s reservoir is empty. I borrow some insulin from my wife’s pump when that happens. 
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You’re not the only one, I’ve forgotten several times and kick myself EVERY time 
Also left my PDM in the building when we had to evacuate for what I thought was just a fire drill and it turned out to be a bomb threat… it was over 4 hours before the building was cleared for us to go back in!
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Parties are the hardest–not just because you have to guesstimate so much, but then you actually have to eat to your guess, keep track of all those little guessed numbers while chatting and distractions swirl around. It’s as easy to accidentally stack boluses and end up with a severe low hours later as underestimate (hey, who knew they were going to come around with those crab cakes!) and end up with a stubborn high to knock down. Supposedly this sort of “grazing” situation is what square wave boluses are for but that never seems to work particularly well for me either.
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Yes it happened to me more than once
Just correct
Feel like an idiot
Hope it does not happen again
& just keep on smiling
That,s life
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We went to brunch with friends–I even made the reservation–and forgot my Humalog pen! Glad I am not alone!
We were unpacking at our hotel some years ago when I discovered I hadn’t brought ANY of my stuff, no lantus or novolog injectors (I was on MDI then).
More recently, I’ve been using a shoulder bag from REI to carry around my glucometer and other necessary pumping bits and pieces, there being a lot more of those for pumping than for MDI. And I’m always walking away and leaving it somewhere, hanging over the back of a chair in a restaurant being one of the most frequent. “How could you leave that stuff, it’s so important???” people ask. “Hey, you don’t have to remember to bring your pancreas with you everywhere you go, ya know?” Not a very satisfying answer but it’s all I’ve got…
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s " square wave boluses" for pumpers? for MDI users, do we look at the carb, inject based on I:C. If more food comes out, inject a little more to cover the new carbs? Just to clarify, this is just matching insulin or carbs, right? whereas stacking insulin is trying to correct a high and not counting insulin that’s still working. Realizing that everybody’s diabetes is different, I’m hesitant to correct between 1-2 hours point if the BG is high because the insulin is still working and am concerned of going low. Thanks.
Yes, and I think Medtronic specifically–at least, my Snap pump didn’t have it. I think it’s basically like setting a temp basal but instead of saying push my basal up 150% for two hours or whatever, you select an amount of insulin that it will dole out over the period you specify (i.e., “Give me 14 units but spread it out over the next 2 hours instead of all at once”). But I’ve never found it to work particularly well.
yes, i have also done that on occasion. BUT, just yesterday, i double bolused. i didn’t realized that i had already pressed the ACT button on the pump. i had already put in
my BG as well as my carbs, using the Wizard on my pump. i forgot that i had pressed
the act button b/c the screen on my pump read “124” so i thought that i hadn’t completed
the entire process. so i did it all over again. then i quickly looked at IOB and realized i
had doubled my insulin dosage. OMG. fear ceased me. do i eat chocolate now, or wait for
my BGs to drop??? i waited it out and all went fine. but now i am being vigilant about checking when i give myself the insulin and when i press my ACT button. i can be very
hasty sometimes.
I wouldn’t count on solid chocolate if you really are quite low. I use Hershey’s chocolate syrup for a quick boost in bg levels, but not solid chocolate–it’s far, far too slow due to all the fat in it.
Yes, for sure. I wish Medtronic (don’t know how the other pumps work) would skip their countdown and requirement to hit act again–for the quick bolus option. If I take more than 3 u bolus, I am more likely to turn back to my laptop and forget to hit that last button to make it bolus. So, for non-Medtronic people: Using 3 units, I hit the up arrow 6 times (.5u/hit) to get 3u programmed. Then hit act and the pump buzzes 6 times, slowly (!) to make you verify, I guess, the 3 units. So, you have to hit act that one last time.
If you are busy at laptop, like me, it is easy to get impatient and distracted before MM gets thru its cycle.
Not the same with the bolus wizard but I use the quick bolus as often as I do the wizard, which takes a different approach.
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thanks for the tip. i actually like ovaltine in milk when i am low. tonight i bolused for quinoa
at dinner. i GOOGLED it before i left for the restaurant; it said 1/2Cup = 20gms carbs. so i added my whole meal together to cover 30 grms. during dinner my sugars started going down. my pre-dinner BG was 135. by the time i got home, my BG were 40. i have had this challenge when eating quinoa before. its a grain as well as a protein. i just don’t get it. my
husband shoved a bottle of juice at me and said, simply “DRINK!” i get very obstinate and confused when i am low and i tend to argue w/ him about how much juice i should drink b/c i don’t want to have the “rebound effect.” i am grateful for your input. next time i am at the grocery, i will be certain to pick up a bottle of U-BET syrup. mmmmmmyummy.
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Recently, after having switched from 1.0 U to .5U increments, I’ve had quite a few missed boluses because of not hitting the ACTIVATE button for confirmation. Don’t why it makes a difference, but on 1.0 increments I hardly ever missed a bolus over 18 years of pumping. I don’t use the BW.
You are welcome. THe two things I use most for low bgs is Hersheys Syrup when at home, and Wild Berry Skittles (1 carb each) when out and about. For a mild low, all sorts of things work for me such as grapes, or a small amount of Hershey’s Syrup. Until recently, I mixed it in about 6oz of milk, but now we only have Almond Milk which I’m not crazy about so I take the Hershey’s straight. 2 soup spoon fulls works for most of my lows. When I get exceedingly low, then look out, I’m grabbing all sorts of stuff and then of course I rebound like a fool.
I’ve done it before when I was on MDI, but not yet on my pump. I’m sure it will happen. I think, though, that my T:Slim will alarm if I haven’t completed a bolus. Now, what I have done in the past is accidentally taken Humolog instead of Lantus (before I got my pump). Yikes, 25 or so units of Humalog before bed does not make for a fun night!
just curious, do you spike after coffee in the mornings?
last night i went down to 40; i had some grapefruit juice. my husband tried desperately to get
me to drink an entire glass, but i knew better and only had 1/2 glass. my sugars went up to 110 w/out spiking. but this morning my fasting BG was 153 before breakfast. after my coffee
my BG went up to 182. is there any way to curb those coffee spikes that you know of? or do i just ride it out and correct at lunchtime? i don’t want to start stacking my insulin.