I have been on Automode for 3 weeks and I am still having lows throughout the night where I need to drink juice. I confirm it with my meter. How long should it take for automode to learn my patterns? I really want this system to work. Can anyone help me?
Dee,
I had the same problem my first couple of weeks in AUTO on the 670G. I have the same rates mentioned below now in my 770G.
You may need to have your basal pattern looked at. Mine are split so that I don’t get quite as much basal insulin in the early morning hours. That essentially cured my few issues with night time lows on AUTO.
For instance, mine look like this currently:
00:00 - 03:00 = 1.10 U/hr
03:00 - 06:00 = 1.30U/hr
06:00 - 11:00 = 1.25 U/hr
11:00 - 24:00 = 1.35 U/hr
Hi, we did that. My normal basal at night is at .050. We changed it to.025. You can’t go any lower. Maybe I need to alternate 0.00 with.025 every other hour. I might just try it myself. How does automode use your basal program.? I get really sensitive in the warmth of summer. I guess I will give it a few days and see how it goes. I really want this pump to work for me. It gives me a piece of mind that my basals are being adjusted without having to fast. I am only 90lbs so I can’t afford to not eat.
You can also try stretching the amount of time of active insulin. It may be at 3, 3.5, 4 - if you stretch it by 30 minute you may find a little less sensitivity.
You might also change the crab ratio starting with your 5PM or later bolus. Which I think is in your sensitivity setting.
I always tell people that it will take 3- 4 weeks for the automode to feel like it is working well. I know I have used automode for about 4 years and I am still amazed at the things i learn.
One more thing, be sure and make incremental changes. I know it is frustrating but do not do what i do and go gonzo on my settings. Sometimes small changes can make a very big difference.
rick
Thankyou. You gave me some good information. I am willing to stick with it for a bit longer. My DEA uses automode. When I see that it takes more effort to keep my numbers good w/o any improvement it is time to take a serious look at things. When we changed my night basal to.025 she said it would take about 3-4 days to see any changes. Last night I still had to get up and drink juice. I really don’t want to change my carb factor for supper as my bloodsugar has seemed to be okay. I guess I will keep trying. My manual basal rates look like this: 12a-5am.050 5a-9a 150 9a-4p .075 4p-9p.125 9p-12a .025. I am on very little basal insulin. I was doing better when it was cooler but now that the summer warmth has come I am very sensitive.
D’Etta Meloche
I thought it over and I decided to turn automode off. I went back to my manual settings and carb ratios. I didn’t feel very safe and not being in control bothered me. At least my pump will suspend before low. I can always try again. Maybe throughout the winter when I am not so sensitive. The first 2weeks on automode was better than how I am doing now. We’ll see.
D’Etta Meloche
I am going to try using automode during the day and turn it off around 9pm for bed until Ifigure something else out.
When I have a high like after supper at around8pm my sugar starts to rise. It has always done this even on manual mode. I see my educator on the 4th of May. I have read that automode is supposed to “learn” your i sulin needs, so am I supposed to stay hig or low until it does? That doesn’t sound right. I don’t like to be high or low for too long so I fix it by exercising or eating carbs. I still have to eat something before bed as automode still doesn’t know that I don’t need alot of insulin through the night. Very frustrating!
Dee ask your educator about using a modified auto mode. Let auto mode run all the time but do manual bolus as it starts to rise. The manual bolus would be in the form entering false carbs.
This gives you the ability to control your pump like manual mode, but unless you are far too aggressive it should protect the lows and it will handle most of the day and all night very well.
Just a thought.
rick
That sounds very interesting. Right now my thinking is all over the place. I think I might be eligible for a new pump soon and if I am I thought about maybe giving the omnipod a try. I know manual mode is more work but right now it feels like less work as the sensors are behaving better and I can trust the number it says. Before the isig was always on the low side and the signal wasn’t very good to convert it to a number. I can’t get in to see my educator until the 4th of May but I will ask her about the modified automode. Automode gives me too much insulin through the night. I have to eat some protein qnd carbs to stay level. I also get the min. delivery alert often.
Now that I think about it automode keeps me too low through the night. How do I manage that, by eating carbs before bed? I am on a very small amount of basal insulin. Maybe that’s the reason I don’t know.
Now that I read your statement over I am doing that now. I nolus for the protein when it starts to rise. Sometimes I can get it before it starts to rise several hours after eating.