Carb input on PDM

Diabetes Technology Insulin Pumps
#1

We started the pod tonight (saline).
I was excited to not have to record everything in the book and to not have to deal with the poor input system the copilot uses for every meal. Record BG, enter. Record carbs, enter. Record insulin, enter. It should all be in one box.
Anyway, he recorded a 61 right before bedtime on his PDM. So we gave him some juice to up his BG. When we went back to the PDM, there was nowhere to add the carbs as an entry so that it could be transferred with the cable.

Am I missing something? All it told me is that BG was to low and needed to treat. No Kidding!

#2

All I’ve ever done is eaten what I needed and re-checked my bg. I just kind of figure there isn’t a need to record what I ate if I am not taking insulin for it.
I’m sure everyone has their own way of doing things.

#3

If you want to record it, you can act like you’re going to bolus, but just put anything it suggests to zero and hit enter:
Bolus > Enter BG screen (skip or it will still have the current BG you just registered, but you can still skip > Are you going to eat now screen? hit YES > how many grams of carbs? Enter the # > Suggested bolus screen…just scroll this to zero if it says to bolus any, and hit Enter, then Confirm.
I think that should let you track grams of carbs w/o bolusing anything. Hope that helps.

And in my opinion, the “Treat low glucose” and the “test for ketones” msgs are annoying. Gee Meter, Thank you for being redundant…just what I need, another agent on the ‘diabetes police’ looking out for my safety :wink:

#4

btw, if you ever enter a BG or test w/ the meter and get a result of less than 50, it will not let you bolus…I think it’s either for 5 minutes or 10 minutes. Also kind of annoying if I’m low but also eating…I want my insulin to catch the meal I’m eating and prevent the spike…so for me the sooner I get the insulin in, the more ‘pancreatic’ the timing seems…so having that delay annoys me as well. I can understand the thought process behind it (don’t treat a low w/ insulin) but I also wish there was an override somehow…

#5

In order to get it to record the most stuff, I have done two things:
Set it to do negative corrections - have you done that?
There is also a place where you set the lowest number it’s allowed to use for a calculation (it goes as low as 50)

From the home menu -
Click settings
Click System setup
Click Bolus/basal/calcs
Click ratios/factors/targets
That’s where you turn the “reverse correction” on.
It’s also where you can set the “min BG for calcs”

So if he is 61, you give him 15 carbs, but it won’t bolus for the 15 carbs if it’s only enough to get him into range. You just say “yes” when it asks if you are going to eat, and enter the 15 carbs. It only won’t record anything eaten if your BG is below 50, if that’s what you set it to. Does that make sense?
Hope that helps!
Natasha

#6

Thanks, I think our helper tonight set the low to 70. Was trying to change it but I was having issues getting it to disconnect so that I could reset the low.
However, while I was writing this, Bradfords suggestion to skip the BG screen was genius. Didn’t realize that was an option. Worked like a charm.

Thanks again!

#7

I override it by going to the home screen, selecting bolus, telling the PDM I do not want to use the BG to calculate a bolus, and then telling it the number of carbs I’m eating.

My husband thought I was crazy the other night when I woke at 3am and was 35 mg/dL and then he saw me taking a bolus a few minutes later. He said, “what are you doing???” and I just smiled and answered “you have no idea how much I just ate to treat that 35.” I woke up in perfect range the next morning…next to an empty juice box, a granola bar wrapper, several rice krispie treat wrappers, a jar of glucose tabs… :slight_smile: LOL

#8

I have my own way of dealing with the lows which happen during the night on occasion. I keep glucose tabs nearby, and depending on what the number is, I take one or two…it does the trick. Example: the other night I woke up to 43, I took 2 glucose tabs and in a few minutes I was fine. Woke up to normal numbers in the AM…

#9

If that happens with Caleb I just use the arrow up key to increase his BG on the PDM and then I can bolus right then and there.

#10

That’s a good idea Melissa. I’ve over ate with lows and woke up the next morning wishing I hadn’t ate all that I did. Like you my bottle of glucose tabs are in the kitchen along with granola bar wrappers and my milk glass.

#11

Doing that will alter the record that the PDM stores, I think. So instead of an accurate record of what his BG was, you’ve got a record of something higher. Just something to keep in mind…

#12

I have the same issue. My PDM is set for 70 mg/dl as the minimum BG for calculations. When I am low before a meal, I want to be able to record what I eat and also bolus. If I just want to record carbs to counter act a low, I do what Bradford does. For the other issue, I do varying things because I haven’t found the best option yet.

I have upped the BG reading to 70 so I can bolus. I have stopped that, because it adds a false reading and there is no way to delete a reading from CoPilot.

Sometimes I eat and then wait for my BG to rise, retest and bolus. I don’t think I get accurate calculations from that.

Sometimes I will enter a BG of 70 and let the PDM do the calculations. Then I cancel and do the following manual calculation: Actual BG reading divided by 70 (fake reading) multiplied by the calculated bolus for 70. Then I manually bolus for that amount. That seems to work. My CDE is OK with that calculation.

Lately I do the calculation manually. I divide the number of grams I am eating by by my insulin to carbohydrate ratio. (I use one ratio for dinner and another for the rest of the day.) Then I manually calculate the negative correction by subtracting my BG level from my lower target number and dividing by my correction factor. I then subtract the correction from the number of units needed for what I am eating and bolus for that. There is a risk of hypoglycemia in doing this. My CDE told me the minimum for bolus calculations is a safety to prevent hypoglycemia.

Maybe some day I will figure out the best way for me.

Brad

#13

I love this forum. It is nice to know that I am not alone in eating everything in site when I go hypoglycemic!

#14

I have mine set to 50 (the lowest the PDM will let you set it) rather than the default 70. So you could try that, too.

#15

my PDM just says that i can’t bolus because my sugar is too low…do you know how i turn this message off?? when i’m low at night…i just eat and go back to bed and wake up too high …(i think this is something the reps did and i never figured out how to change it)
thanks!
myriah

#16

If you tested your glucose w/ the PDM and it’s below 50, you have to wait 5 or 10 minutes before you can bolus. So, eat something, and by the time you’re done eating and ready to go back to bed, you should be able to bolus at that time (and a delay of putting insulin on board should give the current glucose on board a little head start, but by bolusing you’ll still prevent that unwanted high in the morning). If you tested on something else and you’re just putting the info into your PDM and you’re going to bolus, do not tell it that your BG is below 50 (when this happens to me, I tell it that I ‘am 50’, so that I can record it at least as a semi-hypoglycemic event, and I can still have the flexibility to bolus (b/c I sometimes over eat when I’m correcting…). I hope that helps!

#17

You are absolutely correct - it will definitely change the record. It makes no difference to me though. It has no material impact on any analysis I ever do and I typically track his BGs and insulin dosing in a spreadsheet when I need to make adjustments.

Now if I was able to use CoPilot on a Mac, I might feel differently! :slight_smile:

#18

Caleb’s is also set to 50.

#19

Mine’s at 50, too.

#20

I call it “wanting to eat the house.” :slight_smile: