Been T1D for 57 years, pumping for 25, just converted to Tandem for Control IQ feature. The last 24 hours I’ve been seesawing and feel like I’m working for the pump versus what I had hoped was just the opposite. Any insights from those of you that have made the switch? Does this smooth out or do I need “expert” advise? Thanks in advance.
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Please do a search for “presoak”.
These sensors are often erratic in the first 12 to 24 hours.
A lot of us have great luck with them if we put the sensor in 12 to 24 hours prior to starting it with the transmitter.
I personally will insert a new sensor on Saturday night (my current sensor is still working.) then in the morning I will start the new sensor Sunday morning while my BG is stable. If timing allows, I wait until after the new sensor starts showing numbers before I eat breakfast.
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The hardest thing for me to do is let it go and do what it is supposed to do without interfering and trying to correct highs too aggressively. Tinkering with the different setting can help, I like to keep it in sleep mode when I know I won’t be doing a lot of physical activity and I will put it in exercise if I know I am going to be really active. I also messed around with total daily insulin and my body weight and have that dialed in pretty well for me.
Patience and trial and error is the best advice I can give you. The first month I was on control-IQ it was a little bit discourage but it’s been 2 months of improved numbers and reduced stress.
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You may want to turn off Control-IQ altogether until you get accustomed to the pump. The X2 was my first pump, so I didn’t have to go through an adjustment phase, but I’ve seen many comments on here over the years that people require different pump settings/basal rates versus their other pumps.
Also, I didn’t care for the default mode of Control-IQ. I think it’s set to act exactly like a rollercoaster, without taking any action at all until your blood sugar is at an extreme. Once you get your settings dialed in again, you may want to consider just keeping the sleep activity turned on all the time. By doing so, you sacrifice the automatic bolus feature, but you win a tighter target range and more aggressive basal adjustments.
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Hello Mark,
I have been a diabetic for 61 years and got my first Tandem x2 in January. Just like you I thought this would be the cat’s meow. Not so! It took my husband, and me 3 months on the learning curve to get the basals correct and all the other settings. On my former pump, the Medtronic my basals were way too high. I was treating lows with o.j. and M&M’s and basal adjustments. The highs I treated with more boluses adjustments so on a teeter totter, gaining weight, A1c was 7.3 and lower but because of complications I’ve had with this disease my doctor wanted the A1c under 7.
Fast forward, I am now on the Tandemx2, my last A1c was 5.8, my time in range 96% with a deviation of <18, plus lost 17 pounds. It took a lot of work, a lot of frustration, a lot of research, learning to count carbs before every meal, getting the settings correct, but I can’t believe after this many years with this disease I am where I wish I had been 30+ years ago!
I suggest getting yourself a copy of the book, Think Like A Pancreas by Gary Scheiner. It helped me immensely.
Be patient with yourself. Think positive. This pump is a gift, not a curse!
My best to you,
Jane
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Thanks for all of the feedback, Jane your results are fantastic, congrats. Clearly I’ve found out in a short period of time when moving to a closed loop system you must “re-engineer” your basal rate. The pre-soaking on the G-6 is also a solid idea. I’m going to go control IQ here for a few weeks but seriously considering moving to a 24 hour sleep mode in the future. All the best and good luck to all of you.
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