I have had my Ping for almost two years now, but am just now beginning to figure out how all of this works. I have read a lot on this site about dual wave boluses and square boluses and am wondering if that is the same thing as a Combo Bolus on my Ping. My pump trainer was very overwhelmed and not terribly interested in spending time with me when I first went on the pump so I am still trying to get all of this working properly.
If these are the same thing, can someone share with me when/how you choose that type of bolus?
Thank you for your help!! This site has already provided me with more motivation and information than I’ve had in the past two years
Dual and square wave boluses are Minimed’s terms for combo bolus on the Animas pump.
You would use a combo bolus for anything that you would want the bolus split part now and part over time or all extended. I find it most useful for high fat meals.
I believe the Dual wave bolus is when you take some now and some over a period of time and the square wave is when you take none now but just spread it out over time? (I’m only familiar with those terms from Pumping Insulin; the Ping is the only pump I’ve used.) You can use the Combo bolus in either way. If you want none now and it all spread out over time you would just set now for 0% and the rest for 100% and then set whatever length of time you want. If you want some now and then some spread out you would set the “now” and “later” percents to whatever breakdown works for you, and also set your duration. You really have to play with it to see what works for you, but if you find a formula you like the pump just remembers it for next time you use a combo bolus.
Like most people I use it for meals that are both high fat and fairly high carb, such as pizza. For me, after trial and error I find that what works is a 40/60 breakdown given over a period of 4.5 hours. That gives me enough to catch the carb spike early on but more later for when all the fat and protein kick in. I also “overbolus” by .75 to 1.00 units. So if my carb ratio says 2.35 for a 43 carb pizza and salad meal I generally bolus around 3.25 and use my regular combo settings.
