I’ve been on the Omnipod for about 2 and a half weeks at this point, so I’m still trying to figure everything out. I have yet to use the extended bolus feature and was just wondering what others use it for. The biggest thing i’ve heard is for pizza. What’s your experience/tips with this feature?
Any high carb food is what I use it for. Sometimes if I have a fruit salad I will extend even for 30 minutes. It just works better for me. Everyone is different.
I use it anytime I have a meal that has:
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A large amount of protein/fat in addition to the carbs (pizza = good example)
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Lower glycemic index foods, or ones that I know from experience take longer to impact my BG (for me, this is stuff like - black beans, pasta, pretzels).
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Ice cream. For me, I typically double the carbs listed and then do a 50:50 split for the bolus, with the second half delivered over 90 minutes.
Having a CGM really helps with effective use of the extended bolus, because sometimes my estimation of how long it takes for the delayed BG impact to occur is way off. I will end up canceling the extended bolus or adding to it based on my trending.
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very helpful! thank you
This is what I do as well. I eat low carb and have a lot of foods with natural fibers and healthy fats and proteins. I pretty well use extended boluses for everything varying the amount of up front and extended boluses and the length of time depending on what I am eating. I also pre-bolus about 15 to 20 minutes if I am eating something that also has a relatively quick or high glycemic index and that helps prevent high spikes early on. I love it when I see almost straight lines on my CGM. I could not do this as effectively without a CGM because getting that instant (relatively) feedback helps me figure out how to deal with different foods and keep my bg in range.
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I need to use it more, it is such a guessing game, like everything. I was confused for a while. I thought it meant, “In 2 hours you will get the other %”, but what it means is, “Over the next 2 hours you will get the remaining %.” That helped me understand how it would be helpful. I need more trials to see how it affects me.
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I tend to just give up on the foods that require me to use an extended bolus.
Pizza can be done but then I’m thinking it takes me 10 units to digest 2 large slides of pizza.
That’s a lot of insulin. Almost triple my usual meal but it is doable.
What is not doable is Chinese food. I just can’t figure how to dose that. No matter what. I’ll use 20 units and still end up with highs 4 hours later and in the middle of the night.
I know I could just get sautéed veggies. But we’ll. Why eat Chinese food if you can’t have the good stuff.
Anyway I just do t eat it anymore. It tipped the scales from hard to dose to totally not worth the disruption.
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