Finding the balance

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1

So I lowered my basal rates (all day) by the minimum amount and ran high for two days.

So I put my basal rates back up, and lowered my I:C ratio and ISF the minimum amounts, and again ran high for two days.

So yesterday I put my settings back to where they had been. Yesterday and today I had a grand total of one high (woke up this morning at 12.0/216). Great!

This afternoon I was talking to a colleague in the hallway, walked back into my office and sat down, and suddenly felt sort of lightheaded. Zero other symptoms whatsoever. I hadn't noticed being a bit lightheaded while talking and walking, only when I finally sat down and was still. I tested at 2.6 (47 mg/dl). Ate about four glucose tablets. Twenty minutes later tested at 4.3 (77 mg/dl) but was going to teach for an hour so felt nervous, so ate two more glucose tablets.

About an hour and 20 minutes later I was on my way home and felt off, so tested at 4.3 (77 mg/dl). Even though I wasn't low, I ate a glucose tablet. Not ten minutes later I felt no better and could not believe I wasn't low, so I tested again and this time I was 3.3 (59 mg/dl). Ate three more glucose tablets.

An entire tube of glucose tablets gone over the span of an hour and a half.

I got home 45 minutes later and tested to find myself at 4.6 (83 m/gld). I'm lowering my basal rates at least for this segment of the day.

I find it crazy that minimal changes in my pump settings can make the difference between me going low multiple times per day and me running in the double digits (around 200 mg/dl) all day.

It was really hot out yesterday and today, so maybe that contributed. Also, my latest infusion set did NOT fall out or have to be held in place by tape, which is a miracle. Skin Tac arrived today which makes me so happy. Maybe my sets being "loose" constantly contributed to the highs. I'll give Skin Tac a try tomorrow night and maybe then lowered settings will work for me.

2

Jen maybe lowering your basal rates for more specific time periods instead of lowering it all day might help make it work better for you. I am really new to pumping but do find an almost infinitely small adjustment can wreak a ton of havoc. So instead of changing all your basal rates at once. Try lowering them for 1 time segment and see if you can spend more time in range. Glad your sets are not falling out, that has to be frustrating.

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I know what you mean about small changes. It's crazy to me that 0.025 of a unit can make so much difference! I lowered my basal rates for the day and afternoon so we'll see if that helps. I also tried Skin Tac yesterday for the first time. Hopefully my sites sticking better will also help. Overall, still doing soooooo much better than I was two months ago. :) Yesterday I got a reading of 18.1 and was like, "What the heck!?!" but when I retested twice I was 10.x so I went with that. I think my finger had something on it. Over the past six weeks I haven't seen anything above 15.x, which is a miracle.