Thank you for that great information. I too have an Omnipod pump, but I am on Medicare and have Part D through AARPs United Healthcare. So I’ll have to see.
The biggest issue I have with changing my pump settings to four hours or so is not knowing what’s onboard when I go to bed at night. By lying to my pump on the length of time, I can’t tell how much of a bedtime snack I need to get me through the night. I do take extra insulin in the beginning though, through my Carb/bolus setting. And then yes, I might need that treat later to get me through the night, using my insulin on board to determine it.
@Terri2 That is a problem. But there are two things I do. My settings for my basal rate switches to the lightest setting from 6:00 pm until 4:30 am when I have DP settings start to kick in. And I try not to eat past 6 so I don’t need to take any insulin. Usually I end up eating a couple of crackers or ? with a couple of supplements I take in the late evening and that takes care of any insulin that is still in my system.
If I do want to eat and take insulin my settings for my IC ratio is set lighter too. And if I know I still will be getting a tail end kick, I will go to bed higher than I normally do or more likely drink some soymilk if I think I need too. I really dislike taking any significant amount of insulin in the evenings or later. I am retired so this works for me, it won’t for everyone. And when I was working I wouldn’t get home until 8-9 and I would just have a tangerine or berries, something simple like that. But not everyone is happy doing that or can do that. You have to do whatever works for you and keeps you happy. We are stuck with this disease so we need to make sure we do things that keep us on the best road for physical health but also mental health.
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Thank you for that information. I actually have been trying to do exactly that. Even without taking insulin late at night though, and eating a snack without a bonus before bed, and making sure I am a little higher when I go to bed, I still occasionally go low at about 2-3 in the morning. So actually that’s beyond my 6 hour delay.
It’s been good to hear from everyone that it’s not just me annoyed by the normal fast insulin being too slow.
@Terri2 You might try adjusting your basal rate down a little about 11-12 pm? That way by 2-3 there will be less insulin in your system. You might have to go back to your normal rate at some point early morning because our bodies like to release glucose (DP) in the dawn hours.
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Hi Terri. Novolog can stay active for me for long time sometimes. I don’t know the science of what is going on but my experience is kinda like my body is saying “I don’t need this energy and I don’t need more fat” so the insulin just sits there until my body gives up and makes fat from the useless glucose + insulin.
Afrezza units are not the same as rapid acting insulin units. It might be one of those different for everyone so if you try you’ll have to adjust for you. If your endo thinks Afrezza would help definitely ask the doc who is treating your pulmonary symptoms to review it also.
Here is a video on Afrezza from a couple of endos who are T1D, if you don’t like videos the page also has the full transcript.
Based on the information given I think Marie is on to something. Any chance your doc didn’t explain what they see happening before suggesting the basal rate change? Also consider your activity level and food intake like @JVG was asking about. Here is a great example:
The docs addresses food, medication, activity and even some device setting suggestions. With diabetes the answer is rarely just one thing. Another takeaway from that video is their use of the Dexcom report that communicates so much info. Consider posting your omnipod overview report, removing your name and DOB.
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Thank you SPDIF and all the rest of you for your thoughtful input. I love the discussion about Afrezza and even how to talk to your doctor about it. Maybe this will help me speak to my doctor.
I have plenty of information on this now, and know I am not alone.
So bye for now. I’m moving on to new topics.
And the problem is magnified by modeling insulin decay as a straight line starting at time zero. A more realistic decay curve would greatly help in knowing how much insulin is still “on board”. One of the DIY loop programs has what appears to be a good model for decay curves, but I don’t need/want to implement a loop system just for an insulin decay carve.
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