Insulin Pumpers it imporant to check you Basal Rates

This is my first time writing a blog so bare with me. I think people who are on insulin pumps need to start checking there basal rates. You need to talk to you doctors or Nurse Practicner if you don’t know how to check you basal rates. My doctor was doing research on his patients. He has learned something that is pretty interesting I think. People are setting there Basal rates way to high and are not taking enough insulin for there food. The shocking thing about it people don’t even realize there doing it. Because seen you are having a higher basal rate that is bring you blood sugar back down. It is peaking up and the excess Insulin your getting from your basal rate is what is bring it down. Why is this a problem because most of the time we stay on a regular schedule. I know as a teenager I eat like ever 2 hours and when I test my blood sugar it is fine. But when I found out he was doing this study I thought I would try this just for fun. So I started my Basal test and I didn’t eat for 5 hours. I tested and blood sugar was 63 which for a pump user that shouldn’t happen normally unless you are doing exercise or some activity. But you should be able to go without eating for 5 hour and your blood sugar shouldn’t change no more than 30 points and mine went down 65 which means by basil is way too high. I did these tests over several days to make sure I was getting accurate results and I was. I cut my basal rates down little by little and when I finally got it right I was taking less like I normally used 52 units of insulin a day for basal but know I’m only using 35. Which is a big difference and for my food. I did another test to figure out my insulin to carb ratio to see how many units to how many carbs. I never really counted carbs because I studded the calorie king book and I just remember the carbs in most stuff. I am very good at carb counting I think. But my ratio changed when I took my basal rates down. It went from 1 to 15 to 1 to 10. So I thought I would share so of this information with you all. It didn’t make too much of a difference to me except if I don’t eat for 5 hours I don’t have to worry as much for my blood sugar to drop… If you all have any question or comment about this please add me and talk to me i like hearing from other people there thoughts on this subject.

You are right. I have gradually lowered my basal rates over the past few days, and I have noticed that I can go longer without eating, with fewer lows.

God Bless,
Brunetta

Thanks for sharing! Basal and bolus testing is a really important part of using a pump correctly. What I didn’t expect when I got the pump 7 or so years ago was that I need to do this several times a year, or whenever my numbers are unexpected.

Small amounts of weight loss or gain, weeks of stress, hormonal changes, and simply aging can cause basal and bolus rates that USED to work to no longer be accurate. Like you said, it’s not that hard to do, but it is important to get 3 days of records for the same 4-5 hour time period before making a change to the basal rate. Doing it for just one 4-5 hour period isn’t enough data to start making changes!

May I add that I think overinsulinizing oneself (to get better control) also leads to hunger and weight gain over time. I let my basals “creep” up because I hated higher blood sugars and unpredictability on the traditional ADA CHO diet (you can get a jump on the postprandial rise w/ higher rates going in…=“bicycle pattern”)…it led to rapid weight gain and then reliance on higher basal rates. I became very concerned about increased cardiac risk, etc. not only w/ the weight gain but, the hyperinsulinemia I was inducing. I then developed symptoms of insulin resistance…PCODs! It has taken a while…but, I too, am slowly dropping my rates back down as I loose weight and get more active on a low CHO diet. Thanks for re-affirming my thoughts on the subject:) Take care and good luck on your current rates:)))