My daughter is 5 years old and has an insulin pump. We’ve only had the pump since Thanksgiving- we dont have the low blood sugars at all anymore but we are having a lot of highs (greater than 400). We have been counting her carbs and making sure she gets her boluses like she is supposed to. What are we doing wrong?
Michelle,
I think it’s important you see a physician and present this problem. It will be hard for anyone on the Internet who doesn’t fully understand your daughter’s situation to recommend anything very substantial
Michelle, you should try out different infusion sets. She could be having problems with the tube that goes into her skin. I use Minimed 722 and when I used the 9mm quick set, it used to bend. Now with the 6mm Quickset, I have no problems. I have heard that some people like the Sure T infusion set, but I am not sure if it would be comfortable for a little girl.
If she goes too high and the pump doesn’t bring her down, make sure that you give an injection.
Hope that the blood sugars improve!! The pump does take some getting used to… but it can be a GREAT help!!
My daughter is 6 and we’ve been using the pump for about a year. She used to have huge swings with BG even with the pump, but we’ve done a lot of changing the dosages. She has SEVERAL different Carb:Insulin ratios throughout the day and several settings with the basal rates as well.
I started making very small changes at a time during the times I felt it was the most necessary, and gradually we’ve made some progress toward more stable BG. I’ve also attempted to do more modifying of her diet – more proteins, less carbs, and that has helped too.
I found that when my son first started using the pump, the doctor very slowly adjusted his numbers. It was very frustrating for us. He hovered in the 200’s and would go up to 300 frequently. You have to keep tweeking carb ratios and basil rates until you get more consistant numbers. We also adjust for days of increased activity, days of no activity, like today, a cold snowy day which leads to extra snacking. I download my sons numbers every two weeks and look for patterns of highs or lows. The weekly tweaks are small. As a child grows ratios will change again and again.
We have fiddled around with the basal rates and the carb rates this past week. It is just so frustrating because we thought having the insulin pump would be GREAT and it is but it isnt. When Emily’s blood sugar is in the 300 range ,which it has been quite frequently, I worry about all of the complications that come from high blood sugars. Our endocrinologist is 2 hours away so in between visits to him we dont have anyone else to turn to for advise. I want to thank all of you for your advise!