So much this. I’m stuck using Novolog. Most of my lows now are touch and goes where I might hit 65 but I can ignore them and they come around on their own. I’m notorious for over-bolusing for dinner, though, (mostly because I get mad when I spike and xdrip sings “baby did a bad, bad thing” at me), and I wind up getting a low six hours after the fact that Control-IQ can’t handle, and my IOB says 0 because I can’t change that. Usually 5 hours works fine for me, but for some reason once that low starts coming on, there’s no stopping it for a much longer duration.
I think I’m going to try putting my correction factor back to normal and see if that attenuates the lows better.
(Though the current setup works great if I want to encourage midnight snacking!)
@Robyn_H, you sound like you should eat to treat the inevitable low. Maybe not much, but something with some fat and carbs (like nuts, cheese, etc.) would help this out.
I was doing something like this before. I also found that energy bars with a good amount of protein and fat in addition to the calories, would serve me best.
But, Fiasp makes my life SO much easier. That is why I pay for it out of pocket, but order from Canada. Worth every penny for me!
What I really need to do is stop being lazy about the counting carbs. We don’t eat anything processed, so almost nothing in our house has a nutrition label on it. Try to grow everything ourselves or at least source it locally.
Once upon a time, I weighed/measured EVERYTHING so I could run it through MyFitnessPal… But that got tedious real quick! So thankfully, except that one persistent low Control-IQ has simplified things greatly for me.
We already pay cash for my Dexcom supplies. I would never ask for expensive insulin out of pocket, too.
Here is a 3-hour period where Control IQ had turned off my insulin for almost the entire time. I have adjusted settings so that I am having fewer long insulin suspensions. But when they happen, they usually affect my BG later on, especially if it is before a meal.
Wow, I changed my correction factor a bit lower and suddenly this thing is keeping me a lot lower! I need to bump it back up a little bit, as I was getting a ‘little’ too much on my meal boluses, but still, this is something that really helps with a little tweaking.
I recently switched to Control IQ from Basal IQ after about 4 years. I consistently had a HgA1c of 5.9 so I was hesitant to change. Now my profile algorithms from Basal IQ are not functioning as well. I would greatly appreciate any comments from members who have made this change and can advise generally on changes to the Algorithms.
You might try setting your “Activity” to be in sleep mode all the time (12:00 am - 11:59 pm).
It provides Low BS protection that Basil IQ offered along with basil adjustment to help reduce trending high BS. BS range is also lower(112-120) with Sleep mode than the standard mode (112-160).
Jim, thanks so much and I set that on right away! my present issue are changing the carb and correction ratios to better cover my highs! I have set a new routine to modify and make changes to slowly to see how it effects me. I am an active guy which causes some lows so I am trying to remember to use the exercise setting also.
I use 100% sleep mode and have found that correction boluses will tend to overshoot if Control IQ has been making basal adjustments for a period of time that haven’t started to bring a high (or highish) number down. It takes time to figure out how to work with Control IQ. I didn’t change my ratios when I switched over from Basal IQ.
Yes, having been on Basal-IQ, I am preferring to just use temp basal and glad I have it still. I have not yet experienced a surprise bolus as I am continuing to monitor it so closely. I was hoping that I could do less monitoring and let Control-IQ do its thing, BUT I hate going high and staying high for hours which seems to be what is happening if I leave it to Control-IQ and recommended boluses!
I don’t have the issue of surprise boluses causing me to go too low or staying high for hours. It makes me wonder about the correction factor set in the pump, either too high or too low. This is set in your proflle.
Here is another issue in moving to Control IQ from Basal IQ that I could use some help with. The IOB number changes according to the Basal changes. So should I trust that new adjusted IOB or is it too conservative which then causes my BG to rise?
The insulin on board number that Control IQ uses is often more aggressive than the number used without CGM adjustments especially when the basal isn’t being adjusted much and you are 3 or 4 hours out. In my experience, bolusing more than CIQ calculates -even .25 units - often leads to ending up below 70.
It took me years to move to CIQ and my A1c and TIR (including Time in Tight Range) are no worse than doing it myself and the amount of effort I put in has been reduced although it’s not a case of set it and forget it.
