Hey guys, i’m really new to the diabetes pump so I had a question. What should I do if there’s no more insulin pumping into me through my pump? Here’s the details.
I ate lunch at about 4:10 which by then there was already about 3.0 units worth of insulin pumping into me (a correction for a high blood sugar before lunch?)
After about an hour or two I checked my blood sugar again and it was alarmingly high, I counted my grams of carbs right, and wrote down my correct blood sugar.
Afterward, my blood sugar refused to go down even with the basal rate being 1.2 units at about this time.
This same instance happened the other night too, and my blood sugar went high after eating, counting my carbs right, and taking the right amount of insulin for a correction.
Your cannula may be kinked. Change your infusion site and see if that helps. If it doesn’t, try using insulin from a different NEW bottle. If that doesn’t work, call your endocrinologist to get further help. You don’t want to slip into DKA! If it’s not giving you all your boluses, chances are it’s not giving you your basal rate - and this could make it very easy to get very sick quickly.
I agree that changing the site is the first thing to do. Did you bolus for your lunch? You talked about the IOB and counting carbs but you did not say that you actually bloused for lunch. A correction and meal bolus are 2 different things.
When I started pumping this summer, my sites were breaking down very fast and after a few weeks I started getting hives – I was apparently allergic to Teflon. You could possible have a problem with your sets without necessarily getting hives so if this is a regular problem for you, you might want to get samples of other sets.
What kind of insulin do you use & what is your duration set at? When the trainer set my stuff up, she did not bother to take into account that I use Apidra and it is out of my system faster than other insulins. They used a one size fits all duration for everyone. I had to change that to something that worked for me.
The insulin can break down in the plastic cartridges. I was having that happened a lot during the summer months with Apidra. When I had an Animas webinar a few weeks ago, the Animas clinical manager for my area told me that it can happen after 2 days. I was finding it happened for me at about 40-45 hours. Now that the weather is cooler, I am able to get about 48 hours out of my cartridges.
Actually, I’m a little confused for example:
"1. I ate lunch at about 4:10 which by then there was already about 3.0 units worth of insulin pumping into me (a correction for a high blood sugar before lunch?)"
you aren’t stating when/how you are bolusing. I also would ignore insulin on board, if you have extra insulin on board due to a previous high, that doesn’t count toward your lunch, you still need a full lunch bolus. I never pay any attention to the ‘active insulin’ the pump tells me about, it’s irrelevant unless I’m about to go running or something.
"3. Afterward, my blood sugar refused to go down even with the basal rate being 1.2 units at about this time. "
did you take a bolus to bring it down? Once high, your basal isn’t going to bring it down, you need to bolus correct for a high. Your basal is just that, what you need for a normal/average/humdrum day. Do something out of the ordinary and you need to adjust.
Also, you need to take your bolus before you eat, we are all different, but 30 minutes before works for me. The other thing I haven’t seen anyone else mention, but I never bolus more than 3 u at a time, I find that the insulin absorbs better in smaller doses. So, if I was going to have pizza for lunch, I’d take a 3 u bolus 30 min before lunch, then the remaining 5 u over that 30 min.
Of course I bolused for the lunch, i’ve done so for all of my meals.
My blood sugar after lunch was in the mid 200’s, varying between 240 and higher, with about a minute between each blood sugar checking (because I wanted to see if maybe my meter was wrong)
Like others said for stubborn highs if bolusing is not effective then change the site. It may be kinked or have pulled out.
You also said you are new to the pump. How new? Shots to pumping doesn’t convert straight across your dosages may be different on the pump. It may just be that your docs started you out on conservative doses and your settings need some adjusting.
