# Is it me? Is it my pump? It's probably me!!



## ohitsnicola (Jun 4, 2017)

So since getting back on the ball with things...well attempting to, I have increased basals etc....however, I am still going high aka over 15mmol!! Where am I going wrong?? I am getting so fed up!!! x


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## New-journey (Jun 4, 2017)

I wish I could answer but don't know! I expect someone experienced and knowledgable like @trophywench will reply soon!


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 4, 2017)

Thank you Jo! I hope so too, as I am losing hope again!


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## trophywench (Jun 5, 2017)

She's here.  She needs more info LOL

Now - when are you shooting up to 15.5 - or are you saying it's in one of the time blocks from the basal testing, or what?

However the trick is to know why we've just spiked (or plummeted) again - and try and avoid doing whatever it was again.  In other words - learn from it.

So - tell us more please.


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 5, 2017)

trophywench said:


> She's here.  She needs more info LOL
> 
> Now - when are you shooting up to 15.5 - or are you saying it's in one of the time blocks from the basal testing, or what?
> 
> ...


 Sorry haha! erm pretty much always after eating! 
Any tips on basal testing?? i cant stand them, i get So Hungry and then feel ill and weak!


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 5, 2017)

Also, its anything over 15....highest was 27.4 sighhh. 
maybe i should just give up food lol.


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## Northerner (Jun 5, 2017)

BrokenPancreas1994 said:


> Also, its anything over 15....highest was 27.4 sighhh.
> maybe i should just give up food lol.


Might it be due to the timing of your bolus insulin for your food? I use novorapid and it's anything but rapid in me, particularly early in the day. Allowing the insulin to start peaking when the food gets digesting is the way to reduce spikes, but it does take quite a bit of testing and experience - perfectly possible though!


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## Pumper_Sue (Jun 5, 2017)

You really need to do your basal testing and you are hardly going to faint/pass out or starve to death for missing food for 4 hours lol.

Are you blousing 30 mins before you eat? Perhaps also stick to simple carbs that you know how they work for you so miss out the pasta rice etc. until you have things sorted out.


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## pottersusan (Jun 5, 2017)

Northerner said:


> Might it be due to the timing of your bolus insulin for your food? I use novorapid and it's anything but rapid in me, particularly early in the day. Allowing the insulin to start peaking when the food gets digesting is the way to reduce spikes, but it does take quite a bit of testing and experience - perfectly possible though!


I need to bolus at least 20 mins before I eat. As Northie says, Novorapid is anything but rapid! 
If my blood sugar is high before eating I give myself my bolus and wait til its down to 7ish before I eat. This does lead to some overcooked meals! But hopefully it will keep my numbers better after eating.


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## HOBIE (Jun 5, 2017)

I would like my Novorapid to be more rapid. Insulin are miles better than they used to be but it works to slow for me. I am also a big fan of slow release bolus.  Novoslow ?  ( not complaining )


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## everydayupsanddowns (Jun 5, 2017)

Yup, when my levels are playing up I know from experience that the first thing I need to do to make progress is some proper basal testing. Often starting with the parts of the day where I'm having the most out of range numbers. I can do all sorts of tweaking and guesswork for as long as I like, but it just extends the chaos for me. 

Basal testing is a pain, but for me, unless I've recently checked to make sure that my doses/pattern are as good as I can get them all the other stuff about meal ratios and correctino factors is doomed to give very patchy results at best.

It's a pain, but there it is.


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 5, 2017)

Pumper_Sue said:


> You really need to do your basal testing and you are hardly going to faint/pass out or starve to death for missing food for 4 hours lol.
> 
> Are you blousing 30 mins before you eat? Perhaps also stick to simple carbs that you know how they work for you so miss out the pasta rice etc. until you have things sorted out.



4 hours? I've never basal tested for that length of time. I've always been given much longer times than that, for example 8am to 6pm or 12pm to 10pm.

4 hours i can easily do, but I've never been told to do just 4hours. 

never been told to bolus 30 minutes beforehand either.. 
simple carbs? what do i eat then lol


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## Northerner (Jun 5, 2017)

BrokenPancreas1994 said:


> 4 hours? I've never basal tested for that length of time. I've always been given much longer times than that, for example 8am to 6pm or 12pm to 10pm.
> 
> 4 hours i can easily do, but I've never been told to do just 4hours.
> 
> ...


This might help - it suggests basal testing around your usual sleep and meal times:

https://diatribe.org/beyond-basals-–-part-ii


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 5, 2017)

Northerner said:


> This might help - it suggests basal testing around your usual sleep and meal times:
> 
> https://diatribe.org/beyond-basals-–-part-ii


Thank you x


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## Pumper_Sue (Jun 5, 2017)

BrokenPancreas1994 said:


> 4 hours? I've never basal tested for that length of time. I've always been given much longer times than that, for example 8am to 6pm or 12pm to 10pm.
> 
> 4 hours i can easily do, but I've never been told to do just 4hours.
> 
> ...


There you go then, you can do it no problem   Just scrap your pasta, rice, pizza and high fat foods until you are sorted otherwise they complicate things no end.


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 5, 2017)

Pumper_Sue said:


> There you go then, you can do it no problem   Just scrap your pasta, rice, pizza and high fat foods until you are sorted otherwise they complicate things no end.


So basically skip breakfast one day? And Lunch the next etc?? Are potatoes okay?? 

Oh - I've had pump supplies delivered - my consultant from London must have spoke to Medtronic for me! 
Will get the letter to the GP sorted soon too x


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## Ljc (Jun 5, 2017)

BrokenPancreas1994 said:


> 4 hours? I've never basal tested for that length of time. I've always been given much longer times than that, for example 8am to 6pm or 12pm to 10pm.
> 
> 4 hours i can easily do, but I've never been told to do just 4hours.
> 
> ...


Flipping heck , you were told 10hrs.


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 5, 2017)

Ljc said:


> Flipping heck , you were told 10hrs.


yes! hence why i hate them so much. I used to work in an office and it was so hard to concentrate on an empty stomach!!


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## Pumper_Sue (Jun 5, 2017)

BrokenPancreas1994 said:


> So basically skip breakfast one day? And Lunch the next etc?? Are potatoes okay??
> 
> Oh - I've had pump supplies delivered - my consultant from London must have spoke to Medtronic for me!
> Will get the letter to the GP sorted soon too x


New spuds are best   yep you have the right idea for testing. So much more refined that way.
Do you have the book pumping insulin by John Walsh? If not and you can afford it, it will be the best investment you ever make. If money is tight though ask your local library to order it in for you.


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 5, 2017)

Pumper_Sue said:


> New spuds are best   yep you have the right idea for testing. So much more refined that way.
> Do you have the book pumping insulin by John Walsh? If not and you can afford it, it will be the best investment you ever make. If money is tight though ask your local library to order it in for you.


I think.... emphasising on the think i have it somewhere! I did start reading it a few years back... but stopped... can't remember why! I'll have to have a look later


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## everydayupsanddowns (Jun 5, 2017)

BrokenPancreas1994 said:


> never been told to bolus 30 minutes beforehand either..
> simple carbs? what do i eat then lol



I guess it depends on what you find *generally* works OK. If you always have a nightmare with pasta, and potatoes are like rocket fuel, but rice is OK, you could stick to mostly rice-based meals for a week or so. At least that's what I would consider. As an example, the vast majority of my evening meals have been roughly the same total carb count (a hang-up from my fixed dose early days). And in recent years I've eaten pretty much exactly the same things for breakfast and lunch 5-6 days a week.

Might sound a bit boring, but it helps to reduce some of the millions of variables if I eat the same breakfast/lunch every day. Then if results vary wildly I know it's not carb counting errors etc.


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## Northerner (Jun 5, 2017)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Might sound a bit boring, but it helps to reduce some of the millions of variables if I eat the same breakfast/lunch every day. Then if results vary wildly I know it's not carb counting errors etc.


I'll join you at the boring table Mike  My meals also rarely vary in actual carb content and I'm not particularly adventurous when it comes to breakfast (toast) and lunch (sandwich - cheese, ham, salmon etc., plus a yoghurt and a banana!). As a consequence I usually need the same amount of insulin, and if it doesn't work as expected I know it's another factor at work, not the food


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 5, 2017)

Pasta isn't always an issue....jacket potatoes are...However, they seem to set off my IBS  Well the skin does....and that's my fave bit, so won't be having them anymore! Pizza also....rice, I don't have that often...unless I am making a homemade curry! Wholegrain rice is better isn't it?? As well as wholewheat spaghetti??


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## trophywench (Jun 5, 2017)

LOL - another one that's boring - same breakfast (ONE Weetabix - or no breakfast at all, though if I still had to get up at 6.30 to 7am I'd have to) luch is normally a sandwich between 1pm to 1.30 with possibly a few extra bits (and I do mean bits - snacky things that come in plastic containers and I'll have one of two sorts, so typically another 6g carb) and then a meat potato and veg dinner, interspersed with eg chilli con carne, chicken Kiev, the odd half a pizza, the odd pasta, once a week oven chips with whatever, sometimes sub the meat in the dinner for fish (and omit the gravy LOL) usually between 6.30pm and 7 - and the VERY rare these days, meal out.

So - you only START basal testing 4 hours after your last intake of bolus or correction insulin to ensure all - or the bulk of - that, is finished.  So if you do 4 or 6 hours after that, you've gone 8 or 10 hours without food anyway - which is quite long enough for most people tums for starters, and perfectly sufficient to get the number of readings you'll need, even if you only do 2-hourly tests.  If you'll be eating in say another hour or half hour after that well fine!  you just get more info!  If it's an hour short - well never mind, eventually you get all the time covered.

Just do ONE time block in each 24 hours.  You don't need this info yesterday - the end of the week is soon enough!

The only time I'd go longer is overnight - and even then I never do overnights in one fell swoop.  I just set the alarm for a max twice a night with a decent gap between them, say 3 nights in the same week - cos if you don't sleep properly between them - they won't be accurate.  You'll get FAR different numbers should you deliberately stay up, or have a sleepless night.

If you're awake, doing testing and just doing nowt between rising and bedtime - by all means test as often as you think to do it, with a minimum of 4 tests in each 6(ish) hours.  One at the start, then 2 hourly.  If afterwards, you see one of them has gone up a LOT from the previous time - then you need to do that time block again - and test more to see where it starts and finishes.

It's much more involved describing it - than it is actually doing it!


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## trophywench (Jun 5, 2017)

Wholewheat stuff is supposed to be slower release.  If it's much slower than the bolus insulin though, you'll be in different trouble!


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 5, 2017)

Right - Okay! I shall try a basal test...either tomorrow or Wednesday...tomorrow is the dreaded immunisations with my 1 year old...so I suspect it will be a stressful day tomorrow!!


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## Pumper_Sue (Jun 5, 2017)

BrokenPancreas1994 said:


> Right - Okay! I shall try a basal test...either tomorrow or Wednesday...tomorrow is the dreaded immunisations with my 1 year old...so I suspect it will be a stressful day tomorrow!!


Better leave it until Weds then as stress makes blood sugars go high for a lot of people. Hope tomorrow goes without a hitch for your little one.


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 5, 2017)

Pumper_Sue said:


> Better leave it until Weds then as stress makes blood sugars go high for a lot of people. Hope tomorrow goes without a hitch for your little one.


No doubt she will be fine...I'll be the one who cries hahaha!


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## trophywench (Jun 5, 2017)

LOL, she will be fine, they always are - but steel yourself for very loud objections as she has it done.  It'll probably take YOU longer than her to recover!


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 5, 2017)

trophywench said:


> LOL, she will be fine, they always are - but steel yourself for very loud objections as she has it done.  It'll probably take YOU longer than her to recover!


Oh i know haha! trying to keep her still will be a mission too haha!


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## trophywench (Jun 5, 2017)

LOL - get the nurse to held her  - and you do the deed then!


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 6, 2017)

Oh god no! LOL


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## New-journey (Jun 6, 2017)

BrokenPancreas1994 said:


> No doubt she will be fine...I'll be the one who cries hahaha!


I hope it goes well, and not too upsetting for you.


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 6, 2017)

New-journey said:


> I hope it goes well, and not too upsetting for you.


Thank you. She's still asleep.... can't remember the last time i was up at this time... bad i know haha


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 6, 2017)

Well immunisations have been rearranged till Monday now.....nurse is off sick....just as well as it is looking like it is going to flood here!! x


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## trophywench (Jun 6, 2017)

Grief - where the heck are you? (general area I mean)


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 6, 2017)

trophywench said:


> Grief - where the heck are you? (general area I mean)


Middlesbrough - it is horrendous here!


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## trophywench (Jun 6, 2017)

Well it was raining stair rods here virtually non stop Monday, but yesterday it had a few breaks and today - during some of the breaks - the sun shone!


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## ohitsnicola (Jun 6, 2017)

trophywench said:


> Well it was raining stair rods here virtually non stop Monday, but yesterday it had a few breaks and today - during some of the breaks - the sun shone!


it has been nonstop since 11am here.... still going strong now haha


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