Changing ratios

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sacol4940

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Type 1
Can I just check....

My DSN has told me I need less insulin and to reduce my insulin ratios by 30%

So for example, if I currently have 1u for 14g carbs, I need to change it to 1u for 18g of carbs?

Struggling to get my head around this already lol
 
There or thereabouts!

I wouldn't see that as 'set in stone' though until you've done your basal tests. Any i:c changes you are making at the moment will be firefighting really untiul you have your basal knocked into shape.

Did you reduce your TDD much when you swapped from MDI to pump?
 
The DSN plugged my TDD into some spreadsheet that 2 doctors had come up with and I think it reduced it by about 20%...

I think my DSN just wants to try and stop the hypos for now

I plan to start my first basal tests at the weekened...
 
Do not change any ratios until you have the basal correct.
If you start chopping and changing to many things at once you or anyone else will not know what is going on.
 
Pumper_Sue said:
Do not change any ratios until you have the basal correct.
If you start chopping and changing to many things at once you or anyone else will not know what is going on.
Click to expand...

Well yes I agree... except that if you are contantly having hypos right left and centre then managing to *do* a set of basal tests becomes very tricky, and since any ratio tweaks won't directly affect the basal test itself (because you wait until no bolus is active) personally I don't see the harm in a bit of 'firefighting' by setting an artificially low i:c ratio in order to be able to test basal - as long as you know that's what you are doing so you can set it back up again once you have a vague pattern working 🙂

I suppose the other option is to set a 90% or 80% TBR for 24 hours at a time, but then you wouldn;t be testing your actual basal would you...
 
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I've had a bad hypo every day so far since starting on the pump on Monday 😡
 
When is the hypo coming.........

If they were happening at different times of the day I personally would be wanting to recuse my basal rate. I am assuming since no basal test have been done you are still on a flat rate over the 24 hours.....

You could chop some off that until the hypos go, then you can start the real basal testing.....
 
Well I think you follow nursie's advice.

The usual 'thing' - which incidentally is well documented in Insulin Pumping by John Walsh LOL - is to reduce your insulin by 30% ish the day you actually start pumping so 20% probably just wasn't enough to begin with.

The hypos are certainly more urgent than any kind of 24 hr tweaking. And you obviously ARE fairly sensitive to fast-acting insulin by the fact your carb ratio was already 1u to 14g - so Yep, do what she said.

Like I've always said - get rid of the hypos or anything to do with hypos (lack of awareness etc) FIRST - which then gives you the breathing space to get the rest right, doesn't it?

Far better to run slightly higher for a little while and then nudge it down till you're satisfied with it.

My feeling is - given my response so far - that it's more likely to be basal needing reduction the same as Mike said - but as Sue said, only do one or the other right now, because otherwise you won't know for a fact which bit is the culprit !
 
trophywench said:
Well I think you follow nursie's advice.

The usual 'thing' - which incidentally is well documented in Insulin Pumping by John Walsh LOL - is to reduce your insulin by 30% ish the day you actually start pumping so 20% probably just wasn't enough to begin with.

The hypos are certainly more urgent than any kind of 24 hr tweaking. And you obviously ARE fairly sensitive to fast-acting insulin by the fact your carb ratio was already 1u to 14g - so Yep, do what she said.

Like I've always said - get rid of the hypos or anything to do with hypos (lack of awareness etc) FIRST - which then gives you the breathing space to get the rest right, doesn't it?

Far better to run slightly higher for a little while and then nudge it down till you're satisfied with it.

My feeling is - given my response so far - that it's more likely to be basal needing reduction the same as Mike said - but as Sue said, only do one or the other right now, because otherwise you won't know for a fact which bit is the culprit !
Click to expand...

I agree that my basal needs sorting, but like you say, I need to stop the hypos first. I've reduced my ratios, so I'll see how I get on for a couple of days 🙂
 
sacol4940 said:
Can I just check....

My DSN has told me I need less insulin and to reduce my insulin ratios by 30%

So for example, if I currently have 1u for 14g carbs, I need to change it to 1u for 18g of carbs?

Struggling to get my head around this already lol
Click to expand...

It takes a while for it to sink in and it can feel a bit like being newly diagnosed. I remember getting really anxious because it felt like all the rules I had that kept me safe no longer worked. It is amazing when you get the basal right and I certainly sleep a lot better these days as a result but I think you need to get rid of the hypos first. Either by reducing basal or ratios. Both will have that effect but both will need tweaking again when you get round to basal testing. Good luck
 
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