Fasting before pump clinic

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Carla Potter

Carla Potter

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hello all,
I’ve had an appointment come through today to see my DSN and dietician at pump clinic.
They have sent me a form about fasting for 3 days prior to the clinic. I’ve not had to do this yet since being on a pump, so am worrying a bit.
The first fast they want me to do is from bedtime until lunch time the next day (10pm-12pm). The second is from breakfast until evening meal (8:30am-6pm). The third is from lunchtime until dinner (delay dinner by 1-2 hours), so 12:30pm-8pm.
Has anyone else done fasts for this long before?Can I eat non-carb food during the fasting period, I think I am going to really struggle with the first two fasts?
Thank you
 
Carla Potter said:
Hello all,
I’ve had an appointment come through today to see my DSN and dietician at pump clinic.
They have sent me a form about fasting for 3 days prior to the clinic. I’ve not had to do this yet since being on a pump, so am worrying a bit.
The first fast they want me to do is from bedtime until lunch time the next day (10pm-12pm). The second is from breakfast until evening meal (8:30am-6pm). The third is from lunchtime until dinner (delay dinner by 1-2 hours), so 12:30pm-8pm.
Has anyone else done fasts for this long before?Can I eat non-carb food during the fasting period, I think I am going to really struggle with the first two fasts?
Thank you
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Hi Carla

I do fasting tests at intervals in order to check my basal rates. I usually focus on the period that I am concerned about, but I also try to complete a full day, broken up into sections at least once a year. I usually aim for this prior to my consultant appointment at the pump clinic, so that we can look at results and I can get their advice on any bits I am uncertain about.

My advice would be to start a long way before the three days prior to your appointment. When I plan these fasting tests, life often gets in the way and causes them to be cancelled or stopped part way through.

I aim for the periods that they have given to you, mark up the hours I have managed to cover, and aim to cover the full 24 hours by the end of it all. This can take me all week. I stop if I have a hypo, hyper, end up giong out, .... When I am doing the test I tend to fast completely. It is a hassle to do them so I don’t want protein confusing my results. Once I have a period of time covered, I can then make adjustments to my basal rates, looking back two hours before any wobbles.

I used to do this just once a year, but realised from others on here, and the data from my Libre sensor, that there were plenty of other times I needed to adjust things. The sensor certainly makes these fasting tests a lot easier, especially as it is the patterns that we need to see rather than the specific BGs. Before the sensor I used to go the whole hog and test every hour. If I was going to do it I might as well get all the data from it that I can.

Phew. A bit of a ramble but I hope that that is of some help.
 
Carla Potter said:
as anyone else done fasts for this long before?Can I eat non-carb food during the fasting period, I think I am going to really struggle with the first two fasts?
Click to expand...
If you eat it isn't fasting is it? 😛
I'm afraid though checking your basal is part and parcel of having a pump. It wont kill you and you wont starve to death either. 🙂 I know when I first did basal testing I was so worried about it as well so know where you are coming from. You can do it though. 🙂
 
Prior to being diabetic I'd done 24 hour, 48 hour, and even a 72 hour fast, so missing one meal at a time as you're being asked to do would have felt reasonably easy. It's certainly possible and you shouldn't be eating when you're fasting (unless you hypo and need to), but do drink plenty of water or herbal tea or other sugar-free drink so you don't get dehydrated.

Since being diabetic I have found fasting pretty much impossible as it seems to make me hypo (I hypo a lot anyway, but if I fast I seem to get a delayed reaction and hypo not just while I'm fasting but on and off all the rest of the day/night as well). That's probably my weird metabolism though, as I have other illnesses clashing with the diabetes - if your metabolism is less eccentric than mine and your basal is right then fasting shouldn't be a problem, and if it's not you want to know about it, so it's worth doing the fasts to find out.
 
Thank you for the responses. I think I’m being typical me, a little over dramatic... I did think about doing the fasts sooner, rather than leaving it to the last minute. Life will always find a way to get in the way! I am trying the first fast starting this evening, alarms are all set to get up at 2am and 6am to test! I will have plenty of nights to start over if it doesn’t go to plan. Thank you all again x
 
Carla Potter said:
Thank you for the responses. I think I’m being typical me, a little over dramatic... I did think about doing the fasts sooner, rather than leaving it to the last minute. Life will always find a way to get in the way! I am trying the first fast starting this evening, alarms are all set to get up at 2am and 6am to test! I will have plenty of nights to start over if it doesn’t go to plan. Thank you all again x
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I hope it goes/went well Carla, and if not you have of plenty of time to slot another one in. Getting the basal rates overnight sorted is a good starting point as you can then make a level start to the next day.
 
Hope your basal testing this evening went well. I usually start with my night ones first, then do the others. Good luck and keep us updated.
 
Yup, my clinic always used to do that. They didn’t this last time though.

I came across the idea while still on MDI and found it very very helpful in adjusting basal insulin to improve my BGs on both systems.

One meal at a time is very doable - and is a daily reality for millions all over the world, so just imagine yourself in solidarity with them 🙂
 
Thanks everyone.

Testing went OK during the night, dropped from 9.8 to 5.0. But level got too low for me to walk to work this morning, so had to eat my breakfast! I will try the night time testing again tonight to see if I drop again. If so, I will adjust basal accordingly.
 
Carla Potter said:
Thanks everyone.

Testing went OK during the night, dropped from 9.8 to 5.0. But level got too low for me to walk to work this morning, so had to eat my breakfast! I will try the night time testing again tonight to see if I drop again. If so, I will adjust basal accordingly.
Click to expand...

Ideally you should stay within +/- 1.8mmol/L so dropping by almost 5 certainly looks like your basal profile could do with a tweak.

Good plan to recheck before you make adjustments though 🙂
 
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