Help - low reservoir warning

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ruthelliot

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Hi - me again!!
When ben's pump was set up we were told to set the low reservoir warning to 24hrs in order to give us ample warning. The pump alarmed and said low reservoir warning after his snack at 3pm. Now having just Bolused for his dinner it is obviously saying the same and if I look more it says time remaining 0hrs and 0 units insulin remaining. It definitely didn't alarm before 3. So now I'm worried it won't last through the night or is it like a petrol tank and can go for miles in the red?? Should I just stop debating and change it???
Ruth
 
ruthelliot said:
Hi - me again!!
When ben's pump was set up we were told to set the low reservoir warning to 24hrs in order to give us ample warning. The pump alarmed and said low reservoir warning after his snack at 3pm. Now having just Bolused for his dinner it is obviously saying the same and if I look more it says time remaining 0hrs and 0 units insulin remaining. It definitely didn't alarm before 3. So now I'm worried it won't last through the night or is it like a petrol tank and can go for miles in the red?? Should I just stop debating and change it???
Ruth
Click to expand...

Hi Ruth,
how many units of insulin have you left in the cartridge? Some pumps alarm at 20 units left only.
If your pump tells you you have x amount of insulin in the cartridge and you know x will get him through the night ok then leave alone until the morning.
But if you are really worried then go ahead and change it. This gives you plenty of time to practice filling the cartridge :D
Hope all is well with you and Ben.
 
Hiya

You can probably choose whether you want a time set or whether units. We have units and so do I believe most others, I've not heard anyone who has a time set as how can you be totally sure as you don't know what is going to be eated so can't guess the carbs and insulin.

We have it set at 20 units. So when it hits 20 units left it alarms. Then when it gets to 10 units it alarms, this is the Medtronic VEO by the way.

Some people change it when there is 20 units left. I generally wait until 10 units if I get that far. I always change it at day 3 regardless of what insulin is left in there. I never fully fill the reservoir.
 
Hi Ruthelliot,

Like Sue says, if there is enough to get through the night then leave it. But if there isnt then change it. Does it tell you exactly how many units are left - it is usually set at hospital to about 20 units - but may be smaller for Ben.🙂Bev
 
Thanks everyone, have decided just to change it rather than risk doing it in the middle of the night. I did think it was stupid to set in hours rather than units as his carb consumption can vary a lot. When I look at units left it just says _ _ _- _ _ . It does look like there's enough in reservoir but I'll only worry all night and I could really do with some more sleep tonight! Thank you all for your quick replies and big thanks to sue and Adrienne for all your help and advice with my posts since we started pumping - your words of wisdom are greatly appreciated!!
 
Ruth, if you look in the manual, it should tell you how to change the settings.
Just change them to suit you not anyone else. 🙂

PS, Thank you for your kind comments 🙂
 
Hi Ruth,

If you have a minimed pump then _ _ _- _ _ is what the display says when the pump is completely out of insulin, nothing left at all. Change it asap! *there speaks the voice of someone who's been there...whoops!*

I now have my pump set to alarm at 20 units and again at 10 units, as Adrienne says. Having the alarm set in time means that it calculates how long the insulin will last at normal basal rates, but if you bolus for food obviously a lot of that "time" will get used up by whatever carbs you've eaten instead.
 
Thanks Cate,
Have changed it now. A little stressful as he had a hypo in the middle of it but we got there (I think!!) will change it to units - makes far more sense!
Ruth x
 
0 hours and 0 units means the reservoir is empty and the pump can't give any more insulin. So no basal.

I have my low reservoir alarm set to go off at 30u and generally change it some point before it gets to 0!
 
shiv said:
0 hours and 0 units means the reservoir is empty and the pump can't give any more insulin. So no basal.

I have my low reservoir alarm set to go off at 30u and generally change it some point before it gets to 0!
Click to expand...

Sounds as if Ben was fine though as he had a hypo during the change.

Mine is set to 6 units as that gives me at least 8 hours before a refill is needed.
 
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