The Pumpers Thread!

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Patricia, so you are a writer! Now I know why your posts are so well written and so informative! Please do not be worried about me. I just having a down day. I guess we all get them from time to time. xx

Another family member who told me to 'have a break' from diabetes, that i think about it too much, find something else to do etc...quite oftens tells me how happy R is, that her diabetes doesn't affect her etc....The problem is, like all our kids, they are who they are, they cope so well with their diabetes, they are well etc. is because of all the hard work that us as parents put into it. I take the diabetes off of R because at 7 she doesn't need to be weighed down with it all. She's had it since 3, she has it for the rest of her life, so i see it that i should support her until she's ready herself. The trouble is, good intentional, family friends etc. sometimes don't see that.
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Becca, I understand how you feel and agree with you. We do not take our eyes off the ball so that our kids are able to. xx

Bev - How's it all going?

We had another bad set change. Odd, really. I think i will have a chat to my sons dsn.

Mand xx
 
Mand said:
We had another bad set change. Odd, really. I think i will have a chat to my sons dsn.

Mand xx
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Hiya Mand

Anything I can do to help? Why the bad set change, was it the set or was your son not liking it? I'm here if you need me. 🙂
 
Hi all,

Thankyou all for asking - i took myself off to A&E this morning - i couldnt wait until next wednesday for the ecg - too worried! Anyway, after an hour on it they said i have something called 'ectopic rythm'! Apparently it happens to a lot of people and the more you think about it the more pronounced it becomes! So i am going on a 24 hour thingy to check whats happening - but she said it can be due to stress.....
I feel a bit too tired tonight to comment on everyones latest - sorry. Patricia, your right, i do need to start hobbies etc - i used to love the gym and swimming and anything creative - not done anything for *me* for ages.:(Bev x
 
Adrienne -- such a lovely post. So sound. Mand, take her up on it! Hope things improve. I know you're strong -- but lean on folks! You're sounding quiet, and we care.

Bev -- well done for taking yourself off to A & E. I've heard of an ectopic rhythm, though for the life of me can't remember what I know about it, if you see what I mean...At least doesn't sound horrible, though a bit unsettling, certainly. Re hobbies, how about we make a bet that we each need to do something for 'me' (eg, uh, you!) in the next few days, like by next Tuesday?

I declare that I will get down to some proper writing. And go into town to look for long sleeved tops!

Any other takers?! Mand, Adrienne, Lou?

xxoo
 
LOL! I've had (as Adrienne knows) a business venture going round my head for the past 4 years! So many things have come along and it's always stopped it...diabetes being one of them...I really should get it going, just need the motivation. You're right though, need something 🙂
 
Becca said:
LOL! I've had (as Adrienne knows) a business venture going round my head for the past 4 years! So many things have come along and it's always stopped it...diabetes being one of them...I really should get it going, just need the motivation. You're right though, need something 🙂
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Yes Becca you bad girl, get to it. Your business venture is a superb idea and you are definitely the person to do it. What is the matter, no time on your hands (said very tongue in cheek 😉)
 
Patricia - Ok. I am going to book a pedicure for next week when the kids are at school/college. I love pedicures but they are a rare 'me' treat. Also i have neglected my Spanish studies recently so i will get back on track. My lessons start again soon so that will get me focused. 🙂

Adrienne - My son does get a bit anxious when changing the cannula. Sometimes when he presses the quickset button it does not work properly so we have to start again and because his anxiety has increased then sometimes it goes wrong again.

Also at the last change when he removed the old cannula it bled lots and this freaked him a little. Any idea why this would happen?

Also twice now his blood sugars have risen very high (26 yesterday 😱) and it is because the cannula not gone into his tummy properley so insulin not getting through.

The pump itself is working fine and he loves it but the set changes are becoming a bit of an issue.

Bev - Glad you got checked. Keep us posted.

Just checked my son's blood (hence me up at this hour of the night!) and it was 7.7 so that's pleasing. Right, back to my cosy bed! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Mand xx
 
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Hi Steff. Yes, everyone does seem a bit low at the moment. How are you? How are things going? xx 🙂
 
Hiya Mand

I've answered each bit next to it for you (easier for me.......!)

I'm normally around if you need me. If I'm not then maybe let Bev know and she can always get hold of me. We chat a lot (which is just fine Bev by the way). 🙂



Mand said:
Patricia - Ok. I am going to book a pedicure for next week when the kids are at school/college. I love pedicures but they are a rare 'me' treat. Also i have neglected my Spanish studies recently so i will get back on track. My lessons start again soon so that will get me focused. 🙂

Adrienne - My son does get a bit anxious when changing the cannula. Sometimes when he presses the quickset button it does not work properly so we have to start again and because his anxiety has increased then sometimes it goes wrong again. this is just practice and age. It is all so new to him that he will be anxious. Does he let you do it sometimes, maybe you could share the load so to speak. Jessica won't swallow tablets and has to take loads so it is a real problem when we are out as I have to empty the capsules, mix with boiling water and then cold, then she drinks. I have promised her whatever she wants when she can swallow all the tablets well. Its not her fault but it means she will concentrate more. She wants a fish tank ! It could have been worse but I will get her a fish tank for her bedroom ! Bribery works wonders and could mean your son will concentrate harder and not panic so much beforehand as there is a goal to all this.

Also at the last change when he removed the old cannula it bled lots and this freaked him a little. Any idea why this would happen? This sometimes happens and no need to worry. Sometimes I find that blood and watery stuff which I take to be insulin pops on out as well. Just wipe it all away. Don't forward there is blood around the area where you are sticking this canula in and you never know where it has hit really.

Also twice now his blood sugars have risen very high (26 yesterday 😱) and it is because the cannula not gone into his tummy properley so insulin not getting through. This can be very normal. What we have found is that some children the levels shoot through the roof like my daughter and some children go down (think this could be Becca's daughter) After each set change I have to put on a temp basal of one hour at 150% sometimes I have to repeat it. Some people have to put on a lower temp basal. Keep track and maybe it won't always be the cannula, it may be the anxiety and adrenaline has caused the levels to go up.

The pump itself is working fine and he loves it but the set changes are becoming a bit of an issue. Bribery bribery bribery. Before diabetes bribery is thought of as maybe a cop out. It is so not. With Jessica's sensors which hurt a bit, we had a goody bag with hair clips etc in which she dipped into after each sensor change. We don't any more. Bride your son with something he wants to focus on maybe 6 good set changes and he gets a DS game or something.

Bev - Glad you got checked. Keep us posted.

Just checked my son's blood (hence me up at this hour of the night!) and it was 7.7 so that's pleasing. Right, back to my cosy bed! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Mand xx
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Thanks a million Adrienne! You have put my mind at rest re the changes and given me good ideas! I will try the bribery/reward treat too. So glad i shared this concern. 🙂

I currently give my son a ?2-extra-pocket money reward each week if he has been responsible for checking his blood regularly, especially when out and about without me and he if has done his best to get good levels. It seems to be working so far.

No, i do not take a turn re using the quickserter. I will suggest it. When he was on mdi i used to do his levemir in his bottom each night to give the other injection sites a break. He did all his own novorapids though. He was happy with me doing the levemir so he might allow me to do the quickserter.

His levels are not quite as steady as they were at the start but he returns to school next Tues and i know things will change so i not trying to get too good this week but once he back next week i want to really try to nail these settings! So i will be posting some more questions on here and it would be great to have your feedback.

Thanks again Adrienne. x 🙂
 
No problem Mand, anytime. If I can help you or anyone with the pumps I will.
 
Hello again all

Everyone sounding a bit bouncier maybe? Great advice Adrienne.

Well our end after three very good days of numbers had this weird all day slightly high day yesterday. Sigh. For absolutely NO reason. It's this sort of thing which is head-scratching. Just 9s,10s,12s, and one 14 before bed, correcting each time of testing but to no real effect!...But it's just outright mystifying. When NOTHING has changed, and nothing different. He said he was very tired all day -- but cheerful with it. Wonder if it's just growing. Don't know what numbers today are yet -- my turn to be at work.

We made a couple of useful changes last night though, worth mentioning:

1) the medtronic and no doubt others can do different correction ratios! We have been thinking about this, so have now put in 1unit:3mmols for daytime, 1unit:4mmols for nighttime.

2) the medtronic etc can also have different targets for different times of day. We had recently switched targets back to 6.5mmols - 6.5mmols (eg no higher or lower), but have been finding that nighttimes are just too unstable in terms of correcting for that...Generally, the pump is not good for us when correcting and the lower target is quite low -- we frequently end up at 5.5 with a 6.5 target -- fine in the day, but not at night. So we've changed it to 6mmols - 6mmols in the day, and 7mmols - 7 mmols at night, after 10pm.

Both of these changes were put into use already last night when he was going to bed on 14mmols. As we said we would, we *way* undercorrected what the pump suggested, and then got up at 3am for a check. At 3am he was still only 12mmols, but our experience has shown that his sensitivity to insulin decreases from 3-7am, so we applied the full correction suggested. At 7am he was 5.9mmols. So our correction factor at night is probably not quite 1:4 and not quite 1:5, unfortunately, which is kind of what we figured. We were 'aiming' at 7mmols and ended up essentially on 6mmols. Still, not too bad.

Okay, must work!
 
5.3
4.1
6.9
6.5
3.8

3.5
7.4
7.1
4.8
7
4.3
6.9
3.7
9.5

Hi all,
The above numbers are off A's meter for the last 2 days at school! I am really pleased with these numbers - its a dramatic improvement to what he was on MDI. Some need tweaking - but on the whole we are pleased with them.🙂
The only *problem* i have is that we havent changed any of his ratios - but werent getting these numbers at home - so it seems he will definately need a school pattern and a weekend pattern - so more sums!😱

The breakfast 'spike' seems to have been wiped out - but - he is 7mmols at the 2 hour check - so he is having a cereal bar to put him on to lunch - and at lunch he has been 6 or 7 - so no idea what he would have been without the cereal bar. I suppose its better to let him have the bar than be up into double figures though!😉

This morning he woke on 3.7mmols so i think we may need to lower his basal for 2 hours before this as he was 7mmols at 3am........so not sure if the DP has stopped or whether he is just settling in to the newest basal...

Hope your all ok?

Patricia, I was planning to go on a bike ride on monday - some *me* time - but i have to go on another ecg - but i promise i will make every effort to do something for myself next week!🙂Bev x

p.s. I forgot to mention that i didnt know the pump can do different corrections depending on what time of day - BRILLIANT! I am always nervous about night time corrections aswell - i dont sleep if i correct at night! So this will help enormously - thanks Patricia. Now all i need to do is learn how to use the bolus wizard.......
 
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The corrections factor on the Medtronic is called the Sensitivity on the bolus menu.

Jessica has three :

0000 10.0
0600 6.0
1400 14.0

It just goes to show how sensitive she is at late aftenoon/night time compared to the day time.
 
Hi everyone

Yes, Patricia, I definately feeling bouncier! 🙂

Bev - Good readings overall. Good luck with the tweaking!

We had good day today. I took my two kiddies clothes shopping. I penniless now but there wardrobes are sorted!

We shopped till we dropped! We had a McDonalds for lunch and took with us the list we had printed from their website re carb values of their food. My son was 5.5 two hours after bolusing for lunch. Fab!

My daughter starts college next week and we are all so excited for her! Her wardrobe now sorted. Thank goodness! SO important when you are 16!

I bought myself new pj's from M&S. Is that cosy or just plain sad!!! 😱

Until soon! xx 🙂
 
Grr!!! My last post went 4 times and then i deleted one and they all went - argh!

Anyway, here goes again.

Rose's basals in morning are:

0600 - 0.45U
0900 - 0.25U

However, by mid morning she is up in the mid teens again, i don't want to add to the 0600 basal as she will be crashing too much by the time she wakes up, does anyone have a basal within an hour of each other? Say, if i set another at 0700 for 0.5 or 0.55U? Or is that overkill?

I don't particularly want to alter the bolus either 1:16 at the mo. She crashes by lunchtime then and then i am just feeding the insulin :(
 
Becca said:
Grr!!! My last post went 4 times and then i deleted one and they all went - argh!

Anyway, here goes again.

Rose's basals in morning are:

0600 - 0.45U
0900 - 0.25U

However, by mid morning she is up in the mid teens again, i don't want to add to the 0600 basal as she will be crashing too much by the time she wakes up, does anyone have a basal within an hour of each other? Say, if i set another at 0700 for 0.5 or 0.55U? Or is that overkill?

I don't particularly want to alter the bolus either 1:16 at the mo. She crashes by lunchtime then and then i am just feeding the insulin :(
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Hiya Becca

This is Jessica's, I know she is older but this works and Jessica had huge huge midmorning spikes and crashed by 12 noon.

On a school day she used to have a 6 am basal but we took it back to 5 am for the 10 am spike !!! So we have

0500 0.85
0930 0.10
1300 0.55

etc etc

So she needs a lot more at 5 am to sort the huge spike but we worked out we needed to cut right back at 9.30 am due to the midday crash.

For you my personal thoughts are to leave the basal levels but as a starter take the 6 am back to 5.30 am. See what happens and then back again to 5 am. Or you could increased the 6 am to 0.5 but decrease the 9 am to 0.20 or even lower.

Hope that gives you some ideas.

x
 
Mand said:
Hi everyone

Yes, Patricia, I definately feeling bouncier! 🙂

Bev - Good readings overall. Good luck with the tweaking!

We had good day today. I took my two kiddies clothes shopping. I penniless now but there wardrobes are sorted!

We shopped till we dropped! We had a McDonalds for lunch and took with us the list we had printed from their website re carb values of their food. My son was 5.5 two hours after bolusing for lunch. Fab!

My daughter starts college next week and we are all so excited for her! Her wardrobe now sorted. Thank goodness! SO important when you are 16!

I bought myself new pj's from M&S. Is that cosy or just plain sad!!! 😱

Until soon! xx 🙂
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Mand the carbs for MacDonalds are on the back of the tray mats. All the carbs except for maybe the one off flavoured McFlurrys.

For MacDonalds we use a 50/50 for an hour due to the fat content and it seems to work. Don't forget to count the ketchup and sauces (though I'm sure you didn't)
 
Adrienne said:
For you my personal thoughts are to leave the basal levels but as a starter take the 6 am back to 5.30 am. See what happens and then back again to 5 am. Or you could increased the 6 am to 0.5 but decrease the 9 am to 0.20 or even lower.
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Thanks Adrienne 🙂 Trouble is we've done that before (adding to the 0600 basal) and she starts to crash around 07.30 when she's getting up. Mind you, that was a few months back and things change so much that it might work now! Will give it a go, if not will think about another basal. Ta 🙂
 
Becca said:
Thanks Adrienne 🙂 Trouble is we've done that before (adding to the 0600 basal) and she starts to crash around 07.30 when she's getting up. Mind you, that was a few months back and things change so much that it might work now! Will give it a go, if not will think about another basal. Ta 🙂
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Then what is the basal rate before the 0600. It is that one that may need to go down to stop the 7.30 am crash. You may need to decrease the one before that to sort 7.30 am out and increase the 6 am to sort the spike out.

Bloody diabetes, pain in butt eh !
 
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