Last week I wrote about some changes I was making to Matthew's basal rate. Guess what?
It didn't work. That kiddo is still rising like crazy, starting around 9pm.
I actually grabbed that PDM and double checked to make sure I programmed it right. I didn't accidentally lower the basal did I?
No, I didn't. Phew....
(Don't you hate it when your kiddo has an off-number and you immediately start reviewing what you could have done wrong? Hate that!)
Anyway, we've had several nights of correction after correction that just isn't working even though I upped another basal segment on Sunday.
Hmmmm.....I see more basal changes (and sleepless nights) in my future.
On the bright side, Matthew is going through one terrific growth spurt. We're talking HUGE!
Go Matthew!
Showing posts with label Basal Talk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basal Talk. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Basal Talk
I have a confession to make: As a D-Mom, I love talking about basals.
L.O.V.E. it.
For those of you that don't know, the basal insulin is basically your "background" insulin. It's the insulin needed just to keep your body alive. Then whenever Matthew eats, he has to take more insulin to cover the carbs. That's called the bolus.
So anyhoo....I think it's fun to see what other people's rates are. I feel a bit like a "Peeping Tom" but it's so interesting to me!
Just last week, the fabulous Penny from A Sweet Grace posted Grace's basal rates. What a GREAT post!
I'm thinking of all this because we're finally upping the basal tonight.
Matthew has been "Random Man" for weeks. Months!
We finally got a 4-day pattern, where he's high at 2am....so I'm upping the 12a-2a segment.
For all those who are curious like me, here is his current basal rate. He's 11 years old and weighs about 85 pounds.
12a .50
2a .35
4a .40
2p .50
7p .55
10p .50
Many diabetics have a higher rate in the early morning hours, but Matthew has always needed more during the 8-10pm time slot.
And here's a peek at his ratios: (For those of you that don't know what this means. In the example below, at breakfast, Matthew needs 1 unit of insulin for every 8 carbs)
Breakfast 1-8
Snack 1-10
Lunch 1-14
Dinner 1-14
Wow. I remember when he was 1-45. But you need what you need.
Now....anyone else game for sharing their basal??
Not that I'm curious.... ; )
L.O.V.E. it.
For those of you that don't know, the basal insulin is basically your "background" insulin. It's the insulin needed just to keep your body alive. Then whenever Matthew eats, he has to take more insulin to cover the carbs. That's called the bolus.
So anyhoo....I think it's fun to see what other people's rates are. I feel a bit like a "Peeping Tom" but it's so interesting to me!
Just last week, the fabulous Penny from A Sweet Grace posted Grace's basal rates. What a GREAT post!
I'm thinking of all this because we're finally upping the basal tonight.
Matthew has been "Random Man" for weeks. Months!
We finally got a 4-day pattern, where he's high at 2am....so I'm upping the 12a-2a segment.
For all those who are curious like me, here is his current basal rate. He's 11 years old and weighs about 85 pounds.
12a .50
2a .35
4a .40
2p .50
7p .55
10p .50
Many diabetics have a higher rate in the early morning hours, but Matthew has always needed more during the 8-10pm time slot.
And here's a peek at his ratios: (For those of you that don't know what this means. In the example below, at breakfast, Matthew needs 1 unit of insulin for every 8 carbs)
Breakfast 1-8
Snack 1-10
Lunch 1-14
Dinner 1-14
Wow. I remember when he was 1-45. But you need what you need.
Now....anyone else game for sharing their basal??
Not that I'm curious.... ; )
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
The BG Rollercoaster
Hello Fabulous Blogger Friends! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
We had a fantastic holiday. Very different from years past because no grandparents came to visit, but was a good Christmas nonetheless.
On the BG front, however, quite a different story.
It all started Christmas Eve night. Matthew's BG dropped all night long. I mean every single hour I was up checking that child. Two juice boxes later, and after lots of temporary basals, he woke up around 120. It was a long, rough night.
But when your child wakes up after a night like that, you are so very grateful to the Lord. I couldn't do this without Him! It's frightening to think what would have happened without our checking.
And what did happen? Who knows? Good 'ole diabetes. We hadn't changed a thing. Did the growth spurt end? One would think. But.....
On Christmas night, I hadn't lowered basals yet (waiting for the 2 day pattern) and he ROSE over 100 points. Really? Really. It was Kevin's night and he watched him like a hawk. We were stunned.
Sidenote: Despite the holiday, he didn't have any weird food that we haven't dealt with before. This is merely the "fun" of diabetes. Because.....
Last night he dropped again. I was up every single hour. More juice. More aggressive temp basals. I finally got him up by 4am.
What a crazy few days, but I'm so thankful for the privilege of taking care of Matthew. It's always a blessing, despite the occasional exhaustion.
And yes! I'm lowering the basals today. This pancreas needs a rest!
We had a fantastic holiday. Very different from years past because no grandparents came to visit, but was a good Christmas nonetheless.
On the BG front, however, quite a different story.
It all started Christmas Eve night. Matthew's BG dropped all night long. I mean every single hour I was up checking that child. Two juice boxes later, and after lots of temporary basals, he woke up around 120. It was a long, rough night.
But when your child wakes up after a night like that, you are so very grateful to the Lord. I couldn't do this without Him! It's frightening to think what would have happened without our checking.
And what did happen? Who knows? Good 'ole diabetes. We hadn't changed a thing. Did the growth spurt end? One would think. But.....
On Christmas night, I hadn't lowered basals yet (waiting for the 2 day pattern) and he ROSE over 100 points. Really? Really. It was Kevin's night and he watched him like a hawk. We were stunned.
Sidenote: Despite the holiday, he didn't have any weird food that we haven't dealt with before. This is merely the "fun" of diabetes. Because.....
Last night he dropped again. I was up every single hour. More juice. More aggressive temp basals. I finally got him up by 4am.
What a crazy few days, but I'm so thankful for the privilege of taking care of Matthew. It's always a blessing, despite the occasional exhaustion.
And yes! I'm lowering the basals today. This pancreas needs a rest!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tis the Season to Tweak Basals....
Yes folks, I'm attempting to work on basals the CrAzY week of Christmas.
(Clearly I've lost my mind!)
Actually, I only made one more change yesterday, and based on his numbers last night, I think it worked. Of course, it is diabetes and you just never know! Here's hoping....
Either way, the fact is that Matthew is doing some serious growing. I just changed his morning ratio to 1-8. Oh my word! One unit of insulin for every 8 carbs! He's never had a ratio that low, but he needs what he needs.
Can't imagine what it will be like when full puperty hits. Wow!
Off to teach my last 3 piano students and then Christmas break begins for me. Woo Hoo!
Here's wishing you good BG through the holiday! : )
(Clearly I've lost my mind!)
Actually, I only made one more change yesterday, and based on his numbers last night, I think it worked. Of course, it is diabetes and you just never know! Here's hoping....
Either way, the fact is that Matthew is doing some serious growing. I just changed his morning ratio to 1-8. Oh my word! One unit of insulin for every 8 carbs! He's never had a ratio that low, but he needs what he needs.
Can't imagine what it will be like when full puperty hits. Wow!
Off to teach my last 3 piano students and then Christmas break begins for me. Woo Hoo!
Here's wishing you good BG through the holiday! : )
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Basal Results and Surprises
Well the basal results are in: Wednesdays results were the total opposite of last weeks. So....no changes made. I'll revisit this later.
Moving on...at church last night, they had surprise ice cream sundaes. Yay! Uh...not so much.
Tell me: Why must everything be celebrated with a cupcake, pizza, or ice cream? People! It's hard on a d-mom!
Anyway, pizza and ice cream are the 2 foods that really do cause Matthew trouble. Pizza, we pretty much have figured out, but having it at night is NOT good.
Ice cream is another story. We rarely have it because the fat always causes Matthew's BG to shoot up at 4 hours. Instead, we'll go to those fat-free frozen yogurt places around town and the BG is awesome.
But the surprise ice cream was not fat-free. Nonetheless, we totally rocked it! At 4 hours, he did go up to 183 (so much better than the 200s/300s we've seen following ice cream) and then he came down.
The one thing that does bother me?
Events like last night remind me that while I am doing okay, I'm still mourning the loss of Matthew's freedom.
Dealing with diabetes is one thing. Managing the emotions that go along with it? That's another story.
Moving on...at church last night, they had surprise ice cream sundaes. Yay! Uh...not so much.
Tell me: Why must everything be celebrated with a cupcake, pizza, or ice cream? People! It's hard on a d-mom!
Anyway, pizza and ice cream are the 2 foods that really do cause Matthew trouble. Pizza, we pretty much have figured out, but having it at night is NOT good.
Ice cream is another story. We rarely have it because the fat always causes Matthew's BG to shoot up at 4 hours. Instead, we'll go to those fat-free frozen yogurt places around town and the BG is awesome.
But the surprise ice cream was not fat-free. Nonetheless, we totally rocked it! At 4 hours, he did go up to 183 (so much better than the 200s/300s we've seen following ice cream) and then he came down.
The one thing that does bother me?
Events like last night remind me that while I am doing okay, I'm still mourning the loss of Matthew's freedom.
Dealing with diabetes is one thing. Managing the emotions that go along with it? That's another story.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The Joy of Basal Testing
We've been really blessed over the past several weeks. Overall, Matthew's BG hasn't been too wacky.
I mean, it's always up and down, but hey! He has diabetes,right?
Recently, it's a different story.
Random highs all over the place....with no pattern at all.
Overnight basal tests back-to-back showed different results! (Thank goodness I didn't make changes or he would have gone really low!)
I'm going to tackle testing again tomorrow morning...hoping the results are consistent. He went low today at school. He was 156 at 2 hours and then went low after that. I feel pretty confident that it's a basal issue. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
Thankfully, Matthew is such a good sport. I never ask him to do a basal test unless it's really necessary.
And people, it's necessary!
I mean, it's always up and down, but hey! He has diabetes,right?
Recently, it's a different story.
Random highs all over the place....with no pattern at all.
Overnight basal tests back-to-back showed different results! (Thank goodness I didn't make changes or he would have gone really low!)
I'm going to tackle testing again tomorrow morning...hoping the results are consistent. He went low today at school. He was 156 at 2 hours and then went low after that. I feel pretty confident that it's a basal issue. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
Thankfully, Matthew is such a good sport. I never ask him to do a basal test unless it's really necessary.
And people, it's necessary!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Temporary Basal....advice?
I've decided one of my projects is to work on temporary basal. This has to be one of the coolest features of the pump, but I have yet to use it very much.
Last night, I decided to go for it. And ummm.....I use some help.
Matthew was 97 at 11pm. (Yeah, so much for that late-night spike!)
Instead of juice, I did a 50% decrease for 30 minutes. About an hour later, he was 147 and then went up into the 190s. Not exactly what I was going for, but you have to start somewhere...right?
Here's my question. What would you have done?
I know YDMV and will from day-to-day! I'm just looking for some guidelines.
Three cheers for my blogging friends who are always there for me with help and encouragement!!!
Last night, I decided to go for it. And ummm.....I use some help.
Matthew was 97 at 11pm. (Yeah, so much for that late-night spike!)
Instead of juice, I did a 50% decrease for 30 minutes. About an hour later, he was 147 and then went up into the 190s. Not exactly what I was going for, but you have to start somewhere...right?
Here's my question. What would you have done?
I know YDMV and will from day-to-day! I'm just looking for some guidelines.
Three cheers for my blogging friends who are always there for me with help and encouragement!!!
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