I Don't Understand
Monday, March 7, 2011 at 2:07PM It's working. I don't know how or why but it does.
Since I saw my new doctor last week he totally changed the way I bolus for meals to try and get my numbers a little more stable. He shut off my bolus wizard and deleted all of my basal rates.
"You are probably going to be a little high for a while but this will work at stopping the up and down blood sugars. Then we can bring the whole thing down." That was the way he explained it and I have every reason to believe him because he is beyond awesome. [read the comments from my "No More Sawblades" post for proof of said awesomeness]
So now I have 1 basal rate all day. I take a specific amount of insulin for each meal and a square bolus of another amount over a 3 hour time period. And it has been working beautifly. My fasting BG's have been 96, 113, 158, 133, and 124 since Wednesday. That is pretty awesome for me. I was seeing lots of 200's in the morning which always was a bad start to the day.
I should also mention that the daily amount of insulin I am taking daily has dropped around 20 units.
This is good and I hope will get even better. I know as soon as we get my number more stable basal rates, bolus wizards, and whatever else will be used to fine tune but I have not seen a number in the 200's for a while now and that is like a miracle.
Before the only way for me acheive not seeing high blood sugars was to not test. And I will not do that again.
Reader Comments (10)
Awesome on the waking bgs! Glad things are going in the right direction. Its always nerve wracking when the endos suggest these changes we would never normally consider!
Great job, George! Question for you though, on the bolusing you'd described: Do you take an extended bolus with each meal (using carb counting), taking part of it immediately and then spreading the rest out over three hours? Or do you take an immediate bolus based on the meal carbs, and then a seperate bolus spread out over time? Just curious... Anyhow, glad it's working out for you so far, my friend!!
Having an endo that you believe in is one of the best feelings in the world. Just a new point of view can mean a lot, but when a change in protocol has a positive effect, its like a gift.
Bravo my friend for being brave and getting back on track! I applaud your fortitude and your honesty and you sharing what is working for you.
Alexis - I know what you mean. But when you feel you can trust someone it makes all the difference in the world!
Mike - With every meal I take some units immediately. These are given to me by my doctor and depending on the size of the meal I may add a unit or two but no actual carb counting. Then I take a 3 hour extended bolus preset by my doctor according to my weight and that does not change. I don't understand but it's working. It's not perfect but its a lot better than the guess work I was doing and it's a hell of a lot easier!
Kathy - That is a great way to describe it! "Like a gift!"
That is awesome news!!
What basal rate are you using through out the day, and can Dr. Unger fill us in on the formula he used to determine your set bolus and extended bolus?
George, this is so awesome!!!! I love that it's working out so well. Sounds like turning off all of the "auto" and starting at square one - doing everything manually - is just what is needed sometimes. I love that you are seeing such positive progress so quickly. Yay!
I am so glad that small changes are working ...right away, it seems. :)
Awesome George!
How can one basal all day work? For sure it would make my numbers go strange. It was the one thing about going on a pump that made my numbers way more reasonable. I also tend to skip meals (easy basal testing). The variance in basal rates is from 0.825 to 1.2, which in itself isn't much, but over a few hours that difference adds up and makes a difference at each end of the range (don't go too low and don't go too high).
Anyway, I'm happy this is working for you!