May 7, 2008

Lather Rinse Repeat

One online forum post asked How Do You Basal Test? The lovely and talented Mrs. YDMV responded saying; “For over night testing we try to test every 2 hours. And if we are feeling really up for being sleep deprived we test multiple nights 12, 2, 4, 6.”

To which I added: “Then I go to Starbucks and soak my head in coffee." (Mrs. YDMV is not cursed with the coffee addiction. The Coca-cola shareholders are grateful.) Well after the coffee, I noticed that the spikes in our kids' BG is about an hour to an hour and a half after they fall asleep. I figure that is the growth hormones are kicking in.

Keeping blood sugars in range over night seems to be the key to a good A1C in our house. Your kids may be better about this but ours have a nasty habit of growing. Growing means basal changes.

We try not to make changes on any one hard day’s night’s numbers, (see above: multiple nights and soak head in coffee and/or Coke) Once changes are made, the expected results need to be verified with more multiple nights and coffee soaking.

It is actually a lot tougher to test day time basal rates. Try controlling eating, activity, weather and school work for a few days. Those and other factors combine to make it more of a wing and a prayer than measurable science.

Our strategy is to work out the over nights, try to figure out the morning on weekends and wing the rest by kind of moving rates proportionally. Once the basal rates are tuned up, we look up the correction and I:C based on tables in Pumping Insulin based on TDD.

We once got a few months out of a set of basal programs. They didn't grow much those months. Typically it last about six weeks. Then two weeks of testing, reprogramming and verifying.

Lather Rinse Repeat.

3 comments :

  1. Mercy, that's a lot of work.

    I know a CGM would help a lot here. Have you considered looking into one? My guess is that your insurance won't cover it, but it's worth trying.

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  2. Good guess.

    I would be havppy to do a two'fer with them one CGM for two kids. I would use it about once a month one each and tune basals.

    Insurance has nothing to do with quality of life, or having a life, it about paying out as little as possible. CGM is "experimental" technology.

    This is brilliant 'cause with out coverage and addoption it will remain 'unproven.'

    How can it be proven if it isn't used? And with FDA publishing dumbass pump studies we are pushed back onto teh defensive.

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  3. Must test basal...must test basal...must test basal...why is this kid growing every two weeks?

    All I wanna do is sleep!

    ReplyDelete