site change day!
am i the only one that thinks the humalog boxes are WAY too big?
i remember when they changed the size years ago. it makes no sense to me.
Showing posts with label insulin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insulin. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
calculating questions
as you all know, i use an insulin pump. animas ping - love it!
when i take a bolus - for those who don't know and want to learn, bolus is basically an extra dose of insulin for food - for a meal (or ya know, a cupcake/snack), for YEARS i just left the ratio on 15:85, or 20:80 if my blood sugar was a little higher, to be delivered over one hour. - that means, 15 percent of the amount i dosed would be delivered at that moment, and the other 85 percent would be delivered over the next hour.
why? because i don't know how/when to change it. what circumstances? why would i do half now and half later, or just 20 percent now and 80 percent later? should i give 50/50 depending on what i'm eating? should i extend the delivery time past one hour if i'm having pasta? or mexican? or what if i'm just having a sandwich? what about ice cream? or a cupcake?
the amount of time it takes for my body to react is different depending on what i am eating. i have been experimenting with the options lately, trying a higher percentage now, and a smaller percentage over time, or making the time it's delivered over a longer period, or a shorter period, etc.
basically, DOC pumpers, i need some help. what do you all do? how do you decide what your percentages should be? how do you decide how long to have the second half of your bolus delivered? i want to learn, i want to have tighter control after my meals.
can you help me?
image from www.animas.com
when i take a bolus - for those who don't know and want to learn, bolus is basically an extra dose of insulin for food - for a meal (or ya know, a cupcake/snack), for YEARS i just left the ratio on 15:85, or 20:80 if my blood sugar was a little higher, to be delivered over one hour. - that means, 15 percent of the amount i dosed would be delivered at that moment, and the other 85 percent would be delivered over the next hour.
why? because i don't know how/when to change it. what circumstances? why would i do half now and half later, or just 20 percent now and 80 percent later? should i give 50/50 depending on what i'm eating? should i extend the delivery time past one hour if i'm having pasta? or mexican? or what if i'm just having a sandwich? what about ice cream? or a cupcake?
the amount of time it takes for my body to react is different depending on what i am eating. i have been experimenting with the options lately, trying a higher percentage now, and a smaller percentage over time, or making the time it's delivered over a longer period, or a shorter period, etc.
basically, DOC pumpers, i need some help. what do you all do? how do you decide what your percentages should be? how do you decide how long to have the second half of your bolus delivered? i want to learn, i want to have tighter control after my meals.
can you help me?
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
that's a first.
i change my infusion set every three days. last night was one of those times. so i got all my stuff out, went to fill my cartridge and when i pulled the insulin bottle from the box, it was empty. empty. people, IT WAS EMPTY. annnnd then i started panicking. why? because on friday, i opened the last 'new' bottle of insulin and was throwing out the empty one. my new prescription has been sent to my mail order pharmacy company, and it is on it's way, just not here yet. and guess what i did? for the first time in 10 years ... i. threw. away. a. full. bottle. of. insulin. and kept the empty one. sigh.
i remembered that i had changed my site at my man's house. i called him, knowing that he was about to come to my house for dinner, HOPING he was still at home. i told him what i did, and of course, that trash had already been taken out and picked up. sigh again.
i was trying to figure out what to do, and i called my doctor's exchange line. told them what happened, and they said he'd call me. i had never done this before, i felt really dumb. my phone rang just a few minutes later, and OF COURSE i hit the wrong button and sent him to voicemail. fail again. he left a voicemail, saying 'this is dr. awesome, returning your page.' i called the number back, and left a voicemail (i probably sounded like a crazy panicking person) telling him what happened, asking for a prescription for one bottle at the local pharmacy. the exchange said if i hadn't heard from him in 30 minutes to call back. i waited for him to call back, and he hadn't, so i called the exchange again. they got him on the phone and he said he had called it in. WHEW. safe.
when i got to the pharmacy to pick it up, i found that it was novolog ... i have always used humalog. (humalog and novolog are fast-acting insulins that are used in insulin pumps - but not just insulin pumps, they can be injections also) i thought they were the same, but just to be safe i asked a few friends in the DOC. they all confirmed, they act the same, some people might have different reactions so just pay attention. ...so far so good, my numbers aren't any different.
hopefully that doesn't happen again in the next 10 years. or 20. or ever.
i remembered that i had changed my site at my man's house. i called him, knowing that he was about to come to my house for dinner, HOPING he was still at home. i told him what i did, and of course, that trash had already been taken out and picked up. sigh again.
i was trying to figure out what to do, and i called my doctor's exchange line. told them what happened, and they said he'd call me. i had never done this before, i felt really dumb. my phone rang just a few minutes later, and OF COURSE i hit the wrong button and sent him to voicemail. fail again. he left a voicemail, saying 'this is dr. awesome, returning your page.' i called the number back, and left a voicemail (i probably sounded like a crazy panicking person) telling him what happened, asking for a prescription for one bottle at the local pharmacy. the exchange said if i hadn't heard from him in 30 minutes to call back. i waited for him to call back, and he hadn't, so i called the exchange again. they got him on the phone and he said he had called it in. WHEW. safe.
when i got to the pharmacy to pick it up, i found that it was novolog ... i have always used humalog. (humalog and novolog are fast-acting insulins that are used in insulin pumps - but not just insulin pumps, they can be injections also) i thought they were the same, but just to be safe i asked a few friends in the DOC. they all confirmed, they act the same, some people might have different reactions so just pay attention. ...so far so good, my numbers aren't any different.
photos from insulindirect.com and diabeteshealth.com
hopefully that doesn't happen again in the next 10 years. or 20. or ever.
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