Control IQ and the Dawn Phenomenon

I have some success with Tandem’s Control IQ; at times it works, at others it just can’t cope with the number of variables involved. Anyway, during the night it’s pretty effective but then things go awry first thing in the morning as soon as the Dawn Phenomenon kicks in. Basically, I have my basal rate set to begin increasing from 5am onwards so that by 7am when I get up I’ve got a good amount of insulin circulating and can avoid the spikes associated with the dreaded foot on the floor syndrome. If I’m not at the bottom end of range when I start eating breakfast, you can be pretty sure that I’ll be chasing highs all morning. The problem with Control IQ is that it completely sabotages my efforts in that period before me getting up by cutting back my basal rate as soon as it drops below its own threshhold. Yes, I get that it thinks it’s saving me from going low but it’s no good to me if I end up well above range every morning as a result.

Other than waking at 5am and turning Control IQ off, I can’t think of a way to avoid this.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

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Same for me. I do a small bolus, sometimes as extended, as soon as I wake up. With extended, I can then cancel if trending too low OR eat sooner and reduce actual food bolus…

Are you using the Sleep mode 24/7?
If not, this could be part of it.
And as for control IQ, you can set your basal even more aggressive and it would usually do better for your issue. It will still cut slow down and cut off, but it will give more insulin within that time frame.
That is how I figured out my overnight/early morning issues.
Also, what insulin you use can work with or against you here because of timing.

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No, it doesn’t work for me at all. I end up higher than I want to be pretty much all the time despite endless tweaking of ratios.

I’m using Novorapid. 1.5 units an hour from 5am until 8am. I normally average 0.7 units an hour across the day. Are you suggesting I just increase that to around 2 units for those 3 hours?

Thanks

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Yes, an increase like should make enough of a difference for you to notice.
Even though it cuts it back and off, it will still give you more insulin within that time.
Also, maybe start a little earlier if it seems delayed. I would start with the larger basal first.

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