Marie!
Thank you so much for this. I agree with what you said about basal and that it should just work for our needs without needing that temp basal. I don’t know why this has been happening, but with my pump so far it’s been really difficult to come down from highs with a correction. So I’m working on that still. I’m switching to a faster acting insulin today so we’ll see what that does!
My pace for a 5k is about 12:50 (I’m so slow…) but compared to HIIT I’m definitely not working as hard. I don’t have one of those BG systems- is that to complement the Dexcom?
Also, I’m having a weirdly hard time seeing results with correcting with a pump. I’m switching to a faster acting insulin today so we’ll see what that does!
You are seriously the best.
I haven’t seen it mentioned yet in this thread, so I’ll say it just in case it helps. In my experience with the Omnipod (Eros model) a large bolus just doesn’t work. Any more than about 5 units at a time will act like I didn’t get the full dose, and if I try to take 5u every 15 minutes for an hour it also acts like I didn’t get the full dose. This is unlike my experience with the traditional tube-style infusion sets for Medtronic and Tandem pumps. My work-around was to give any larger bolus/correction by syringe.
Dude yeah that’s exactly what I’m experiencing! I have the Flash (I think) and yeah it seems to be great when I’m in range, but once I have to start correcting just nothing happens. There have been times I’ve been in the 300s forever, trying to fix it with the pump, and then finally giving an injection to get back down.
Thank you for mentioning this!
You mentioned that in a 5k you have a drop towards the end. That’s great to see, because you now know that the level of effort that causes a spike for you is somewhere between your 5k pace and your HIIT effort.
I know a lot of times HIIT is with an incline, so it is not a pure pace. But you have a perceived effort you can use.
That is the best BG meter on the planet.
Your Dex does not read your blood, it reads your interstitial fluid. Do you know about that?
Your Dexcom has a delay with your BG number. By using an actual BG meter instead of only your Dexcom, and doing BG checks during your rest intervals on your HIIT, you will know exactly when you are spiking.
To do this you need to run them without a recent meal, and to start out with flat BG so that you can know exactly how the HIIT is spiking you.
Here is an example:
Suppose your HIIT is comprised of 5 reps of 1/4 mile fast and 1/8 mile walk. You test before you start. Maybe it’s 100. After the first rep, maybe still around 100, next rep you test again, etc.
At some point you see you are 140. Suppose it happened after the 3rd rep. If it is somewhat consistent, then you might want to take insulin after the 2nd rep because you know a spike is on the way.
A great thing about those spikes is that it’s a way of measuring your work. You know you worked hard because your BG is telling you. 
Spikes vary a bit with training, fitness, and fatigue. That type of info helps me a lot, because if I spike sooner I know that I have more fatigue than normal. If I don’t spike, it tells me that the workout was no big deal to my body.
I do know about the difference with interstitial fluid and the actual blood testing! What makes this BG system so good?? I’ll have to check it out.
I guess I should also add that when I said HIIT initially, it wasn’t running–it was more like doing squats or burpees (for example) for 40 seconds and then resting for 20 seconds, and doing something like that for a half hour. However, I do also do interval running (more frequently in the summer) and experience similar spikes.
It’s so crazy moving to a pump and all of the sudden being confronted with so many different things that I know impacted my diabetes before, but just wasn’t as obvious, I guess. I think what I’m really learning from you and FUD and my diabetes educator is just that this is still a process and it’s just going to take some tweaking to figure out what works best for me.
There are a lot of opinions on different things here - best pump, best basal insulin, best rapid insulin, etc. Lots of debate.
But I think this meter is the one thing that is almost universally accepted as being the best meter. I haven’t really even heard anyone debate it. The strips are cheap, the meter is very small, and you get incredibly tight grouping on tests.
Lots of posts on it, but you can check it out here. Best Meter on the Planet
Yes, this all takes time. We’ll be around here on FUD whenever you have a question.
Also, when you want to run some stuff and you have questions, feel free to tag my name with an @.
Thank you so much, Eric!
I want to second what @bkh has said about big dosing through my Omnipod. Somewhere under 5 units works best. If I am doing a bigger dose I will either split it up with a 15-30 minute gap, although I still use my pod for it or I put part of it on a extended dose for a half hour.
But the other thing you mentioned is hitting 300’s and staying there. It seems to be a given that once you are at higher numbers, it takes more insulin to come down, I don’t care if it’s a pump, shot, or inhaled, it takes more. And I think a lot of us have a tendency to rage bolus because of trying to get it to come down and then it hitting with a punch later and dropping too much. Some kind of insulin resistance going on when you are high. I always add on my first correction when I am above 160 or if I am above 140 for 30-60 minutes. That’s just me, as I don’t like to be above 160, your numbers might be different. I find it much easier to catch it early. Find your number you usually don’t go above and try a small correction earlier to see if it helps prevent that spiking and staying there.
I don’t know what your alerts are set at, but I have mine set to alert me before I get to the numbers I don’t want to be at. So I don’t like to go below 65, I have my alert set at 75.
Marie,
I LOVE what you mentioned about changing the alert settings. I think I really need to try that!
On the omnipod right now. Have the same experience. Takes forever for BS to come down especially if I don’t bolus at least 15 minutes prior to eating. January 1 am going back to MDI with Lyumjev and Tresiba. I am excited to see if Lyumjev works as fast as I have read. I have not used MDI for many years but I am over pumps for awhile. Omnipod too expensive on Medicare and just tired of tubed pumps. Yesterday before pod change my sugars were a little high for no reason and when I took off expired pod noticed it was leaking some insulin around cannula.
Hi Jane,
That lag with blood sugars coming down drives me nuts. I will say that I just switched to Lyumjev yesterday in the Pod and so far the results have been awesome. I don’t have to pre bolus at all and my blood actually comes down after I give insulin and eat food, which it hasn’t for a while. I’m still getting a lot of highs at night with Lyumjev, but it was just my first day with the switch, so I’m confident that it may help!
@Keely, with Lyumjev one thing to keep a lookout for is consistency from day 1 to day 3 of the pod. Like day 1 it works, day 2 it works, and then suddenly it does not work well on day 3.
Different insulins have a different result when used in the same location. One difference with MDI and a pump is that with a pump you are injecting into the same place for several days, and the site can begin to deteriorate.
Just be aware of what day you are on if you see issues.
Good to know, thank you!!
If you find your pod stops performing on day 3, the doctor can write the prescription to change it out every two days. It depends if/what you pay for them if that works for you.