Right, that is the whole point of this thread and the idea. A pump shows IOB, as it gradually decreases. But for a temp basal, it doesn’t do that. If you put on a temp basal of zero, it will show “zero”, but you actually have basal from the previous several hours still trickling through your system.
Not sure if you read from the top, but the idea is that if you use an extended bolus instead of a basal, your pump shows that as IOB. So you can get a better idea of what your actual basal is when you go to a zero temp and turn it off. You look at your IOB, because you have used a bolus instead of basal.
If you have read from the top and it is not making sense, let me know and I will try to do a better job of explaining. This idea was a bit difficult to put into words!
The simplest way to put it - use an extended bolus instead of basal, so that your pump IOB tells you what your current basal is when you cut it. The IOB display is actually your current basal…
Maybe these two quotes cut to the heart of the idea:
I was wondering why people weren’t using their pumps this way – but I have no experience using a pump, or being around a pump for a long period of time – so I figured I was wrong and it might be dangerous.
From an outsider perspective this would seem helpful because you’d know what was happening with the IOB if you calculated the duration of the effect, as opposed to guessing whatever basal was left.
But here you are answering a question I hadn’t even asked! Excellent. I developed this question in reading @daisymae’s swimming thread, so I’m glad to see it addressed as a possible solution to the exercise/basal/bolus issue.
this sounds almost perfect. but i usually give myself that .5 units of bolus before turning off my pump at 11am. (which is when i start my whole process). should i just add that .5 units in at the 2 hour mark? how would you do this without making it complicated?
i was really looking fwd to swimming tomorrow, but this bug i have is holding on for dear life. my TB is now down to 115% and i believe that later i will be able to lower it down to 110%. i know that the bug will have passed when i no longer need any elevated TB. at least the TBs have kept my BGs in check.
i still feel like S, but will go for a walk this afternoon just to stretch my muscles and limbs. maybe that will help me feel better. currently, i feel like a blob
You can still give that same amount as a bolus. It will show up as IOB, along with your “pretend” basal before-hand. So the IOB will be both basal and the small bolus you give right before you go to zero.
Are you good with this? Want to map it out with some times and doses as an outline?
yes, please map it out. i usually start my zero basal at 11am b/c i like to be at the pool by 1:30/2pm (when its practically empty)
still feeling pretty miserable. thought i was doing better, but we went outside for a walk, and i am completely whipped. at least i know i am on the mend though, b/c my TB is down from the original 140% to just 115%. i wonder what my Actual Current Temp Basal is at the Moment …haha (just to keep this on topic )
what i would actually like is a pump where in everything is combined into one unit. (no pun intended)
i have the option on my current pump (MMParadigm) to use it with a sensor. now i hate having all these different devices hanging onto my body like a leech, so why can’t they just make me a 100% waterproof pump with a sensor (inclusive; no extra external device), with an accurate basal reading for 24/7 as well as the regular IOB. and then a continuous TTD as the day goes on?
yes, i am aware of the “utilities” screen in my pump apps, and that i can find my TDD so far during any point in the day…but thats not what i want included; i would like to know, when i set and while it is going through my body, exactly how much insulin is swimming around (again, no pun intended) in my body. like what eric was expressing: even though, now, that my pump reads 0% basal, but it has only been 1/2 hour since i turned off my pump, i know that is not the case. not yet, anyway. but after 1 hour has passed, i know that a different amount of insulin will be circulating, and yet my TB screen still reads 0%.
oh, and if i am really shooting for the stars, i would also like the pump to be tubeless, and then i would like it to work, alternatively as a “Smart Phone.”
You could do this. Since you only have two basal settings, turn your basal off and twice a day give yourself a 12 hour square for the amount of the basal…
For example, if your basal rate is 0.5 units per hour, a 6 unit 12 hour square would do it.
Whatdoyathink?
It’s on the way. The phone thing not exactly a phone though. More like a non-working phone.
i may be wrong with my assumption, but wouldnt that defeat the entire purpose of the pumps functions and flexability to begin with? i mean, then you might as well be doing MDI.
Well you can still stop your basal, or increase or decrease your basal. It would not be as convenient, because you would still have to keep hitting the basal/bolus thing every 12 hours. But still a bit easier than MDI.
But really, the idea being just to see what your IOB looks like from basal and bolus combined, not just bolus. The ideas was not really as a permanent way of operating it.
this is very interesting b/c if this could still show up accurately on your pump as basal on board, you could go from a 150% TB to a 200% TB and know exactly (or even as close to accurate) how much IOB is while the “profile” change has been made; for instance, that for your second hour of a TB of 150%, you may only have reached 125% basal on board, but then during that time, you decide to raise the TB to 200%, you will not be receiving that full 200% for quite a while.
maybe, knowing that info, you would “bolus” a “basal” of 300% instead of just the 200% so that you reached your goal just faster, and then you could turn down the TB once you reached your IOB goal.
is this what you’re thinking of? or am i too far out there ? my brain is still trying to work itself around all of these mathematics .
