For the record...I hate HATE HATE changing basal rates. I only find success if we are constantly battling highs. If we are battling lows, it has always worked in our favor to just ride it out.
My gut said, "ride it out!" But seeing another 40 stare back at me on Friday pushed me over the metaphorical edge of my sanity. (Which admittedly is very easy to do, but doesn't change the fact that those kind of numbers are just too dangerous.)
Must change basals.
L has a higher basal rate between 4am and 10am. I'm sure this is in place to battle the breakfast spike, but for whatever reason I decided that this would be the rate to change. I brought him down one little step. ONE. A small change, but one I hoped would domino throughout the rest of the day. The lows were starting at 9:30am-ish, so I thought I'd nip it all in the bud.
I made the change Friday after school which I knew would negatively affect his weekend. L always boasts much higher numbers on the weekend.
He was through the roof all weekend long.
"GOOD!" I said. Monday he will be perfect...I just know it! (I'm crazy that way.)
But alas, Monday yielded an epic fail. I bolused fully for breakfast and that spike got the best of us anyway. He was even 400 after school.
I shook my head and grabbed his pump. "We are changing your basals back. But instead of going until 10am, I'm going to cut it off at 8am."
So here it is. The moment of truth. It is 9:30am on Monday. Every minute I don't get a call is a victory.
I will now wait.
Waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting...
I have received the call. The snack recess call. The one of two calls I should receive from him while he is at school. (Last week we averaged 6 calls a day. FUN!)
He is 143. Woo to the freakin' hoo!
A little side note: Yesterday I had the stomach flu. Just me. Which is really weird, as I always get my bugs from the boys. Maybe there is an answer to our unsolved mystery. Maybe L had a bug last week and wasn't absorbing his food correctly.
I feel relief that we might be on our way out of the crazies, but at the same time I know...I KNOW...more crazies are waiting just around the corner.
It wouldn't be Our Diabetic Life without them.
(For those of you who do not pump and need clarification...basal insulin would be the long acting insulin you use. Our pump mimics your basal insulin by giving small puffs of the short acting insulin all day long. My boys have three different basal rates programmed into their pumps to counteract growing patterns, the exercise they have at school, and the morning spikes. Bolusing is the act of giving a short acting insulin when one of my boys is high, or is eating carbs.)
Do you wanna come over and work on my basals?? <3
ReplyDeleteYou FANTASTIC D mamma!!!! I'm glad you were able to figure it out. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteBeen there. AM THERE. Doing that. We are not sure if we are fighting highs or lows because they are bouncing off of each other. My poor son is constantly feeling rotten, weak or stuffed (from feeding lows or insulin.
ReplyDeleteSheila
OK, I have to mention again how much I LOVE the new banner. Those wide smiled boys always make me smile!!
ReplyDeleteUGH! Hate it when things don't work like the 'should.' I need to do some tweaking, but just don't want to at the moment...guess I'm afraid they won't work like they 'should' !!
My numbers have been like that lately, too. I usually go low between 12 and 3 AM, and MAN are they LOW. I had a 35 a couple of nights ago, and a really bad one last night. I get memory loss when I go low, too, so that usually just adds to the fun! Ugh. It seems like L is handling it really well though. I usually get stressed when I go low a lot. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI love that feeling of victory! :) We had a similar experience a little while ago- she never got sick (thankfully) but was weird low. Then J got sick and so I wondered if it was actually tummy big related. It's so amazing what happens to our bodies that we aren't even aware of, you know? Wish we were still unaware!! Fingers crossed it continues to be a nice 140 all week!!
ReplyDeleteYou are not the only one who hates changing basal rates. I hate it too, and it's just for me, I cannot imagine how you feel about them! I am so glad that on Monday the basal rates worked for you! I find it funny because I will ride out higher numbers rather than low numbers because I feel I can still be capable & safe at higher numbers (I know this isn't good long term, and I know your boys aren't old enough to drive).
ReplyDeleteWe just went through the CRAZY LOW after a really un-impressive stomach bug. Joe just had an upset stomach for 1/2 a day. For 2 weeks later...no carb absorption!!! AND glad to hear someone else gets 6 calls a day. LOL. Joe even had the adacity to hang up on me twice yesterday b/c he didn't like my response. NICE.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Lora....come figure out our nighttime basals. I've NEVER been able to get him steady overnight. We're coming up on 2 years! Ugh! But who needs sleep?
ReplyDeleteYou rock.