How to Adjust Insulin Pump Settings for the Holidays

People who manage Type I diabetes face special challenges during the holiday season. Altered sleep patterns and exercise schedules and special foods affect blood glucose levels, making it difficult to keep glucose levels within a standard range of 80 to 120 mg/dl. Insulin pumps offer an easy way to manage blood glucose with on-the-go insulin dosing to cover holiday treats that cause blood glucose to rise, and easily changed basal rates (background insulin) when extra activities cause blood glucose to drop. These steps refer to the features of a Minimed Paradigm insulin pump. Refer to your insulin pump's manual for specific instructions, and seek the guidance of your physician before adjusting your insulin pump.

Things You'll Need

• Insulin pump
• Insulin pump manual

Show More

Instructions

Adjust Basal Rate for Activities

• 1

  Press the "ACT" button to open the main menu.

• 2

  Scroll to the "basal" menu. Press "ACT."

• 3

  Select "set/edit temp basal." Press "ACT."

• 4

  Decrease your basal rate to accommodate your activity. If you are ice skating, for example, you may want to set your temporary basal rate to 80 percent of its normal rate. Use the "down" arrow key to decrease the rate. Press "ACT."

• 5

  Set the length of time for the temporary basal. If you will skate for an hour, set it for an hour. If you know exercise affects your blood glucose post-exercise, add an additional hour or two. Use the arrow keys to set the length of time. Press "ACT."

Set Bolus for Large Meals

• 6

  Find the "dual wave bolus" setting by opening the "bolus" menu and scrolling to "dual/square." Press "ACT."

• 7

  Select "on," and press "ACT." Exit menus.

• 8

  Calculate the amount of carbohydrates you plan to eat, press "B" and select "set bolus." Press "ACT."

• 9

  When the "bolus" screen appears, select "dual wave bolus," press "ACT," then input the total amount of insulin to cover the food you are going to eat. For example, if you are going to eat standard servings of stuffing, potatoes, bread and cranberry sauce, you might figure enough insulin to cover 60 grams of carbohydrate. If your carbohydrate-to-insulin ratio is one unit of insulin for 15 grams of carbohydrate, you would input four units of insulin. Press "ACT."

• 10

  In the next screen, you can see how much insulin will be delivered now and how much over a period of time. You can change the ratio or leave it at "50-50." Press "ACT." When the "square duration" screen appears, set a time. For example, if you plan to be at the table for an hour, enter "1:00" by using the arrow keys. Press "ACT."

Special Situations

• 11

  To use a "square wave bolus," which delivers an insulin bolus over a period of time, open the "bolus" menu and scroll to "dual/square bolus". Select "on," and press "ACT." Exit the menu.

• 12

  Estimate how much food you plan to eat during the party, press the "B" button, select "set bolus" and press "ACT." When the "bolus type" screen comes up, select "square wave bolus," and press "ACT."

• 13

  Calculate the amount of insulin needed to cover the party food. Enter that amount using the "up" arrow key, and press "ACT."

• 14

  When the "square duration" screen comes up, use the "up" arrow key to enter the amount of time you will be snacking, and press "ACT."

• 15

  Make sure you eat enough to match the information you put into your pump so that you don't end up with too much insulin in your system.