Basal Rates
It will more than likely take time to set your basal rates
so your blood sugars will behave. It's been about 3 months since I
started pumping and I'm still fine tuning my basal rates. Don't get
discouraged if your blood sugars fluctuate while you're tuning your basal
rates. This is a normal thing for most new pumpers.
Proper Basal Rate settings will keep fasting blood sugar
variations within 20 to 30 points during normal day to day activities.
Periodic profiling of your Basal Rates allows you to determine if
adjustments or additional Basal Rates are needed. This is particularly
important for individuals whose routine day-to-day activity changes, for
those experiencing hormonal changes (menopause, adolescence, etc...),
normal growth spurts experienced by children, pregnancy, and many other
variations in the normal course of living our lives.
Basal Rate testing must be done over a period of several days. Experts
in the field advise dividing basal testing into three periods, first
correcting basal settings for night time then checking morning/daytime
basal rates, followed by afternoon/evening testing. Each phase of testing
may take several days (including rest days) to accurately profile and
adjust the basal rate for that test period.
Remember to always consult your health care team when making changes to
your basal rates. Stop the testing if at any time your blood sugar gets
too low or too high. The guidelines I use are 65 to 165 points. Below 65
is to low for comfort or safety and above 165, kidneys begin to spill
glucose and invalidate the resulting blood sugar changes. You may wish to
use other limits, check with your health care advisors.