insulin pumps- dual wave

[TS1127]

Does anyone out ther dual-wave on their pumps. I have been using a pump since 6-06. i love it, just 1 problem, when I daul-wave, my sugars tend to go high. I'm not sure which direction I need to go, longer duration, or less now , more later.  I usally have good luck over 3 1/2 hrs at a 30/70 split. Some foods i've tried it on, it doesn't work at all. I know it all depends on the person and how our body will react. Just now I seem to be afraid of trying it again, on the food that made me go high. Not much is out there on dual-waving. I've asked everyone, DR. , nurse, other pumpers in my support group, and I am not really getting EVEN the gerenal idea, in which way to go. Does anyone out there dual wave?

[JDRF-Team-gg]

Hi TS1127!  Unfortunately, I have no personal experience with the dual wave when pumping.  I was glad to see Lee's response for you and I hope you can find some of the information he posted useful.  I am sure that others will post with their own personal experiences also.  I want to encourage you to think about contacting The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) as you are having such a hard time finding support and information about your dual wave pumping situation.  Their website can be found at www.jdrf.org or you can just click on the link on the Medhelp website too.  There, you can request to be connected to your local JDRF chapter where you will find others who are going through exactly what you are going through.  Have you thought about contacting the manufacturer of your pump?  They should have someone on staff that who is trained on your particular pump and can educate you on how to resolve the problem you have been having.  When my daughter got her pump, someone from the company who makes her pump came in and trained us all.  I hope this helps and please share what you find out with all of us!

[Lee07]

In my pump (Deltec Cozmo), the feature called Combination, I think, is the same thing as your dual-wave:  I can program a certain percent to be delivered right away and the rest to be given over a period of time.  If that's the feature you're asking about, read on.

If you test a few times after a specific meal and dual-wave combination, you'll quickly see if you need to take more "up front" by noting if you spike within an hour.  I typically start with a 50-50 split and, while I've not perfected the guesstimating at all, that's where I start.  If my meal has a lot of protein (beef, for example) and I want part of potato, I will extend my "other 50%" for about 3 hours.  THe protein is metabolized more slowly but does impact my BG if I have a large amount.

If the meal is pizza, I adjust my "right now" amount by how thick or thin the crust is (more crust, more insulin now); and I adjust the duration based on how much fatty content the pizza has (more fat, longer duration).

While I've read elsewhere that the dual wave might actually be best for us for all types of meals, I haven't invested the time or detailed data collection to work out the mix for different patterns of food.  I enjoy eating what & when I want, and could do much better keeping records so I can remember what I did for a given food.  That way, I'd be able to repeat what works & tweak what doesn't.

I've been pumping nearly 10 years and the newer pumps continue to make things easier.  Good luck & happy pumping.

[TS1127]

lee07
thanks for your suggestions,I'll try the them. my pump is a medtronic minimed