Welcome to my third week on the MiniMed 640G System. The
video talks through a little about my third week but focusses on the
preparation I have been undertaking for my mates Stag Do in Prague next
weekend!
I have summarised what the video discusses below:
New Orange Rubber
Skin
My favourite part of this week has been getting my new
Orange Rubber Skin. At the age of 34 I thought
I had grown out of things like this! Evidently not!
I have given my spare purple one to Dave Sowerby for his
MM640G, mainly because of his lovely daughter Martha requested it, check her filming
master pieces of “And
Cut”! still makes me giggle. The Rubber
Skins can be purchased on the web
shop but as I work for Medtronic I shall see what my I can find at head
office this Tuesday just lying about! I may have one for Ninjabetic at DUK next
week
SmartGuard continues
to rock!
I sound like a broken record and am even boring myself but SmartGuard
continues to prevent 2-3 hypos per day independently without alarming at me! It
has given me two hours per day of life back that I previously spent managing
CGM alarms and hypos. Now I get a full night’s sleep for the first time in a
long time, which is to quote MasterCard #priceless, well not really as CGM does
cost! Here is an example where SmartGuard kicked in twice (orange shaded area)
to prevent hypos during the day. Only knew when I reviewed just at tea time, no
alarms! I Love you SmartGuard!
This seems to be the experience of two other VLOGGERS Laura
and Dave, so please have a look to compare and contrast as I you may think I have
a slight bias as I work for Medtronic! Also there is another blog here of one
blogger who is having a few issues, always get a balanced view!
Practice for Prauge
I am going to Prague next weekend for three days of
drinking, partying and generally all things unhealthy and potentially dangerous
for people with type 1 diabetes. I am not about to let Type 1 Diabetes get in
the way of me giving my good mate a fantastic send off! This does however require a good plan and
practice! I have been practicing this for the last 10 years fairly frequently
so I feel in a confident position J
. With my new house mate moving in last Friday one final practice run was in
order on the Saturday night!
I have previously discussed and shown via red wine
experiment the effect
of alcohol on Blood glucose levels and that the major concern is delayed
hypoglycaemia. I choose to drink alcoholic drinks with no carbs so I can manage
more easily by only having to reduce the basal insulin, rather than having to
give insulin initially for carb content in drinks such as beer and cider and
then have to worry about going low after! Experience has taught me this is an
art form I have not mastered, especially when a good night is in progress
managing diabetes goes out of the window!
So in earnest Phil (new house mate) and I hit the town.
Before I did here was my plan:
2.
Set Bolus Wizard target to 7.0 – 7.0 so only
correct to 7.0, usually 5.2-5.2
3.
Change sensitivity from 3.0 to 6.0 so
corrections made 50% weaker and confidence to correct if needed
4.
Get on my party shoes and limber up for some
dancing!!!!
You can see from the screen shot here that my plan worked
perfectly through the night out, finished at 3.30am! But as the delayed effect
of alcohol (20 units alcohol from 2 bottles of wine, also 4 Sambuca’s = 4
units, therefore liver processing alcohol and reducing glucose output
processing from 20:00hrs to 20:00hrs the next day!) took hold my glucose
started to drop and was heading towards hypo and at 07:00 and SmartGuard kicked
in to prevent this and allowed me to sleep in till 09:30 when Tinkerbelle (my
Cat for those with a dirty mind!) woke me wanting breakfast! What I did not
cater for was that I bloused full insulin for breakfast at 09:30 and SmartGuard
had to kick in and save my ass again at 11:00! There is a learning here! So overall SmartGuard was very useful here but
I now have further developed my plan for Prague!
My final Plan for Prague:
1.
Basal Profiles:
a.
Set a basal profile 2 with 25% less insulin on
all basals –for day 1
b.
Set basal profile 3 with 35% less insulin on all
basals – for day 2
c.
Set basal profile 4 with 45% less insulin on all
basals – for day 3
2.
Increase the SmartGuard low limit to 4.0 for the
stag do so the suspend before low and dynamic basal resume to aim to keep my
level above 5.1 (1.1 above low limit)
3.
Set Bolus Wizard target to 7.0 – 7.0 so only
correct to 7.0, usually 5.2-5.2
4.
Change sensitivity from 3.0 to 6.0 so
corrections made 50% weaker and confidence to correct if needed
5.
Change carb ratio from 15 to 22 (25% less insulin)
– to prevent the problem of last Sunday morning!
6.
Set a Pre-set bolus of 0.5 units for each pint
of beer so I can remote bolus
from the Contour Next Link 2.4 meter. I do not normally drinks alcoholic drinks
with carbs in but I can see this happening
7.
Pack my orange rubber skin, dancing shoes, Paracetamol
for headache from party trick of headstand (below) and camera for VLOG and so I
do actually have memories!
8.
Pack lots of dextrose, have ID bracelet on and a
good mate of mine is trained and carries Glucagon. This is not normal procedure
for a night out but this is essentially a three day bender where the 7 P’s must
be applies: Prior Planning & Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance!
Well hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to comment and ask questions here or @MM640G
I will do a foggy VLOGGY next week when I have returned, if I do!
Disclaimer: I am not suggesting anyone follow this advice
and it is certainly above the government recommendations of 3-4 units of alcohol
per day. However it is real-life and the real-life experience of someone who
has type 1 diabetes who has found a way!
