When you forget to bolus

[texas_melonman]

Pumpers, I'm a type 1 and I've been on an Animas pump for about 2years. Something interesting happened to me today and I wanted to see if others have had similar experiences. I forgot to take my insulin at lunch today and was surprised by the effect on my BG. I ate a sandwich that I eat often and no exactly how much insulin I need with it. I usually take a 9.6unit bolus when I eat this, and end up with BG of 125 to 140mg/dL two hours after.

Anyway, today I was distracted and totally forgot to bolus when I ate the sandwich. I checked my BG about 2.5hours after and it was 300mg/dL. So I was a little surprised by this because it seems that sometimes, the slightest miscalculation in card counting can cause a BG of 300. This was obviously a gross miscalculation (about 95grams of carbs with no insulin), so I expected a much higher reading.

Also, it was very easy to correct this, with only 5units of insulin. What confuses me about this is that it only took 5units to get back to a target reading, while it usually takes 9.5 to 9.8units to have a target reading two hours after eating this.

I've been on the pump for two years and this has happened at least two other times, with similar results. Have any of you figured this out, or do you have any theories about why this works out like this?

[dpav]

Hello
I have some similar situations in that I can have a need to take large amount of insulin for high sugars. In your numbers I would be taking 30U to counter that high of a reading. I am insulin resistant. But other times as long as I am under control, I can take as little as 2 to 6 units to counter an entire meal. But I have to consider the amount of insulin being dripped into me by my pump at the time I am eating. If I am at a higher control time of the day I may not need to correct as much. But if I eat at a low correction pump time, them I will require a larger insulin bolus.
Also I have had locations that do not absorb the insulin as well as others in which I place the cannula. That can be a frustration in itself.
The pump affects the amount of insulin for me. Maybe this is a factor with your situation also.
Take care
Don

[texas_melonman]

Wow, that is different, but similarly frustrating. Keeping good control is definitely an art. Sometimes I get annoyed when my endo makes suggestions about how to change my insulin, because she seems to think about it in a very simplified, non-realistic way. That said, her suggestions usually help;-)