8.07.2010

Giving the Dual Wave a Shot

My nurse recommended that I try a dual wave bolus with dinner, because I WILL be using the dual wave feature when I am pregnant she says.  A dual wave is a bolus given in two parts, one part immediately and one part given over X amount of hours. For example, she wanted me to try 50:50 over three hours, which meant that I would get 50% of my bolus initially and the other 50% over three hours. For some reason I was hesitant to try this. I had an irrational fear of it not working. I'm not sure what I was fearful of exactly, maybe it was the change.

The 50:50 did not work, so now we are trying 40:60 which seemed to work initially, except that for the past two evenings I have ended up with blood sugars in the 200's at 3 hours. I was even so enthusiastic about it being successful initially that I suggested trying the dual wave at breakfast and lunch as well to decrease post prandial spikes. This Tuesday I did 60:40 over 2 hours at breakfast and lunch and got spikes up to 180 at 2 hours post meal. Wednesday I did the same 60:40 over 2 hours at breakfast and lunch and no spike.  Today I got a spike at breakfast, none at lunch.

I am both discouraged and encouraged by the dual wave results that I am getting. When it works, I am thrilled. When it doesn't work, I am overwhelmed by the numerous options in which it might work. Which ratio should I choose for each meal? Let's try breakfast. 60% first or 60% over 2 hours? or should it be 3 hrs? Or should I try 40% first over 3 hrs? or maybe only 2 hours? Or should I just go back to 50:50 over 1 hour? Or is it the type of carbs I'm eating. Should I add more protein? And then there's lunch and dinner to think about and it starts all over again. There are so many options and I am so anxious to get it right that if I think about it all at once I want to give up. One can drive themself mad. I just need to find the balance as Kims says.

1 comment:

  1. That last paragraph made me giggle... that's the exact conversation going on it my head, too, when I'm trying to figure all of this out! So, so many variables. I absolutely love the combo bolus when it works, and feel so deflated when it doesn't. I've had to start stretching some of them out over 4 hours (because, like you, I'd start to see a significant rise at the 1 1/2 to 2 hour mark). Oh, diabetes. (P.S. Thanks for the shout-out!) :)

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