Why remove your pump?
- the pump is broken and a new one won’t arrive for a few days
- the pump is lost or stolen
- you need to be admitted to the hospital and will be unable to operate your pump
- you want to take a “pump break” ( eg. while at the beach)
When off the pump, it is best to stick as close as possible to a “basal-bolus” routine. The following are guidelines only for calculating an insulin dose. Extra blood sugar testing will be needed including overnight, to assess how it’s working for you or your child. Please let your doctor or nurse know when you need to go back on injections, so that we can help you with the “fine-tuning”. These guidelines are dependent on your knowing your pump’s settings, ie. basal rates, meal bolus ratio’s, and correction factors (insulin sensitivity factors).
ALWAYS KEEP RECORDS OF YOUR CURRENT PUMP SETTINGS. Insulin pumps are machines that can break or malfunction. Don’t rely on your doctor or nurse to have all your data up-to-date.
1- Short term off pump (less than 24 hrs): Rapid-acting insulin (Novorapid or Humalog) will need to be given approximately every 3 – 4 hours.
- 3 - 4 hours of basal insulin
- a pre-meal bolus for carbs
- a correction bolus if needed