One of the most notable differences between insulin pump therapy and multiple daily injections (MDI) is the ability to deliver an insulin bolus over an extended period of time. This can provide a great deal of flexibility and control when eating certain types of food, as well as when you’re eating over a longer period of time.
Extended boluses can be very useful around the holidays for long, drawn out meals like Thanksgiving, or for holiday parties with lots of hors d’oeuvres and finger foods. By using an extended bolus, you can enter the total amount of carbohydrates you plan to eat, and have the option to choose to only take a certain percentage of your insulin up front and have the rest delivered over an extended period of time. This allows you to better match your insulin dose to your food intake. If, once the bolus has started, you decide not to eat as much as you planned, you can cancel the undelivered portion of the bolus. If you decide to eat more, you can take an additional standard bolus without interrupting your extended bolus.
Tandem insulin pumps make programming extended boluses simple and flexible. When delivering a bolus, after entering grams of carbs or units of insulin, and before tapping DELIVER, tap the EXTENDED button to move the slider from “OFF” to “ON”, then tap NEXT. On the following screen, select what percentage of the bolus to take immediately and how long to extend the remainder of the bolus. Then tap NEXT, YES and DELIVER to start the extended bolus.
You can also tap the insulin gauge to see how much of the extended bolus has been delivered and how much is remaining.
If you’ve never used the extended bolus feature before, talk to your health care provider about strategies for using it to make this holiday season a little easier to manage. This information is a summary only, if you’d like to learn more please reference your pump’s user guide for further information. For more content about the Extended Bolus Feature read: Using the Extended Bolus Feature in Real Life
From time to time, we may pass along: suggestions, tips, or information about other Tandem Insulin Pump user experiences or approaches to the management of diabetes. However, please note individual symptoms, situations, circumstances and results may vary. Please consult your physician or qualified health care provider regarding your condition and appropriate medical treatment. Please read the Important Safety Information before using a Tandem Diabetes Care product.
