Insulin Pump Therapy
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New Pumpers
Common Questions
1. What do I need to do if I want to go off the pump for brief periods of time?
The most important thing is to have a back-up injection plan from your healthcare team from the first day of pump therapy and the necessary equipment to implement that back-up plan. This way you'll know how to cover the period of time you are off the pump, whether it's by choice or necessity (and this doesn't usually happen during office hours!)
Each person responds differently, so frequent blood glucose monitoring is an important part of this plan.
- When off the insulin pump for up to an hour: test blood glucose when you reconnect, and cover the missed basal insulin, if necessary. If your blood sugar level is high, use your "high blood glucose bolus" (or "correction bolus"), which has been predetermined by your healthcare team.
- When off the insulin pump for a few hours: with fast-acting insulin, you will need to take an injection every 2-3 hours.
- When off the insulin pump for more than a day: you may want to use longer acting insulin such as NPH, Lente, Ultralente or Lantus. Again, please check with your healthcare team for specific dose recommendations.