Others do not take any long-acting insulin the night before starting the pump, but take shots of Regular insulin at dinner, bedtime, and 2 a.m. There is then less insulin activity remaining as the pump dosages are begun the next morning. This should be discussed with the physician or nurse. The number of basal dosages to be used varies between doctors. Some start with one or two basal rates and others with 8-12 basal dosages.
All people are different, and the use of different basal doses allows for fine-tuning.
Everyone is different and boluses can be chosen to fit individual eating habits. Dosages for the initial basal and bolus insulin doses can be filled in for a given person in Table 2 . Another example might be one unit of insulin per 15 grams CHO in the morning, one unit per 20 grams CHO at lunch, and one unit per 10 grams CHO at dinner. The dietitian is an important member of the pump team and will need to review and reinforce carbohydrate counting. These can be determined in one of several ways and, once again, it is best to try different methods and see what works.