Wave vs. Square bolus

[Williamsville mommy]

Hi.
Wondering if anyone is willing to post when they use the wave or square bolus. I just went to an advanced medtronic class, where they taught about it. The concept is interesting, but I need help. What foods would you say would warrant the wave?? For example, last night we went out for dinner. Erin had a grilled cheese, French fries, and a small ice cream cone. I gave her full insulin dose pre meal. At 2 hours later 90, but 5 hours after meal 313, I am thinking the wave would have helped...but what other foods or meals do you all use this feature..
I thank you all, for the advice, help...

[Connie(BC)Type 1]

Most foods I need 50/50, seldom need a change unless it's something to do with pizza or white rice sushi, then I need totally diiferent depending on how much I eat. Pasta affects me totally different again, usually 60/40 unless it's egg noodles, then 30/70. Takes a lot of experimenting, then it doesn't always work perfectly!

[Sarah Maddie's Mom]

We use the dual wave often. Foods like Chinese, pizza, any high fat carby meal really. Sometime for as little as an hour - sometimes for as much as 5 hours. It's hit or miss -- you just have to play around with it and we often add up the carbs and then tack on an extra % because for my kid, food that require a drawn out, phased bolus just usually take a bit more insulin as well.

The square wave we only use if she's eating over time - say a long movie for popcorn or a party with stages of snacks and buffet style eating. We have less experience with a square wave.

[hawkeyegirl]

We use a dual wave for high fat meals (pizza, chicken strips, fries, etc.) and pasta. It took tons of trial and error to come up with our formula, but for those foods, we bolus 70-75% at the time he eats, we wait an hour, and we bolus another 50% of the carbs, spread out over 5-6 hours. It's never perfect, but it's as close as we can get.

[virgo39]

Originally Posted by hawkeyegirl

We use a dual wave for high fat meals (pizza, chicken strips, fries, etc.) and pasta. It took tons of trial and error to come up with our formula, but for those foods, we bolus 70-75% at the time he eats, we wait an hour, and we bolus another 50% of the carbs, spread out over 5-6 hours. It's never perfect, but it's as close as we can get.

A logistical question -- do you test after an hour? (I'm not sure what I'd make of DD's number ...)

It sounds like you do this as two separate boluses, is that right?

TIA

[hawkeyegirl]

Originally Posted by virgo39

A logistical question -- do you test after an hour? (I'm not sure what I'd make of DD's number ...)

It sounds like you do this as two separate boluses, is that right?

TIA

We have a CGM, so we don't typically test at that point, but if we didn't, I would. I sometimes change the timing of the square portion of the bolus, depending on the CGM reading. Basically, what I'm looking for is a decent number to let me know that I haven't drastically under or over-estimated the first bolus. Because this sort of food is slow-digesting, I like to see him anywhere from 110-150 at the 1 hour mark, depending on where he was when he started eating.

We do do them as two seperate boluses. Actually, there may be a bunch of boluses, because we usually pre-bolus some carbs, and then bolus more as he's eating.

Also, I don't mean to imply that we've got this all figured out. These types of meals are HARD!

[NeurosurgeryNP]

It's definitely a YDMv truly of thing. I frequently use dual wave on any mixed meal so that about everything. I use 60/40 as a general rule. For pasta and pizza I use 50/50 over a couple of hours. For square wave bolus I use all the time for ice cream......it works great for me there. I will also use it for parties for snacking etc. It's a experiment type of thing.

[lattelizard]

I don't think anyone has addressed the square wave (or I missed it). It is super handy for Easter and Halloween when I know about how much candy he is going to graze on through an event we are attending. For anyone who is not aware of the feature, you set the duration and carbs you plan to eat and it delivers evenly throughout that time frame. This feature is to handle times/events where you are grazing for an extended time. At Halloween I know how much candy he will eat so I will square wave him for the time length we will be at the event so he can just eat to his limit. Using square wave keeps him in range without the repetitive bolusing or corrections and also allows him to fully participate just like the other kids.

Ellen
Mom to Javier Dx 04/2004 at 1 yr
Pumping Medtronic 04/2007 at 4yrs
Now on a pump break and doing shots

[Sarah Maddie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Sarah Maddie's Mom

We use the dual wave often. Foods like Chinese, pizza, any high fat carby meal really. Sometime for as little as an hour - sometimes for as much as 5 hours. It's hit or miss -- you just have to play around with it and we often add up the carbs and then tack on an extra % because for my kid, food that require a drawn out, phased bolus just usually take a bit more insulin as well.

The square wave we only use if she's eating over time - say a long movie for popcorn or a party with stages of snacks and buffet style eating. We have less experience with a square wave.

Originally Posted by NeurosurgeryNP

It's definitely a YDMv truly of thing. I frequently use dual wave on any mixed meal so that about everything. I use 60/40 as a general rule. For pasta and pizza I use 50/50 over a couple of hours. For square wave bolus I use all the time for ice cream......it works great for me there. I will also use it for parties for snacking etc. It's a experiment type of thing.

Originally Posted by lattelizard

I don't think anyone has addressed the square wave (or I missed it). It is super handy for Easter and Halloween when I know about how much candy he is going to graze on through an event we are attending. For anyone who is not aware of the feature, you set the duration and carbs you plan to eat and it delivers evenly throughout that time frame. This feature is to handle times/events where you are grazing for an extended time. At Halloween I know how much candy he will eat so I will square wave him for the time length we will be at the event so he can just eat to his limit. Using square wave keeps him in range without the repetitive bolusing or corrections and also allows him to fully participate just like the other kids.

Ellen
Mom to Javier Dx 04/2004 at 1 yr
Pumping Medtronic 04/2007 at 4yrs
Now on a pump break and doing shots

two posters did - it's probably an underused feature.

[joy orz]

Can anyone explain the difference between the wave vs the square? The ping has a combo bolus.

We can set it to any ratio to give up front then any amount given in tinsy increments over time. So for meals we frequently give 80% as a straight bolus, then 20% over 1.5 hours. The 20% is in microbursts like adding to the basal.

I LOVE the combo bolus feature. In fact I always correct with it. I find that She'll come down much faster with a 0 - 100% over .5 hours or an hour if we do it as a combo rather than as a straight bolus. It's the same amount of insulin, only for some reason she absorbs the microbursts better and comes down quicker. I also like that it tracks IOB instead of doing a temp basal.