Pump tip: Taking advantage of the “Daily Totals” feature

It’s one thing to know your Daily Totals, but you can take your diabetes management to the next level by staying on top of your history. The Daily Totals feature on your pump can provide you with instant access to a day-by-day history of your total insulin usage for the previous 32 days. 

You can review insulin delivered both in your basal rates and boluses as well as carb totals. This history can be helpful for spotting patterns on highs or lows or to match up against a food diary.  It can also be a good resource for your doctor or caregivers. 

Here are three ways that I use the feature:

1. I look for trends on days where I have a high or low total daily dose (compared to my “average”). Since you’re able to see the percentage breakdown of basal and bolus, as well as number of corrections then it helps to understand what contributed to that number.
2. The total daily carb grams is (in my opinion) one of the most underestimated features! Having a total daily carb number to review has drastically increased my own awareness of the daily food that I eat as a whole, instead of each individual meal. As I have worked with my doctor on making sure I’m snacking less and focusing on my total carb amount each day, this has been extremely valuable.
3. It’s a way to track progress! If you and your doctor set up specific goals like number of grams of daily carbs or trying to  stabilize your BG and decrease the need for correction doses, this is a quick snapshot that you can look at on a day-to-day basis.

The Daily Totals feature can be found in your Utilities menu. Read your user guide for more information on using Daily Totals. 

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION 

– Medtronic Diabetes insulin infusion pumps, continuous glucose monitoring systems and associated components are limited to sale by or on the order of a physician and should only be used under the direction of a healthcare professional familiar with the risks associated with the use of these systems. 

– Successful operation of the insulin infusion pumps and/or continuous glucose monitoring systems requires adequate vision and hearing to recognize alerts and alarms. 

Please visit http://www.medtronicdiabetes.com/important-safety-information for complete safety information.