I often use auto mode on my Medtronic 670g Insulin Pump. I love auto mode… One interesting thing about auto mode is that if you bolus MORE than needed for a meal, the auto mode will reduce the basal delivery, so that you don’t end up low. Obviously this only works to an extent — it’s still possible to bolus too much and end up low. But it’s less likely because of how the auto mode adjusts the basal rate automatically.

One of the alarms that can be most annoying is “Auto Mode Min Delivery” alert. This is annoying because it usually happens when your blood glucose is REALLY GOOD. However, my understanding is that it’s a safety feature of auto mode. It asks you to enter your blood glucose to continue in auto mode.

If my CGM sensor has been working well, then I just enter the sensor glucose number that’s displayed on my pump, and then the pump will continue in auto mode. From what I’ve read on the diabetes forums, this seems to be common practice. Note that this is NOT the same thing as calibration being needed. Do not calibrate unless you actually checked your blood glucose with a blood glucose meter.

As you can see, this alarm occurs after auto mode has been providing only minimal delivery of insulin for 2.5 hours. It’s a safety check. Is everything really going this well?

The insulin pump enters Safe Basal mode while waiting for a blood glucose. That’s what the gray shield means on the Medtronic 670G insulin pump.

See the above graph? See how the purple dots at the top stopped? That’s because my blood glucose was doing well from just the boluses and there was no need for any basal insulin on top of the insulin I already had on board. When in auto mode, purple dots appear when basal insulin is given.