Starting on Omnipod tomorrow!!

[Sarahkylie88]

Hello,

I have been type 1 diabetic for 18 years.
Well controlled, hba1c 6.6% or 48mmol
I am starting on the omnipod tomorrow!
There are a few reasons for this, one of them being possibly trying for another baby as my last pregnancy with my sugars was a massive struggle!!
Just wondering if anyone has any advice for the changeover period! I'm pretty scared, it's fear of the Unknown I guess!
My diabetes team have been amazing! I'm just worried because it's a change from what I'm used to!

Any advice or tips welcome!
Thanks in advance!

 

[Snapsy]

Very pleased for you @Sarahkylie88!

Hope tomorrow goes well. I've been pumping only since October (Insight, not Omnipod), and it's amazing! I had more sleepless nights about it in the run-up to my pump start than I had in the run-up to my wedding, because it meant so, so much to me.

It was very very different to what I was used to, and the first two weeks were particularly full-on with familiarising myself with life with the pump. But in some ways it felt like much less of a big thing than I'd been anticipating!

Love it, love it, love it. I find it particularly liberating not to have to eat all the time (on MDI I had frequent hypos and was always having to eat).

Advice for the changeover period: be kind to yourself, and stick with it. You will find some things harder than you'd thought, but a lot of it will be easier than you'd thought. Don't expect perfect numbers. It's a process to get your basal rates sorted, but you will get there.

Hoping all goes well tomorrow - do keep us posted!

 

[Snapsy]

PS To clarify - my wedding ALSO meant so, so much to me, just in case I inadvertently made it sound otherwise in my above post! LOL! Perhaps I should have put 'as many' rather than 'more' sleepless nights!!!!!

 

[Sarahkylie88]

Thank you snapsy!
Lol! Your other half may be put out at that haha! I know what you mean tho! Because it's so different!
I think I was scared because I was put on a pump when I was pregnant and I hated it! I didn't have the grace period u have when starting normally to figure things out , things had to be perfect right away and something being attached to me all the time when I was a huge pregnant lump and uncomfortable at the beat of times didn't go down well!
That's why this time I've opted for the omnipod! Thank you for your support! Fingers crossed for tomorrow! Glad things have worked out well for u, it's given me some confidence! X x x

 

[Nicola M]

It's defiantly different going from injecting to using a pump as anyone who made that changeover will tell you. It's all worth it though and it seems as though since your sugars are well controlled anyway it wont be so hard for you to changeover. I mainly worried about sleeping because I thought it'd be weird something being attached to me but on the first night I fell to sleep straight away and forgot all about the pump. One piece of advice I would give is that straight away you should start thinking about/doing basal tests as they are a fundamental part of keeping your good control and once they are sorted everything else should be plain sailing!

 

[Snapsy]

Gosh @Sarahkylie88 it sounds like your first pumping experience was rather full-on - nice one for giving it another go, this time in a different format!

I was very taken with the idea of the Omnipod but was offered the Insight, and once I'd 'met' it I was very happy. I hadn't been sure about the 'hosepipe' bit, y'know, having tubing to trip over, but that was so much less of a big deal than I'd been making it into. Okay, it's had its little idiosyncrasies to get to grips with, but as I've got nothing to compare it to other than MDI, I'm pretty settled with it.

All the best with it all! In the future I would think all pumps will be tiny and tubeless - in which case you're a step ahead already!!!

 

[Snapsy]

Oh, and (as far as I know) the other half doesn't read this forum, so I think I've got away with it....!

 

[noblehead]

@Sarahkylie88, did your pump team give you any advice on what to do about your basal injection today?

I've been on the Omnipod Pump for a year now and love it, it's a great pump and I was drawn to it because it was tubeless. The manual that comes with the pump is self-explanatory and the YPSOMED customer care-line is very good as are the Omnipod Reps.

If you go on YouTube you will find loads of video's of Omnipod users changing their Pods, I found this extremely helpful and reassuring prior to my pump start day, before you leave the clinic tomorrow make sure you are confident enough to use the PDM, if there's anything your not sure of do ask them.

 

[Sarahkylie88]

Thank u @noblehead I am confident with the features, just a bit nervous. I have to half my basal tonight to prepare for tomorrow, but I'm convinced it's going to throw me really high in the morning, but we'll see!
A girl at the school I work at has a pod and I thought it was amazing without the tubes! She has inspired me to give it a go! Good to hear so many positive experiences! X

 

[noblehead]

@Sarahkylie88, once you've done half a dozen pod changes it will be like shelling peas, that was the part I was more nervous about but can change a pod now in around 5-6mins.

Pleased they've advised you on your basal insulin, hopefully you won't be high and all will go well tomorrow, good luck and best wishes.

 

[Snapsy]

Loving the pea and pod analogy, @noblehead!

 

[Snapsy]

Hi @Sarahkylie88 - how did today go?