Insulin pump and dafne

[megsayssmile]

Anyone with an insulin pump have to do the dafne course. My doctor won't allow me to have an insulin pump till I've done this course. Please help!


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[Jackie100]

I did dafne course four years ago still want let me have a pump


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[noblehead]

Anyone with an insulin pump have to do the dafne course. My doctor won't allow me to have an insulin pump till I've done this course. Please help!

It seems to be a prerequisite that people should go on the DAFNE course before being considered for a pump.

 

[megsayssmile]

My doctor said do the dafne course and try doing your insulin that way then we can think about the pump. I've told them I want the pump no matter what but my nurse is making me do this course. If I don't they won't let me have the pump x


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[Jackie100]

Yeah that's what they said to me four years ago


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[megsayssmile]

The hospital is no help at all is it? To be honest I feel failed by the nhs as they don't help you cope with your diabetes when going through a hard time. They will be told that I will have a pump though. I really don't want this course though. What does it entail?


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[Jackie100]

The course is fine not that helpfull though . I really want a pump so sick of injections 4/5 times a day and I know I could do better with it , it's just convincing them


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[megsayssmile]

Aw, I've got a busy schedule so fitting the course in is going to be hard. I have 4/5 a day as well. My sites are a mess and it's affecting me emotionally but the hospital are turning a blind eye. They do things when it suits them. They don't look to the patient holistically. If it was up to me I would give someone the pump straight away if it's going to make their control better and if it will benefit them.

I mentioned it to my doctor and he had this look on his face of disgust. He was trying to get me to try other methods than the pump x


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[mo1905]

I agree DAFNE is time consuming and is not a guarantee of tighter control but I also agree it should be completed prior to being considered for a pump. Giving pumps out without education and training is not really the answer. It's difficult enough now getting funding and I'm sure it will get worse but attending the course at least let's your consultant know that you are prepared to make a bit of a sacrifice in order to achieve better results. Agreed, course attendance still doesn't mean you'll get funding but it's a start.


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[Jackie100]

To be honest yes it is good to do the course first so your prepared . But sometimes they don't understand what we go through everyday as nine times out of ten they are not diabetic and yes me too I have needle sites everywhere and looks a mess as you say and it's just getting me down x


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[iHs]

Insulin pumps are great when the settings are correct to give good bg levels but when the settings are no longer correct and bg levels start to change, that's when worry sets in and frustration, and the need to adjust the settings through hourly bg testing once again to stabilise. If you havent done so already, do buy a copy of Pumping Insulin by John Walsh and then you'll see that there's more to using a pump than you thought. You have definately got to take comtrol of bg levels seriously

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[megsayssmile]

I have to arrange to do the course but its very hard when you have to go to college and placement every week. My stomach is a mess and I'm very self conscious about it. I always wear long tops to hide the marks as I've had people stare and laugh. My doctor and nurse don't understand what us diabetics go through on a daily basis. They only really know what the textbooks tell them. I know I have to do the course but I'd love a way to get educated other than do 9-5 for 5 days. They just don't listen to patients needs and worries.

I was there last week and my bloods are really high and I can't control them at the moment. (20-25 type of bad) My doctor said aw they are good. They seem not interested in my diabetes. More getting my appointment done with x


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[noblehead]

There is an on-line carb counting course similar to DAFNE which will give you a head start:

http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/

 

[michaeldavid]

I only inject in my stomach area when I want a fast response.

I've been injecting for 31 years, mostly either in my buttocks or skinny thighs, and I have no significant markings at all. (This is a feature of my prejudice: I wonder if pen-injectors could be to blame - I find them to obscure the injection site; I only ever use disposable syringes.)

If I were somehow magicked back 31 years, and with my diabetes know-how I returned to the work I returned to soon after first being diagnosed, then I swear I could work as a motorcycle messenger AND control my blood sugar as I do now.

I tested my blood sugar frequently then, just as I do now. (I mostly use visually read testing strips now, just as I did then.) And I ate frequently then, just as I do now.

But it's what I eat now that makes the big difference. I could not safely achieve typical HbA1c readings of 27mmol/mol (a non-diabetic normal) if I ate what most people eat, and if I ate in the way that most people eat - most diabetics included, if DAFNE and the likes of this forum are anything to go by.

I don't need DAFNE, and I don't need a pump.

And I don't need to 'count carbs' either.

 

[megsayssmile]

I've been searching loads but my results are pretty much inconclusive. It's only really in the last 6 months that everything has gone pear shaped. My injection sites on my stomach bleed loads and severely lump. I've been diabetic 10 years now and everything's getting on top of me. Then to top it off the lack of support I'm getting of the diabetes team doesn't help.

I mentioned the pump when I went to clinic last and they seemed very against the idea. However, they have to look to the needs of the patient and it's definitely what I need. They told me about the dafne course but not actually told me what it entailed. We've rang them up and still no info on it x


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[iHs]

Megsayssmile

If yr tummy is lumpy etc then you need to inject the bolus elsewhere like arms or legs. Put plenty of bio oil on tummy and dont inject there for a long time.

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[megsayssmile]

Ahh thanks, I've tried arms and legs but I'm too skinny and I bruise and bleed like mad. There's just no winning!x


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[donnellysdogs]

I'm skinny and muscly too. I only use both bum cheeks rotating on a 4 weekly cycle.

I do not have any lumps at all and have used these places for 99% of the 30 years of injections/cannulas.

I rarely get a bleed that I do with legs, arms and stomach.

I did not do a dafne course to get my pump as I provided the most detailed log book of my food, bloods etc possible that far exceeded the proof that the hospital needed that I had done everything I could to manage my bloods.


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[megsayssmile]

Ahhh okay that sounds like a good idea actually x


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[donnellysdogs]

My bum has the most fat. Everywhere else is just muscle. Sets in my stomach bleed, painful or occlude or all 3 and I rarely get any get levels with my stomach.
The only place on my bum that I can't use is too near my hip bone on the sides as I can't lie on that side as It will be painful.


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