Looking to see if anyone has any advice on how to get an insulin pump...i was diagnosed almost 13 years ago and I'm being told I can't get one as there is a waiting list of around 3 years (have been trying for 2 already) yet there are people who have been diagnosed only a few months ago get them right away??
Insulin pump
- Thread starter Adeydee95
- Start Date
Unfortunately, it seems to be a postcode lottery: different areas have different budget allocations for pumps so have different criteria.
My advice would be two-fold
1. Be very very clear why a pump would help you and what it would help you with. Do you get lots of hypos? Do you experience a huge liver dump at the start of the day? The main advantage of a pump is the ability to adjust the basal dose at different times of the day and to use a temporary basal. So think about how this would help you.
2. Prove you are able to handle the added complexities of a pump. A pump requires more accurate carb counting than MDI because the basal dose should follow your basal needs more closely so you have no "spare basal" to mop up any under calculations for carb counting.
I have had a pump for 18 months (after 12 years of MDI). It has significantly reduced my hypos during exercise but has requireed much more effort to achieve this. A pump is not a miracle cure.
My advice would be two-fold
1. Be very very clear why a pump would help you and what it would help you with. Do you get lots of hypos? Do you experience a huge liver dump at the start of the day? The main advantage of a pump is the ability to adjust the basal dose at different times of the day and to use a temporary basal. So think about how this would help you.
2. Prove you are able to handle the added complexities of a pump. A pump requires more accurate carb counting than MDI because the basal dose should follow your basal needs more closely so you have no "spare basal" to mop up any under calculations for carb counting.
I have had a pump for 18 months (after 12 years of MDI). It has significantly reduced my hypos during exercise but has requireed much more effort to achieve this. A pump is not a miracle cure.
catapillar
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 3,390
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Insulin
If you are being told you can't access a pump because the waiting list is too long I would strongly recommend making contact with input diabetes - http://www.inputdiabetes.org.uk - if you explain the position to them - ie your consultant agrees there is a clinical need for a pump, but you can't get one because of the waiting list, they will probably be able to help you with some advice on how to access a pump. It may be that you will need to consider getting your care transferred to another hospital where they are actually getting people onto pumps and not letting them sit on a waiting list for three years, input will be able to advice on the position in alternative hospitals pump clinics.
