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Pump Therapy nearly 2 weeks on

rockape37

rockape37

Well-Known Member
Messages
351
Location
Kettering, Northamptonshire
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
Over the top political correctness
Well I have been using an Insulin Pump now for 2 weeks (tomorrow) and have to say I wish I had started this years ago.
Initially like everyone else I dare say I started on Saline so it was a bit of a pain having to go through the motions twice meaning using Insulin pens.

My first day I hypo'd about 4 times and I can put this down to the Basal being way way too high. This was all set up by the Medtronic Rep in the presence of my health care professional and the settings were all based on the info which I gave him and his computer programme which generated the settings apparently suited to me.

I have slowly reduced my basal and like to think that todays adjustment might be somewhere near to the mark. Of course I have the Insulin/Carb Ratios to adjust but before that I will conduct some Basal testing.

It is a new ball game for me and I have to say that I am enjoying it and yes I do realise that once I have set it up It is not the end.
It will be a "Test and Adjust therapy" as much as Pump Therapy and to make things a little tricky I work shifts and 12 hrs at that.

I was advised to go with pump therapy as I couldn't get my BG into target after my evening meal and despite a correction before going to bed I would wake with a similar or higher BG than before the correction. Since being on the pump this very short time this problem has vanished, I'm Happy as a Pig in .... as they say.

I have always kept good records regarding my BG's and Insulin dosages but now I have a lot more to record, and I have had to make better record sheets as the record book supplied with my pump is far to small for me, all I see is a pile of numbers that I can make nothing of. So I have made myself a larger version and adapted it for my shift pattern A4 size using excel, perfect, well sort of.

Well enough of my ramblings, you've heard it all before and will no doubt hear it all again.

Regards

Martin
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Great post Martin and so pleased it's all going well :)

rockape37 said:
Initially like everyone else I dare say I started on Saline
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I went straight on insulin and don't recall the Saline ever been a option, but I'm pleased I did.
 
noblehead said:
I went straight on insulin and don't recall the Saline ever been a option, but I'm pleased I did.
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Seems like many hospitals have changed the rules and insist on Saline. They wouldn't let me leave the hospital with insulin in the pump. 30 mins after leaving I'd swapped it out for insulin....
 
Saline wasn't on the table for me - I'd read about it on here, so I asked whether that would be the case when I started on my pump, and was told by my DSN that they didn't do that at my diabetes centre. To be honest I was really pleased not to have to be doing everything twice - pump and pens at the same time. Felt fortunate to be able to start on the juice straight away.
 
tim2000s said:
Seems like many hospitals have changed the rules and insist on Saline. They wouldn't let me leave the hospital with insulin in the pump. 30 mins after leaving I'd swapped it out for insulin....
Click to expand...

As said it was never a consideration, but I can certainly see the merits of being given the choice if someone is anxious about using their pump with insulin for the first few days.
 
Snapsy said:
LOL @tim2000s - we wouldn't expect anything else!!
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I sat in the session going "Can I start on insulin please?" and was told no, because they treated everyone the same. Basically they have had a lot of people with attachment issues so want a week on saline.

I said I'd swap it as soon as I was out and was told that what I wanted to do away from the hospital was entirely up to me.


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I started the omnipod on saline yesterday. Gotta have it for a week before starting insulin next Tuesday. Hopefully I have the same success as you!
 
When I attended the clinic for the 3 and half hour training session I told them that on the day that I come for the Hour and a half session to switch over to insulin that I also had a biopsy that afternoon under GA, they said bad idea have the biopsy and come back a week later to change over to insulin. As it turned out my biopsy was cancelled just over an hour before it was due which annoyed me somewhat.

So I had 2 weeks using the pump with saline and as mentioned above it was a pain going through the motions with both pump and pen.

While I was waiting for approval for pump funding I read through some of the pump manuals hoping that I would get the Insight or mini med , well I got the MiniMed 640g which I am happy with so far.

Can't understand why the NHS willingly pay the price for the batteries though! I was shocked to see that a pack of 4 energiser batteries cost £10 of course I could buy them myself for a third of the price but I have to watch my expenditure.

Generally the price of the consumables are expensive to say the least, it leads me to believe that the NHS just shells out the cash with little thought. I may be wrong but if these consumables were a bit cheaper then possibly others that need to go onto pump therapy that aren't may have a better chance of doing so. I have to say that I am truly gratefull to be on the pump I really am.

Regards

Martin
 
I was straight onto insulin too, i think its the best plan of action really but then again maybe not for some
 
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