Thinking about the pump option as a T1

[mrtn.pllr]

Hi everyone!
I'm a new member of the T1 club. I have always been an undisciplined, hedonic guy. No routine what so ever, no sleeping schedule. I was fine with it. Okay, it's work day, I have to wake up early, fine, but when it's friday night, I want to go to bed late, and I will sleep in during saturdays. Now guess what, I have to wake up every morning, just to FORCE eat (never really had breakfast before, I was never hungry in the mornings), I have to eat 6 times a day, so when I'm not checking my blood sugar, I have to eat. It's getting pretty tiring, I can't imagine living my life like this. It seems like a prison. I guess it's easier for the Disciplined Davids and the Collected Claras, but I'm a Hedonist Herold. So my doctor said something like "the pumpers can wake up anytime, they can eat whenever they are hungry". How is your life with the pump? Is it more convinient?

 

[Diakat]

I’m on MDI and eat when I want (unless a sneaky hypo has me) and frequently lie in (unless the family get me).
Why so strict?

 

[Antje77]

I have to wake up every morning, just to FORCE eat (never really had breakfast before, I was never hungry in the mornings), I have to eat 6 times a day

Hi @mrtn.pllr , may I ask what kind of insulin(s) you are on?
The set eating times and need for snacks are usually only necessary on a mixed insulin. On a basal/bolus regime (long acting once or twice a day to keep you stable without food, short acting for meals and corrections), which almost all T1's (who are not on a pump) use, you try to find the correct basal dose by seeing what your bg does without food. If your basal is about right, you can use your bolus to inject when you want to eat something, no set times or amount of meals at all.

I don't use a pump, but the general idea is the same. It gives you a slow drip of insulin trough the day to act as basal, and you tell it to give you extra when you're eating.

 

[db89]

Hi, I'm not disciplined enough to fit in the category with my namesakes but I have continued the sleeping pattern I've had most of my life on MDI with minor adjustments. I am an extreme night owl and on weekend days I am up momentarily at 7:30 for one of my Levemir doses then back to enjoy my lie in before I know it. Breakfast is brunch on these days (if I'm hungry enough to want it).

Edit: Speeling

 

[Robinredbreast]

Hi I am on MDI as well, 30 years now. I normally eat 3 meals a day and I have never snacked on food, only if I hypo.

 

[Jaylee]

Hi everyone!
I'm a new member of the T1 club. I have always been an undisciplined, hedonic guy. No routine what so ever, no sleeping schedule. I was fine with it. Okay, it's work day, I have to wake up early, fine, but when it's friday night, I want to go to bed late, and I will sleep in during saturdays. Now guess what, I have to wake up every morning, just to FORCE eat (never really had breakfast before, I was never hungry in the mornings), I have to eat 6 times a day, so when I'm not checking my blood sugar, I have to eat. It's getting pretty tiring, I can't imagine living my life like this. It seems like a prison. I guess it's easier for the Disciplined Davids and the Collected Claras, but I'm a Hedonist Herold. So my doctor said something like "the pumpers can wake up anytime, they can eat whenever they are hungry". How is your life with the pump? Is it more convinient?

Hi,

Lol, slow down "Harrold." I'm one too? Not lost an eye yet.!

Fixed dosage for you now is most likely a pain.. I would agree if yer that way inclined with the R&R lifestyle?
I was fed up as a kid with the "time to eat, time to snack."
Lol, you may feel you want to raid a supermarket if you drop low? That's another "discipline" all together..

But guess what?! I don't do breakfast first thang, love the late one's.. Spent 16 years touring with a Euro metal band keeping some strange hours. Then back to the "day job."
Been in studios recording all hours.. & handled it on "MDI" (multiple daily injections.) Basal/boluses regime..

Yes, granted. One does need to get to grips how the insulin works in compliment with diet & activity.

But to quote a cult TV series; "I am not a prisoner. I am a free man!"

 

[MeiChanski]

Hello I’m not on a pump yet but before I had a job, I was sleeping late, eating late and doing things when people are suppose to be sleeping and I’ve survived. I don’t know what insulin regimen you are on but basal/bolus has given me a lot of flexibility compared to mixed insulin regimen. Sometimes I skip meals and my background insulin keeps me stable until my next meal.

If you are thinking about a pump, I heard it makes things even more flexible but it requires more work and attention to get settings right. It’s not stick on and go and sometimes it goes wrong and you have to revert back to MDI.

 

[Jaylee]

@mrtn.pllr ,

I feel your doctor has an oversimplified view on what a pump (or any insulin regime) can do?
But then whilst i was injecting at work, (on a break. Yep I'm that brazen..) It was once mentioned by a non D colleague in "good faith" that "there is a device that can do it all for me.. He concluded that it was a "Libre" BG sensor... Lol, which I already use.

I was in a band for a couple of years with a pumping bass player (Omnipod.) who had issues & struggled..

For balance on this topic I will tag in @porl69 , @LooperCat & @Juicyj

I appreciate that at at this very early stage since diagnosis, one may be "swatting up" on the subject & searching for a "bargaining chip."

Forget about the "perfected Claras." Find what works your new health status, for you. We come here to discuss & exchange experienceses. It's up to the individual to find a bespoke "way.."

Talk to us by all means. We are always open..

 

[Marie 2]

There will no reason to have to eat or snack at regular times unless you have misjudged something and have a hypo you have to treat.

I think the problem might be you are a new type 1, at the beginning you can still be making some insulin and at some point you stop. But it's makes dosing harder to figure out. And at the beginning they have a tendency to put you on set amounts until they can figure out what doses work for you. It can be a steep learning at the beginning to, so they try to ease you into it. Or if you are on a mixed insulin then you get tied to a routine.

But the best way is to have a basal insulin and a bolus insulin. You need to have a basic basal dose level figured out. This is a slow acting insulin that will last 12 or 24 hours and has nothing to do with eating. It makes up for the glucose your liver puts out all day. Feasibly if you don't eat the BG number you wake up with would be the BG number you go to bed with. Then you need a bolus insulin and what needs to happen is you need to learn to carb count and dose for the carbs you eat. That one will vary by what you eat.

A pump is great but a pump doesn't solve these issues, you still have to learn to carb count and know a basal and bolus dose levels.

I never eat breakfast, sometimes I eat once a day, sometimes twice a day with snacks.......It just depends what I feel like eating!

 

[Helen46]

I have been on a pump for 10 years or so and it certainly is not a set and forget, but if you pay a lot of attention and understand the limitations of the pump (and become a serious carb counter) you will be able to live with it, despite the irregularities of your lifestyle. I believe it is something you have to work out yourself it is not a good option seeing a specialist every so often and having them change settings. You have got to "own" it and really get to "know" it. Help is available on sites like this but it is still very idiosyncratic. All the best, Helen

 

[mrtn.pllr]

Well it really seems this is like everyting else in life. It has it's upsides and downsides. Maybe I'm not experienced enough to think about this kind of options. I hope that in the future there will be even more sophisticated ways to treat diabetes. I heared something about artificail pancreas, and new methods to check BG, like without piercing one's skin. The future seems exciting nonetheless.

 

[Diakat]

Some members are already closed looping. Lots use Libre and Dexcom for monitoring levels.
The trick is developing the skills to use the information delivered.

 

[Marie 2]

They are working on new ways to test, like eye fluid. But those are probably a few years away. The thing that makes life easier is to try to get a Libre. You wear it for 14 days and can just do a scan and get a blood sugar reading. You still have to do some finger sticks to check your levels, but not nearly as many.

 

[porl69]

Hi @mrtn.pllr it looks to me like you are on a mixed insulin? 2 injections a day perhaps? In that case you need to be eating at certain times of the day, sort of military fashion so to say. I take it you are recently diagnosed?
As Jaylee has said, your Dr is over simplifying the pump. It is a lot of work, worthwhile BUT a lot of work. When I was on MDI (Multiple Daily Injections) I would often miss breakfast out completely. MDI does give you a lot more freedom to choose when you eat and of course what you eat

 

[mrtn.pllr]

Hi @mrtn.pllr it looks to me like you are on a mixed insulin? 2 injections a day perhaps? In that case you need to be eating at certain times of the day, sort of military fashion so to say. I take it you are recently diagnosed?
As Jaylee has said, your Dr is over simplifying the pump. It is a lot of work, worthwhile BUT a lot of work. When I was on MDI (Multiple Daily Injections) I would often miss breakfast out completely. MDI does give you a lot more freedom to choose when you eat and of course what you eat

Yes, I'm need 3 shots before the "big" meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and one basal before bed. So 4 shots a day, and I was told I have to eat at the same time everyday. I have so many questions, I feel like I don't know anything

 

[Rokaab]

Yes, I'm need 3 shots before the "big" meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and one basal before bed. So 4 shots a day, and I was told I have to eat at the same time everyday. I have so many questions, I feel like I don't know anything

Once you get to carb counting and adjusting your insulin dependent on what you're eating and doing, you'll be able to eat whatever you like, whenever you like and as frequently (or infrequently) as you want, and do almost anything a non-diabetic would do (ok you probably cant be an astronaut), though it can take time to work these things out.
When newly diagnosed it can be tricky working things out for a few different reasons - one being its all so new and confusing and secondly because your pancreas may still be producing insulin at random times and random amounts so it can be tricky to deal with whilst that is going on (or so I've read - I have no memory of when I was diagnosed - long time ago and I was very young)

 

[porl69]

Yes, I'm need 3 shots before the "big" meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and one basal before bed. So 4 shots a day, and I was told I have to eat at the same time everyday. I have so many questions, I feel like I don't know anything

We all started this very long journey not knowing anything. With time things will become clearer, trust me
It seems like you are on a basal/bolus regime all ready.....as Rokaab has said carb counting will be next and then adjusting your insulin to the cabs.

 

[LooperCat]

Afternoon! What insulins do they have you on, and what doses? I’ve gone very quickly from injections (19 years on those) to a pump, and after 11 months on that I’ve built an artificial pancreas system with it. I’ve been using that since July. And I’ve never eaten breakfast. As you get used to it, learn more about carb counting, and always carry your hypo kit, you’ll be able to regain the flexibility (if not all the spontaneity!) you used to enjoy. We can do anything we want, we just need to plan a bit.

 

[Gary61]

I am a Type 1 and injected for 38years. Since going onto a pump I have never looked back. I am currently on the Medtronic 670g pump and it allows me to basically have the freedom to eat when I want. I have started writing a blog on my experiences with this pump at https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog/gary61.146959/. Perhaps that might give you an insight on what it's capable of providing you.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Hi everyone!
I'm a new member of the T1 club. I have always been an undisciplined, hedonic guy. No routine what so ever, no sleeping schedule. I was fine with it. Okay, it's work day, I have to wake up early, fine, but when it's friday night, I want to go to bed late, and I will sleep in during saturdays. Now guess what, I have to wake up every morning, just to FORCE eat (never really had breakfast before, I was never hungry in the mornings), I have to eat 6 times a day, so when I'm not checking my blood sugar, I have to eat. It's getting pretty tiring, I can't imagine living my life like this. It seems like a prison. I guess it's easier for the Disciplined Davids and the Collected Claras, but I'm a Hedonist Herold. So my doctor said something like "the pumpers can wake up anytime, they can eat whenever they are hungry". How is your life with the pump? Is it more convinient?

I have a pump and it helps get tbe basal rate right because of the hourly dosing however on MDI I don't see why you can't get the basal right and then skip breakfast and snacks unless you need to correct a hypo?
The pump could help with a weekend versus weekday routine. I have different basal regimes set up for illness, PMT etc!
What really helps me is not eating carbs or keeping them below 30g per meal so that I don't make dosing errors so easily.
You can be hedonistic and virtuous when eating cheese, cream, steak, red wine and dark chocolate after all and I'd rather skip carbs if I have to live life looking at labels and guestimating my doses only to get a hypo just when I don't want one (middle of the night etc.).