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Type 1 with Hba1c of 71 - will I be offered a pump

A

andyasw

Member
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I'm 69 and been T1 for 39 years. My diabetes has gone completely out of control despite carb counting religiously. I'm taking 32 units of Lantus twice daily and around 10 shots of Fiasp a day - my BG is sometimes so difficult to get under control and when I can manage it I have hypos.
I'm seeing the diabetic nurse next week and hoping a pump is recommended but wonder if my age of 69 will go against me?

Your thoughts?
 
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A glitch occurred during a mod action resulting in a post disappearing, unfortunately we can’t retrieve that post but can post the content of it below, please accept our apologies for this, especially to the poster in question who’s post was lost & to @andyasw who’s thread this is

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The team here like to see something they can use as a basis for suggestions: a record of times jabbed, doses and carbs eaten. They then have solid evidence on which to build a case for the best solution.

Hope they help you to regain control by one means or another.

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Again apologies,The mod team
 
From those guidelines

Adults with type 1 diabetes ​

If you’re 18 or over and have type 1 diabetes and live in England or Wales, you should be offered an insulin pump if one of the following applies, say NICE guidelines:

  • You can’t get to your target HbA1c without disabling hypos.
  • Your HbA1c remains high (69 mmol/mol - or 8.5% - or higher) despite carefully trying to manage your diabetes. 
andyasw said:
my BG is sometimes so difficult to get under control and when I can manage it I have hypos.
Click to expand...
Given the guidelines linked to by @CheeseSeaker I would make sure to stress the hypos and your current hba1c when you discuss pumps with them. (For what little it is worth, I'm in New Zealand and 64 and qualified for a pump under their system because of hypos)

Good luck
 
andyasw said:
I'm 69 and been T1 for 39 years. My diabetes has gone completely out of control despite carb counting religiously. I'm taking 32 units of Lantus twice daily and around 10 shots of Fiasp a day - my BG is sometimes so difficult to get under control and when I can manage it I have hypos.
I'm seeing the diabetic nurse next week and hoping a pump is recommended but wonder if my age of 69 will go against me?

Your thoughts?
Click to expand...

Well the reality is even if you qualify you may not get one

It seems a postcode lottery.. pumps are expensive

And the reality is also if you get a pump you may not get a cgm which has different criteria for hybrid closed loop

Without cgm you’d still be controlled manually so may only get slight hba1c improvement

Before going the pump route also consider that pumps are not fit and forget and can be considerable work

There could be other easier option to try before, for example my dad was given metformin alongside the insulin and his control has been significantly better


If you’ve done your research and you really want a pump then all you can do is ask if it’s an option

State your extreme’fear’ of hypos, concern over poor control etc

If they say we will add you to the waiting list, expect it to be long as there maybe people ‘more needing’ than you and fund are limited, trained staff is low and the nhs doesn’t have the money

The cost of running my pump is about 6k a year
 
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