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Anxiety for starting Pump

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nolanjoe92

Member
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15
Hi All , Just wondered if anyone had ever had these thoughts im sure many have .
Ive been type 1 for 6 years now and always been on an Pen injections. About 2 years ago i was due to start the omnipod but funding got pulled two weeks before my start date so never got it started.

Ive just been told now i am able t get a pump over the next few weeks/months but it may be a tubed Pump due to my insulin usage im currently taking 45 units of basal insulin each day and approx 30 units of fast so my usage is over the 200 units per 3 days for the omnipod .

Im unsure weather i should try to reduce my intake of carbs more exercise etc to try reduce the amount of insulin im taking to try and be eligible for the omnipod or to go with the flow and go with the tubed pod due to the larger resevoir .

Im very nervous about a tubed system and having an exposed tube that i could snag and been connected to a device while i sleep charging the device etc just wondered if im overthinking and what pump users think who are on tubed systems ?

if i cant have the omnipod would i be better stayin on injections, i definitely need better control of my bloods current HBA1C is mid 70's so really want to get this down but cant help feeling a bit deflated even though ive wanted a pump for years.
 
Hi @nolanjoe92
I've been on a tandem tslim (a tubed pump, New Zealand doesn't offer tubeless ones, or didn't when I got my pump) for nearly 2 years. I was actually offered it before covid, but resisted as I didn't fancy being connected all the time and tubes. I just wish I had taken up the offer earlier. I find the tubing surprisingly unannoying and it has the advantage that I can disconnect the pump whenever want. The tandem has a battery that I recharge for 5 or ten minutes a day. I think it would last 6 days without a charge if I pushed it, I certainly don't bother to take the charger for a weekend away. (But some tubed pumps use batteries.)

If you really find you can't stand the tubing you can always go back to MDI but personally if I were in your position I would take the opportunity to go on a pump, any pump. Most pumps last 4 years and then you can change to a different one if you wish?

I love not having to carry insulin pens around with me and I love waking up with normal blood sugar in the morning. (I got moved to a pump because of issues with hypos, and it has helped massively.)

They aren't a magic bullet, it does take time to learn how to get the best use out of them, but I would hate to go back to MDI.

Good luck whatever you decide. Do you know which tubed pump you would go on?
 
Like Ellie im on a tslim pump, used roche pumps before so ive been on tubed pumps for 19yrs now and can say I have caught and ripped the tubing out twice in that time, once over night ( I now sleep with a velcro band/pouch around my middle and tuck wires in ) and once when the tubing caught on a cupboard handle on a canal boat, they rip out fast and clean, less painful than ripping a plaster off!
I understand your worry, I personally would worry about knocking off a tubeless pump but that suits so many people so it is a personal choice.
I second all Ellies comments and I love my pump, my 4yrs are up at the end of this year and right now I can honestly say I wouldn't swap it for any other model because it works well for me.
Good luck, whatever you decide I'm sure you will make it work for you.
 
Thank you all really do appreciate the views from people who have experienced it first hand .
Unsure of pump model at the moment waiting for my follow up meeting to discuss the options available to me i think it might of just been having a bit of a moment , unsure why as i have been waiting for a pump for years so would expect to be happy but think it had the opposite effect on me yesterday .

Ive read alot across the forums last night and really does feel that everyone weather tubeless or tubes thinks the pumps have been life changing so i think ive just got to go with what is the best option for my health and see how i get on
 
Hi @nolanjoe92 I've been a T1D for just over 34 years now and started on a pump just over 10 years ago and HCL 15 months ago. All my pumps (Medtronic) have been tethered so I only know tubed systems and can honestly say that it's a game changer treatment-wise.
I used to be on 45 units for my Basal and 20+ units for Bolus so can understand your position regarding limited pump options. Because I'm now HCL and can eat what I want, when I want, I've managed to cut my TDD to just under 20 units a day and have a TIR of 100% most days.
TBH a tubed system does take a few weeks to get used to, regarding what to do with it when you go to bed, but you will just forget it's there eventually - I just let mine roam free in bed and I've never damaged it or even noticed if I roll over on it.
Do you know if you are going on HCL or manual mode?
 
Hi Groucho

Thank you for this it is really helpful to hear other peoples experience who have much more knowledge than me in regards to pumps.. it will be A HCL pump so really hope it can improve my time in range as currently at about 40% -50% TIR .

Think the big part for me is its a more permanent medical devise im no fan of injections or the poor control but it almost feels invisible to me wheras i think just getting my head around having a piece of equipment attached to me full time feels more permanant .

Sounds silly as diabetes is obviously permanent (unfortunately) but its like one step deeper . Im told by everyone pumps are lifechanging so really hope this is the case for me also then everything im worried about will be irrelevant
 
I wouldn't go as far as to say that using a pump is life-changing but, in my case, my current T:slim means fewer hypos during the night..
 
The thing with HCL is you've got to let the algorithm learn about you and try not to do ghost carbs to correct levels - it can be frustrating, it can also be very puzzling at times but you've just got to let it do it's thing and you'll gradually notice a difference.

I won't lie to you and say it's easy, nothing is with T1D as you'll know, but you will notice (hopefully) things getting better in a few months.

Unfortunately when I started my HCL in October 2024 I was really unwell with a very bad foot ulcer and osteomyelitis (which I've thankfully nearly fully recovered from) but I can honestly say the HCL kept my BG under control better than I ever could with pens or the pump in manual mode, probably kept me out of hospital a number of times and helped me toward recovery and avoiding any major surgery (along with the various antibiotics of course).
 
I think that depends on the algorithm. I'm on a tslim, which is dependent on you (manually) inputting the correct(ish) basal rates. So I can do manual stuff because it isn't learning from me, which has advantages and disadvantages.
 
EllieM said:
I think that depends on the algorithm. I'm on a tslim, which is dependent on you (manually) inputting the correct(ish) basal rates. So I can do manual stuff because it isn't learning from me, which has advantages and disadvantages.
Click to expand...
I'm on the Medtronic 780G which has the Smartguard algorithm which, I believe, is class as the most 'aggressive' of the algorithms at the moment.
Although I believe, from reports I've seen, the update of the Omnipod algorithm is trying to match/exceed the Medtronic algorithm on control.
In case @nolanjoe92 doesn't know - the Basal rate on the Medtronic HCL is automatic based on the algorithm learning about the user. Although you can set the Basal rate within the pump (which your DSN and pump educator would help you set based on the current Basal insulin dose) for manual mode (if Smartguard is ever exited). The Medtronic (and also Omnipod) also can do correction doses every 5 minutes.
 
 
I’ve been a T1 for 52 years and using a tubed pump for the last 19yrs. I used a Medtronic for about half that time but I’m now on my second Tandem T slim. The tubing has never bothered me. I’ve ripped it out getting it caught on a door handle three times in all those years so not really a problem. I can hide my pump and clip it in the centre of my bra or use the pouch pocket available for my leg or just on the waist band of whatever I’m wearing. I found that in bed, I clip it to the left hip of my pants. It doesn’t bother me there. It does on the right . The thing I love about a pump is that you can finely tune your basal to every single hour I need almost nothing from 11pm- 1.00am but bit by bit it creeps up to 1.2 units by 6.30am. But it stops the dawn rise. When my requirements change over time, you can see where your bg is changing and showing patterns on the graph hour by hour. So much more effective that the old way of using a pen to inject one large dose of basal to see me through 12 hours and the end time of that dose being ineffective and causing a rise in my bg. I’m always 93/94% in my target range now and after living through the 70s 80s and early 90s without the ability to get controlled and healthy, the pump is fantastic. A complete game changer. I chose tubed over non tubed because a didn’t want a permanent big lump attached to my arm. I love that the tubed is more discrete. But each to their own.
 
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