Re: Anyone used a Abbot Insulix or the Roche Expert testing
Bob- it hasn't been (and still isn't) all plain sailing & I am lucky to have a very pro-pump team. (Not that I used to think that, but I covered that in my last post). I have just changed from an old basic pump (Accu Check Spirit) to a swish new one with CGM (Paradigm Veo). Unfortunately I wasn't able to get CGM funding, but I felt happy enough that they'd agreed to upgrade my pump to a more flexible one before it was due for replacement, so am funding CGM myself for now (but I can't afford it for too long).
Many people on this forum have posted re pump funding and I understand that your clinic cannot limit the number of pumps that they fund per year. If you meet the criteria for pump funding, then they should give it to you. Of course it's easier said than done, but others on here have suggested contacting Diabetes UK or INPUT for advice on how to get funding when you meet the criteria and the bean-counters are blocking it.
No matter how many BG tests I did a day I was never able to establish a pattern for my hypos and, like you, could eat the same meal at the same time in the same circumstances and be high one day, low the next. It is so frustrating. With the pump, even after 2 1/2 years, I am still basal tesing (skipping meals, lots of them) to fine tune that, so that I can establish that it's my insulin/carb ratio & other factors (exercise etc.) that are having an influence.
I don't fit into any "mould". According to the HCPs: my basal/bolus ratio is wrong (the suggested ratio of around 50/50 would send me hypo all the time, mine is more like 30/70); I have too little insulin overall for my weight (less than 0.5u/kg), well I'm hypo half the time anyway, so any more won't help. etc. etc. The trouble with so many of these HCPs is that they have nice neat averages & woe betide anyone who doesn't sit within their 'normal' range.
Luckily for me, I have never (in 18 years) gone unconscious from a hypo (down to the mid 1s too), but it still takes it's toll.
Keep pushing for the pump. Consider finding out if there is a specialist pump clinic in your area, here is a link to INPUT's list (though my pump clinic at James Cook University Hospital (JCUH) in Middlesbrough isn't on it & they have over 100 patients on pumps!)
http://www.input.me.uk/alt-insulin-pumps/pump-clinics/
You have the right to be treated at a hospital of your choice. I am not in the South Tees PCT area which covers JCUH, but when I moved to a nearby area from London, I immediately asked my GP to be referred to JCUH as my previous consultant in London had told me that the head of diabetes there was very good. They cannot turn you down, so get referred to a pro-pump clinic, even if it means travelling a bit to get there, it's only a couple of times a year after you've been set up.
The NHS website says this about choosing your hospital:
If you need to go to hospital to see a specialist, you have the right to choose which hospital you're referred to by your GP. This legal right, which was introduced in April 2009, lets you choose from any hospital offering a suitable treatment that meets NHS standards and costs.
Don't be deterred. Pump therapy is not for everybody, but I have been converted & I used to be able to think of soooo many reasons why it wasn't for me. I can still wear dresses, though with a name like Bob, that probably doesn't matter to you :lol: I water-ski, wind-surf, swim, cycle & do gym stuff, it's not the big difficulty that I thought it would be with my lifestyle.
Good Luck.
