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Expectations of pump

nikkid

Well-Known Member
Messages
139
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi guys,
Starting on my pump in the next couple of weeks and have been reading various books and this forum to ensure I am as clued up as possible for my start date. I am comfortable with MDI and my carb counting etc currently and have reasonable control (hbA1c 7.2). I'm just wondering how you all found the pump at first with regards to control/tweaking basals etc? I have a week off work when I start in order to concentrate on my pump but will then be going back to working a busy/stressful environment where my insulin requirements are very different. Basically I don't want to have unrealistic expectations RE how quickly I will gain a reasonable level of control. How long did you all find it took to get reasonably to grips with levels etc? I don't want to be expecting miracles and then be disheartened!!
On another note I will be given a months CGM trial from my hosp and then have the option to self fund CGM after this. My DSN recommends that I wait until I've got to grips with the pump first before adding in CGM but I would think that a CGM would help me to understand how the pump is affecting me and enable basal/bolus changes more quickly?
Any advice greatly received!
 
Tricky one about the CGM. It will be very useful for fine tuning the pump. But I think the DSN is right, you should master the pump first, particularly as you don't have the CGM permanently, so you need to know how to totally manage the pump without a CGM. I switch beteeen using the CGM and not, for cost reasons, and I have to mentally adjust and remember how to run the pump using fingerprick testing alone.

Maybe get the CGM in the 3rd month of pumping? That's about the time I would guess you have the basics down and are looking for some fine tuning.

For me the first month was about the logistics of getting the pump in out on off etc, then after that the focus was more just on levels and rates and testing, and learning to watch out for gotchas (set failures etc). It was probably 6 months before it stopped being a full time learning exercise. And it always takes some thought, every day, and there is always some new thing to learn or think about (7 months now).
 
I agree with Spiker re timings of adding in a CGM, it is vital to be able to manage a pump with blood glucose tests first. I changed from a Roche to a Medtronic pump about 4 years back and both the DSN and Medtronic rep told me to go away and get used to the Medtronic pump for 3 months before starting to use CGM.

Although a nice idea in principle, I think it would be quite a tall order to start pump use and CGM together. You would probably get better benefit from the CGM to iron out any problems once you have established your basal profile.

When I first started, I found it very different rather than either a miracle or disheartening, bits of my control were worse and needed adjusting, other parts -especially through the night -were quickly much better than on basal/bolus.

I wish you well with starting your pump.
 
Thanks for the advice- always good to see what the experts think!
I'm currently trying to equip myself with as much info as possible before I start. My main concern is still going back to work when everything is still very new.....a chat with my employer is definitely on the cards too.
Thanks for the well wishes also
 
I disagree actually and self funded my CGM from the get go. I was concerned about lows from the pump living on my own and it put my mind completely at ease. It was also fantastic to 'show' people how I was doing.
 
Engineer88 said:
I disagree actually and self funded my CGM from the get go. I was concerned about lows from the pump living on my own and it put my mind completely at ease. It was also fantastic to 'show' people how I was doing.
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Eng I see where you are coming from but I think that works only for people like yourself who are committed to fund their pump full time indefinitely.

But, kudos to you for doing it!
 
Spiker said:
Eng I see where you are coming from but I think that works only for people like yourself who are committed to fund their pump full time indefinitely.

But, kudos to you for doing it!
Click to expand...

Its what I needed to do and It made life so much easier! each to their own though.
 

Hi there,
I just started the Medtronic pump last week - I have quite a challenging/stressful role too and work away from home - I was only able to take one day off work to get started on the pump and was quite nervous with this situation, but so far seems fine! There is definitely some fine tuning to my basal to go, I think it may take a month or so to review all the patterns/fine tune it! I'm not up to speed on the CGM as yet;-) good luck to you!
 
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