- Messages
- 1,158
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Pump
I got my pump about 9 months ago. I hesitated for years before getting it. I had all those doubts about being attached to something, whether it would be worth it (I'm not in the UK so I had to pay for it myself), etc, etc. I finally plumped for it after months and months of trying to control my diabetes on MDI and failing. The next option was 5 injections a day (minimum, because I was as Tim2000s puts it a "sugar surfer") so I plumped for one.
Then I did tons of googling (actually I did a bit before buying it, of course) and found this forum, plus a few more sites. One of them was run by an Australian nurse who took paying clients for pump training. One of the things she said on her website really struck me. She said about 70% of pump users give up on them in the first year. She said she believed that this was because pump users don't use all the features of the pump, so they don't get all the benefits.
I believe that she's probably right. I have had my pump for nine months, and only in the last month have I finally cracked the use of extended boluses. Until this month I never cared extend a bolus more than about half an hour. This month, it finally dawned on me (thanks to Tim2000s talking about it in another thread) that the odd random spikes I was getting around midnight were due to high protein and/or high fat meals causing a late spike. I could stop that spike by using a FOUR-hour extended bolus (being less of a scaredy-cat, in other words).
Score 1, the pump.
The other thing I found this month was that I can, of course, record my AFTER meal blood sugars on my pump. Just use the bolus wizard but stop before administering any insulin (anyway, it usually suggests 0.0). This means the pump keeps better records for my consultant (and me). Not necessary to cross-check with my blood sugar meter.
Score 2, the pump.
While discovering the pump's memory capacities, I also realized that if I page down at that point in the bolus wizard (I.e. When it's recommending that post-meal 0.0 units), it also tells me explicitly exactly how much active insulin is in my system. I mean I knew the great "wizard" knew that. I just hadn't realized how to find that info before. I thought the Wiz was keeping it "under his cap."
Oh, big score 3 for the pump.
It's so great. Today, before I left the house for my daily walk, I could check how much IOB I had and predict how many carbs I would need much more accurately than ever before.
I'm in love with the Wizard.️
Then I did tons of googling (actually I did a bit before buying it, of course) and found this forum, plus a few more sites. One of them was run by an Australian nurse who took paying clients for pump training. One of the things she said on her website really struck me. She said about 70% of pump users give up on them in the first year. She said she believed that this was because pump users don't use all the features of the pump, so they don't get all the benefits.
I believe that she's probably right. I have had my pump for nine months, and only in the last month have I finally cracked the use of extended boluses. Until this month I never cared extend a bolus more than about half an hour. This month, it finally dawned on me (thanks to Tim2000s talking about it in another thread) that the odd random spikes I was getting around midnight were due to high protein and/or high fat meals causing a late spike. I could stop that spike by using a FOUR-hour extended bolus (being less of a scaredy-cat, in other words).
Score 1, the pump.
The other thing I found this month was that I can, of course, record my AFTER meal blood sugars on my pump. Just use the bolus wizard but stop before administering any insulin (anyway, it usually suggests 0.0). This means the pump keeps better records for my consultant (and me). Not necessary to cross-check with my blood sugar meter.
Score 2, the pump.
While discovering the pump's memory capacities, I also realized that if I page down at that point in the bolus wizard (I.e. When it's recommending that post-meal 0.0 units), it also tells me explicitly exactly how much active insulin is in my system. I mean I knew the great "wizard" knew that. I just hadn't realized how to find that info before. I thought the Wiz was keeping it "under his cap."
Oh, big score 3 for the pump.
It's so great. Today, before I left the house for my daily walk, I could check how much IOB I had and predict how many carbs I would need much more accurately than ever before.
I'm in love with the Wizard.️