Getting to grips with my 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.️

Yes, I mean I immediately appreciated the obvious things like fine tuning of basal rates, TBR, and setting different bolus ratios. I particularly love being able to bolus in fractions of a unit, for example, on the advice of the Wiz. And super-boluses are just, well, super. But I keep finding new features, or finally mastering their use in respect to my own needs.
My next plan is to really master optimal use for both anaerobic and aerobic exercise. I'm pretty good on the latter, but I want to do more of the former without too many peaks - without ANY peaks, in fact.

Congratulations! I'll be keeping close eye on your progress with varying rates before during and after sport! I'm sure most things will come easy to you because of all your sugar surfing with MDI. Don't you just love boluses in fractions of units, though? They're the biz! I wonder how I managed all those years without them.

tigger said:

I got a pump in July due to pregnancy and will keep using it until I have breast feeding established (around Feb/March) but then I will take a break. While there are great advantages in terms of control, I find the unreliability and often pain of canulas, never knowing whether my blood sugars are rising or dropping due to usual reasons of which there are enough to pick from or pump problems incredibly stressful. I also really dislike having it attached to me. I have used all the features you mention above and particularly find the bg recording mechanism good. But they don't outweigh the canula issues and the fear of ketoacidosis in the middle of the night.

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Sorry you haven't had such a good experience. So far I've been really lucky on the canula front. I only have problems if I actually yank on the tubing by accident, and sometimes not even then.

I do think starting with a pump while you are pregnant must have been very, very hard work. I would guess that once you've finished breastfeeding, it would be much, much easier.

Ha ha! Another convert! I find my pump so rewarding. I know people say they are more work, but I found MDI was hard work with no pay-off, just constant frustration. With the pump my insulin "does what it says on the tin". Which reminds me, time to change my set.

I only feel sad that I didn't wait a while and get a PINK one! They only had grey in stock and I thought, "Well, good, it'll be unobtrusive. But I regularly yank my jumper up to show my pump clipped on my waistband now. People say, "Oh, you've got diabetes?" And I go (jumper yank), "Yes, here's my pump!" I'm at risk of becoming everybody's mad auntie!