insulin pump with porcine insulin

Sorry for the quick reply - just spotted this but about to go to bed.

Yes, I use Hypurin Porcine in my pump after changing from Humalog because it was making my muscles and joints ache and making me feel generally cr*p. I've had no problems with crystallisation or anything else. The only thing I noticed was that I had to increase my boluses slightly.

I found my consultant was very nervous about changing me but I persisted! I'll try to write some more tomorrow when I'm not half asleep!

Back again

I found the IDDT very helpful when I was researching swapping to porcine insulin. I don't know how to do links here but you can cop and paste this into your address bar:

http://iddt.org/about/gm-vs-animal-insulin

You'll need to move your basals as the porcine takes a bit longer to kick in than the Humalog. I started by moving mine one hour back (eg my 9pm to 10pm basal rate was moved back to 8pm tp 9pm). You'll have to see what works for you. I know some people adjust them by two hours, and some people not at all. I also needed to increase some of my basal rates very slightly. I started by moving them one hour and keeping them as they were, then increased/adjusted as necessary. I think it's best to sort your basal rates first, then go onto boluses.

My boluses to carb ratios have changed a bit, so be prepared for that. You may need to have more porcine for the same meal than you did of the Humalog. Test after meals to see how the porcine is doing. Be prepared for some highs while you're getting it all adjusted. It took me approx 3 weeks to get it properly sorted with both the basal and boluses.

The biggest change I've foubd is remembering to bolus in advance of meals. I bolus the porcine 30 mins before I eat. I was prepared to do this as I used regular human insulin when I was first diagnosed, but that was with an insulin pen. I'd got so used to using Humalog with my pump that it took more remembering that I thought it would to do the boluses of porcine in advance of meals.

I've had no problem with stacking at all (presuming you mean the doses of insulin building up and working on top of each other?). My blood sugars have actually been more stable. I found the Humalog very fierce. I also found that I had to have my blood sugar higher than I'd like after breakfast because I knew the Humalog would bring my blood sugar too low later else. But with the porcine, it doesn't do that - I can have better after meal results and they stay there instead of dropping. I'm loving that.

If you have any other questions, please ask and I'll be glad to help if I can. I think there may be other people on here who also use porcine in pumps and have probably done so for longer than me. I've obly used it a few months, but I'm very happy with it so far and I feel much better in myself

You're welcome

It sounds like your consultant is quite open-minded about using animal insulin in a pump, which is good. Many aren't as there's very little information about it and the pump companies don't recommend it as it 'hasn't been tested'. Everyone pushes analogue insulins now, but they don't suit everyone. I'd previously used regular human insulin and had used that since diagnosis, then got switched to Humalog when I got my pump (the common thinking then was only analogue insulins could/should be used in pumps). So this is the first time I've ever used animal insulin. I'm very pleased with how it's going so far.

Here's a link to a study on using animal insulin in insulin pumps:

http://www.iddt.org/wp-content/uploads/ ... pg32-6.pdf

(again, copy and paste that if I've messed up the linking)

Allow yourself plenty of time to get used to the pump and to get your basal rates and boluses right, and do lots of testing. Don't be worried if it takes time to fine tune it for you - it's worth the effort to get your blood sugars good. (Btw, my pump is a D Tron (made by Accuchek) and I'm using Hypurin Porcine Neutral too.)

Best of luck

Apologies - I've been tangled up in Xmas preparations and I've only just seen this. Sorry - I hope this reply isn't too late.

My pump is a D Tron Plus. No, I don't use a dose prediction. I don't like those - I prefer to calculate my own using a variety of factors and my own experience. Everyone's unique and I like to be in complete control of my diabetes and make all the decisions.

I don't use any duration feature either (I'm not even sure my pump has that feature) as I find that the listed durations for insulin are wrong for me and vary wildly from what's written down. I know my own body and how long my insulin lasts, so I go by that.

My last HbA1c was 5.3 so I know I'm doing things right.

My advice is to test a lot, count carbs carefully, make lots of notes at the beginning so you can look over them and see how your body's reacting (eg to exercise and certain foods), and be prepared to make gradual adjustments to your basal rates and carb ratios if necessary (Note - the 'gradual' there - take it VERY slowly and cautiously, checking with your DSN if you feel you need to). Be careful with correction boluses too. The porcine will kick in slower than an analogue insulin so give it a chance to work and don't just assume you need more insulin.

Good luck! I hope it's going well for you.

Hi

I started on the omnipod pump a couple of weeks ago using porcine neutral insulin , and I am taking a while to get the basel doses right , when I was injecting , my nightime isophane shot was twice what the morning one was as I was always high in the morning , since getting the pump I have reduced my basel overnight to less than half the daytime one yet I still get hypos nearly every night . daytime is a bit high but more stable than when I was injecting.

Would be interested in anyone else's experience in the early days and what their pattern is of how much daytime v nightime basel