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insulin pump
- Thread starter jayne26
- Start Date
mariposa84
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 127
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
Thank you both and thanks for the pm. I have a appointment to see my gp on thursday so fingers crossed x
Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
Hi 
I saw your post about pumps and think I may be able to help. I'm 18 but got diabetes when I was 4. I spent 7 years on insulin injections and then went onto a pump.
There are all different kinds of pumps out there and you really need to do your research. I have found the pump to be great especially when I go out as I was getting very embarrassed when I went out and had to inject. It has also made my control better.
The basics to the pump are you bolus so that's like when you take an injection. But instead of working out how much you have to inject for example if your ration is 1 to 10 and your carbs are 80 so you put in 8 units the pump works that out for you. You enter in your ratios in the settings and then you only have to enter in the carbs. It also adds on any extra insulin if you need to correct for high sugars. So that's pretty simple and very handy because it's less maths!
The more complicated thing is your basal. At the moment I'm assuming you're having an injection over night that is slow acting. Well instead of that one feature on the pump is that it drips in insulin all day similar to what a pancreas does but your basal can take years to get right (mine still isn't perfect) because on the pump you can have a different basal every 5 mins so you need to find out when you're going high and need more insulin or when you're going low and need less. For example over night in hypo a lot so have a low basal.
I would say there are many advantages to the pump however it's still hard work and it's very easy to become complacent. Also you will need your basics from using injections as you still need them skills so although a year might feel a long time to have type 1 it's not! So it might be worth waiting a bit longer and getting some more confidence because like any technology you can't reply on it and the pump can go wrong so you need to know how to use your injections well and how to carb count etc.
I hope this has helped and I'd be more than happy to answer any questions. I run sessions at my diabetic clinic for people who are going or have recently been put on pumps as I have a good amount of experience with it
Ciara
I saw your post about pumps and think I may be able to help. I'm 18 but got diabetes when I was 4. I spent 7 years on insulin injections and then went onto a pump.
There are all different kinds of pumps out there and you really need to do your research. I have found the pump to be great especially when I go out as I was getting very embarrassed when I went out and had to inject. It has also made my control better.
The basics to the pump are you bolus so that's like when you take an injection. But instead of working out how much you have to inject for example if your ration is 1 to 10 and your carbs are 80 so you put in 8 units the pump works that out for you. You enter in your ratios in the settings and then you only have to enter in the carbs. It also adds on any extra insulin if you need to correct for high sugars. So that's pretty simple and very handy because it's less maths!
The more complicated thing is your basal. At the moment I'm assuming you're having an injection over night that is slow acting. Well instead of that one feature on the pump is that it drips in insulin all day similar to what a pancreas does but your basal can take years to get right (mine still isn't perfect) because on the pump you can have a different basal every 5 mins so you need to find out when you're going high and need more insulin or when you're going low and need less. For example over night in hypo a lot so have a low basal.
I would say there are many advantages to the pump however it's still hard work and it's very easy to become complacent. Also you will need your basics from using injections as you still need them skills so although a year might feel a long time to have type 1 it's not! So it might be worth waiting a bit longer and getting some more confidence because like any technology you can't reply on it and the pump can go wrong so you need to know how to use your injections well and how to carb count etc.
I hope this has helped and I'd be more than happy to answer any questions. I run sessions at my diabetic clinic for people who are going or have recently been put on pumps as I have a good amount of experience with it
Ciara
