Insulin Pumps

[David Yg]

Hi, I am 72 years of age and have had type 1 diabetes since 1974 and have been very well controlled for most of those years but am now having some difficulty keeping my HbA1c in check. My current reading is 57mmol/mol (7.4%) and I am concerned this may get worse in time. I have developed other health issues such as anaemia and more recently sjogren's syndrome which interfere with my ability to perform strenuous exercise. If I qualify, I would like to consider moving to an insulin pump to help get back on track. I would like some thoughts open the options available, suitability and benefits others have experienced in their diabetes control. Also, can these be worn during exercise or swimming?
I am shortly due for a Diabetes review but would like some feedback in advance please, if possible.
Thank you.

 

[grantg]

welcome to forum, tagging a couple pump users for you. @Nicola M @EllieM

heres something which might be worth a wee read explains some of the guidelines.

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta151/resources/insulin-pump-therapy-for-diabetes-pdf-374892589

heres one criteria example from the above pdf file

HbA1c levels have remained high (8.5% or above) with multiple daily injections (including using long-acting insulin analogues if appropriate) despite the person and/or their carer carefully trying to manage their diabetes

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[Antje77]

now having some difficulty keeping my HbA1c in check. My current reading is 57mmol/mol (7.4%) and I am concerned this may get worse in time. I have developed other health issues such as anaemia

Hi @David Yg , welcome to posting on the forum.

No answer to your question, I don't use a pump, hopefully others will chip in.
Do you use a CGM so you can see time in range and predicted hba1c?

Aneamia can skew hba1c results, so they may not reflect your true blood glucose.
Worth discussing at your diabetes review. You can also ask for a fructosamine test, unlike an hba1c this is not based on red blood cells so not affected by aneamia, and the results can be converted to an hba1c.

 

[David Yg]

Thank you for replying with something I wasn’t aware of regarding HbA1c and anaemia, very interesting. I will certainly raise this at my next meeting.
I am using a Libre 2 sensor which does give me various useful results which are close to real blood glucose checks.

 

[Antje77]

I am using a Libre 2 sensor which does give me various useful results which are close to real blood glucose checks.

If your Libre gives results close to fingerpricks, the predicted hba1c would be interesting to give you an indication.
For me, predicted hba1c is always lower than labs, but my Libres tend to read lower than finger as well so that makes sense.