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newby to site - need advice on pumps

D

Dr. Nic

Active Member
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Hi

My Husband has type 1 diabetes and is entering his 30's. He's been injected since the age of ten and now having more days where he can't control his blood sugar with insulin. We've been thinking about getting him an insulin pump. I doubt that we'd qualify for one on the NHS, so we thought of buying on.

Has anyone got a really disgrete one?!

My husband has many worries about going on to a pump...
-he's worried that he won't feel "as normal"! He already doesn't feel completely normal, so he thinks he'll feel worse!
-he travels abroad with work alot and doesn't like the idea of showing all the guards at airports and his work collegue his pump attached.
-he doesn't like the idea of having a pump hanging from his body, which might get in the way alot.
We're both runners and thats one of the problems, running 20 miles is making his blood sugar high after runs and for the next few days.

Does any one have any advise for him?
I really want him to go onto a pump as I know it will control his glucose better and hopefully keep him well for longer; but he's taking alot of convincing!!

Any advise welcome. Cheers, Nic.
 
I have a pump, a medtronic paradigm . Its about the size of a pager and to most people probably looks like one, it clips on a waistband, in a pocket etc, I think that most of the pumps are much of a muchness sizewise. I've only had one journey through airports with it but had no problem, certainly no more than having to tell security that you have lancets and needles in you hand luggage.
I also run, but my reason for having the pump is the opposite to your husband. I go low during and after runs. I've only had the pump since April and am still experimenting but being able to reduce insulin delivery to a trickle is fantastic, as a result I've lowered total insulin dosage and reduced hypos. Although it doesn't normally get in the way when running I have had a couple of times when it has been annoying and uncomfortable. You change the site of the catheter every 3 days and its a matter of finding which places work or don't work for you.
Your husband would be able to raise his basal if necessary during and after longer runs so help to reduce the highs
Pumps aren't however self regulating and they only work well if the person is prepared to take the time to work out carb/insulin ratios and basal rates for different types of activity. If someones not really motivated I doubt that there would be a huge benefit.
There is also no doubt that it is always there,even though I wanted to start using one I love it when I take it off to go swimming.
Finally, I don't know if you have looked at the runsweet website. This has been revamped recently and on the front page are 2 things that might be of interest.
1)Do you have problems with your diabetes and sport? If so ask your G.P. or consultant to refer you to our (England's only) specialized diabetes and sport clinic
2)Would you like to help find out which strategies best support exercise in diabetes? We have started a study using CGMS to help with glucose control during sport, can you help? If you are interested, fill in the guestbook form and we will send you further details.
http://www.runsweet.com/index.html

edited to add. I don't live in the UK, I doubt very much that I would have got a pump in the UK
 
I think thats the general conconsensus with all pumps, that if you want one either buy it yourself or move to another counrty.
If its going to make my husbands life better and keep him well for longer then we're willing to pay what ever the costs!

Thanks for all your advise. It sounds like the pump is really working for you. Its good to know that other diabetics have similar problems as us and that there are solutions out there. I think once my husband gets his head around the idea of a pump and he stops being scared of it and takes the leap he'll never want to go back to his regime.

One question i do have, is if my husband wants to take a break from his pump, say for example if he goes away with work and he doesn't want the embarassment of going through customs, can he just disconnect it and go back to his normal insulin pens? It would be interesting to know as it would give him a bit of flexibility.


Thanks for the website link also. I'd not seen that site before- very useful as my hubby is a very keen runner!!

Cheers for the help, Nic.
 
can he just disconnect it and go back to his normal insulin pens?
Click to expand...
Yes, of course. In fact you still have to have some other form of insulin delivery available in case of pump malfunction. My doctor just chnanged lantus to levimir as the long term being 'a better 12 hour insulin'.
 
Hi Sarah Q,

Its a fair point, I'm not the one with diabetes, and I'm not the one who will have to use and wear the pump. I just wanted to know more about it to help my husband and to understand the subject more fully.
At the moment its not that he's not keen on the pump, but he's confused as to whether the pros out weight the cons, and I just want to help him in any way I can.

Its heart breaking to watch him dealing with high blood sugar episodes as it is with low ones. So anything which will prevent those or minumise then is a bonus.

Thanks for your advise. I'm leaving the rest up to my hubby to decide whether we take it any further. Just knowing about other peoples experiences is a real benefit.

Cheers, Nic.
 
Hi Nic,

Maybe you and your hubby would benefit from having a read of 'Pumping Insulin' by John Walsh, available thru Amazon. It's a bit of a pumper's bible, certainly very informative. It will answer a lot of your questions and may help him make up his mind.
Sue
 
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