Opinion on pumps as debating changing over???

[gemmah772]

I'm 22 and have been type 1 for 21 years. Always been on injections but getting fed up of them so was recommended the pump. I wasn't a massive fan in general for numerous reasons one being that I swim a lot for long periods of time so was recommended the animas as its waterproof. Does anyone have one that could tell me if its worth it?

Or just generally if any pump is better?
Any tips, benefits, downsides etc?

Want advice from people living with a pump/ or family, friends who have one as advice from doctors can sometimes be misleading

Also if anyone wouldn't mind posting a picture of what they look like on "humans" rather than google images so I can get an idea of what I would look like with one

I appreciate any response as this is a hard decision for me to make

 

[azure]

Hi @gemmah772 I have an Animas Vibe I haven't tested its waterproofness as I only go swimming for short periods of time and simply remove it, but I do know people have done long distance swims with it.

I've had a pump for 12 years and I love it! It makes me feel more normal because my blood sugars are smoother, especially at night. No basal insulin could match my needs but the pump can

You can wear your pump where you choose - that is, have it visible or not visible. I generally just clip mine to my waistband or belt but when I'm wearing a dress I either hang it from the side of my bra in a special bra bag or tuck it in a Tubigrip on my thigh. That way it's invisble and doesn't mess up the line of a tight dress. At night I put it in a soft Velcro closed belt thing or clip it to my nightwear.

I hesitated a long time before getting a pump. I thought it would reduce my freedom and be like a ball and chain - a permanent reminder of my diabetes. Actually, it's the complete opposite - it's given me my freedom back.

 

[noblehead]

Hi @gemmah772

I never really fancied the idea of a pump much like yourself but having been using one for the last 18 months I can honestly say it's been life-changing.

The obvious reason is no more injections but there are many more, I particularly like the bolus feature options on a pump where you can deal with difficult meals like those that are high in fat, also having multiple different basal rates to match your bodies needs means much flatter bg levels and you can deal with difficult issues much better like DP.

For someone like yourself who is sporty a pump is a godsend as you can use a TBR (temporary basal rate) which greatly reduces the chances of a hypo, many of the pumps are waterproof like the one I use which is the Omnipod so can be worn when swimming.

Read around the Insulin Pump section for threads on the pro's & con's of pumping, but you'll find that in most cases members will say the pro's far outweigh the con's, the only real downside of using a pump is you have to be more vigilant and test your bg regularly in case of a delivery issue, but apart from that I can't really think of any others tbh.........or non that are worthy of a mention.

 

[izzyj09]

Hey,
I am a competitive swimmer and swim with my animas vibe for up to 16 hours a week with 2 hour sessions in one go. It's not full waterproof if you do this, mine breaks about every 4-6 months. I personally am changing pumps as its highly annoying it breaking all the time and I would prefer one that didn't. I love the pump as I find it so much easier to react to what my blood sugar is doing whilst actually swimming, I've also recently got a libre, and I can do 2 hour swim session with that and it's not supposed of be water proof.
You mentioned about what they look like, well I'm constantly worried that everyone will see it but having started uni this year I was surprised by the amount of people that simply didn't notice until I told them, also I'm a girl and I've found it easy to wear dresses etc, you just have to be smart were you put it that's all I do know another swimmer who is on the metronic 640 and takes it of for an hour and then puts it back on, I'm changing to this pump later on in the year and that's what I'm going to do. With my advice on the vibe, I do know lots of people that are happy with it, but I have yet to find another competitive swimmer that doesn't have the same problem as me, or one who swims as long as I do
Sorry for the long message but I tried to answer everything feel free to private message me

 

[Snapsy]

Hi @gemmah772 ,

I swim 3-4 times a week, and have an Insight pump. I only swim for around 25 minutes, though, and I disconnect the pump and leave it in my locker - it's really easy to unclip, and reclip afterwards.

Swimming lowers my blood sugar, so even if I wanted to wear my pump when swimming I actually wouldn't want it to be giving me any insulin at the time (so I might as well just take it off).

However, my sugar rises after swimming, for two reasons - firstly, exercise does that to me (short bursts of swimming or running for up to half an hour are my two regular things, and both activities raise my sugars) and secondly, the knock on effect of no insulin having been delivered while in the pool - so to counteract this climb so I don't get any kind of rise at all on my Libre graph I set a temporary basal of 150% for 3-4 hours after I get out of the pool. I do the same after running, but only for 2 hours.

Trial and error experimentation is the only way I could do it with any confidence!

Erm, and please excuse the awful pictures, but you did ask! I wear my pump in a hid-in belt just below my bra - I have several of these - black ones and a white one - sooooo comfy. I don't notice it. I don't have to fiddle with it on the go as I do all my bolusing and TBR setting from the handset (remote control and meter combined) so once it's tucked away that's it. I love love love my pump and having met other pumps in action I feel I absolutely hit the jackpot with this one. It's got prefilled cartridges, for one thing, which means there's no filling or anything required.

My favourite cannula position is at the side of my spare tyre, more back than front. And the hosepipe is very much just 'there' and it doesn't bother me at all.

Wish I'd had it 30 years ago - still, I'm there now. Haven't looked back.



On this bottom picture you can just see the round mark of a tiny plaster, just above and to the right of the cannula. I was wearing a white blouse last time I did a cannula change, and I bunged a quick plaster over the hole for obvious reasons. That's all that is.

Hope this helps - and sorry if I've put anyone off their Sunday lunch by showing so much flesh!

 

[rockape37]

Snapsy, nice to see a hid in pouch being worn. I'm thinking of getting a couple of these as another option to wearing my pump around my neck via a id card lanyard. I first started hanging it off my medic alert dog tag chain but after 2 weeks i got fed up of the chain digging into my neck.

I couldn't wear one around my waist due to my rotund stomach but this very same stomach could help support it ie it could almost rest on it lol.

If I go down that route i will post a photo, you will certainly feel put off your food lol. At least you don't have to use hair remover like i do so the canular sticks securely, quite funny really.
I have a good sense of humour and also don't cae if people see my pump etc much like when i used to inject in public it didn't bother me at all.

Apologies for wandering off topic.

Regards

Martin

 

[himtoo]

here is a pic of my current omnipod taken this afternoon



i can highly recommend pumping -- the detail to which it can be programmed to us individually ( with a lot of testing and and adjusting really brings much flatter blood results

 

[Snapsy]

@rockape I find it really comfy round my chest, but for my new running habit it occurred to me that the burning feeling in my lungs after about 3km was due to my diaphragm being constricted by it - how silly of me not to realise - so for running I'm now wearing it just below the waistband of my shorts and it's much comfier!

Am crediting this location change with knocking a minute and three quarters off my parkrun PB yesterday morning.............