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Pump or Needle
- Thread starter kyle0105
- Start Date
novorapidboi26
Well-Known Member
One of the first benefits I think of first is the pumps ability to deliver much smaller doses of insulin, which can help people who are very sensitive to insulin....
You may fall under that category being thin and active.....
The next benefit I think of is its accurate basal delivery.......most pumps can have individual rates for every half hour of a 24 hour period....which means it behaves much like a pancreas in that it can increase and decrease the basal in response to the livers glucose supply, which is never the same throughout the day.....this can often result in a much more effective, accurate and smaller daily dose of insulin, which is every diabetics main goal in my opinion....
Added to the basal function comes many bolus option to deal with a large variety of different foods that all hit our blood stream at different speeds and stick around longer and shorter too...
Its a great device and one which everyone would benefit from, provided you have a sound understanding of dose adjustment....
How long have you been diabetic?
Whats your current HbA1c?
Have you had any structured education...?
You may fall under that category being thin and active.....
The next benefit I think of is its accurate basal delivery.......most pumps can have individual rates for every half hour of a 24 hour period....which means it behaves much like a pancreas in that it can increase and decrease the basal in response to the livers glucose supply, which is never the same throughout the day.....this can often result in a much more effective, accurate and smaller daily dose of insulin, which is every diabetics main goal in my opinion....
Added to the basal function comes many bolus option to deal with a large variety of different foods that all hit our blood stream at different speeds and stick around longer and shorter too...
Its a great device and one which everyone would benefit from, provided you have a sound understanding of dose adjustment....
How long have you been diabetic?
Whats your current HbA1c?
Have you had any structured education...?
It's definitely a personal choice - I take 4 shots per day sometimes more depending on my BG readings. BG control isn't an issue for me (most of the time) so I've never entertained the idea of getting a pump. The other thing - I go on wilderness expeditions and am reluctant to trust the technology - if I had a pump on these expeditions I would continue to take pen needles in the event of a pump technical failure - don't want that to happen when you're a couple of days travel from the next closest person.
I'm not quite sure how the pump would hold up to rock climbing either as the body can take quite a beating.
Some people just love them though - my cousin who has two sons that have diabetes - both are on the pumps and I think it makes her job much easier as a caregiver because of the pump so I'm not knocking it. Maybe when I am older, less active and becoming feeble will be the time I get one but I'm hoping they will have something better available by the time that happens.
Now having said that you will also get people who absolutely swear by them. So it really is a personal choice.
D
Deleted Account
Guest
I injected for 12 years and, for many of them, I could not understand the value of a pump.
It took me a long time to work out what made the difference and why I would want something attached to me 24 hours a day. Eventually, the penny dropped. With injections, a simplistic assumption is made: it is assumed that your basal requirements are always the same; you take one (or two) basal injections of slow acting insulin a day that are absorbed by your body at a constant(ish) rate. This is great for many. However, for me, it is not the case: I need more basal insulin when I am sitting at my desk or lying in my bed than when I am running around at the gym or climbing the walls. As a pump drips fast acting insulin at all times, you have the option to adjust your basal needs at different times of the day. So for me, I need more basal at night and less in the late afternoon/evening. I also have the option to give myself a temporary boost or reduction depending on my exercise needs.
@fletchweb suggests the pump is not for him as he is very active: it is the fact that I am active which changes my basal demands. And it is very robust: the tube has never broken or, as I have read other people's concerns, ripped from my skin. Once when climbing an overhang, the pump fell out of my pocket and was dangling in the air. Although this was not ideal and I had to make sure I was securely attached to the wall to make a pump adjustment, it did not affect the pump.
I travel a lot: sometimes business and sometimes pleasure: sometimes in the city and sometimes in the wilderness. The pump has been fine for all. When I injected, I would always take spare pens; now I have a pump, I either take my pens with me as back up or a free loaner pump from the manufacturer.
Another advantage for me is that I always have my insulin with me. Unlike many women, it is not natural to carry a handbag around with me all the time and I would go out for what I thought would be 30 minutes but ended up being hours and have no insulin with me so I had to go hungry (or snack on cheese and lettuce).
However, this does not come for free.
The obvious disadvantage is being connected all the time. After 18 months of pumping, I have not got used to it. Some people say they often forget they have a pump: this has not happened to me. If you lie down, you have to make sure it is out of the way (because it is uncomfortable not because it could be crushed); like you, I am slim, so I have failed to find somewhere to hide the pump and would rather I was not known as "the woman who wears a pager" or have to correct people.
Travel is fine once you are there but airports have become a bit of a drag. Pumps cannot be x-rayed. They rarely set the arch off but (because I am slim), the outline is seen in my pocket and I have to explain or, if I am invited to go through the personal scanner, I have to explain.
The biggest disadvantage is related to the advantage: it is much more controllable than injections. As a result, there is more that can go wrong, takes time to set up correctly for you and you have to be more accurate with your carb counting becuase there is no background basal to "mop up" any excess carbs.
Finally, the counter side to the advantage of having insulin with you at all times is having to attach it. IT is recommended to do this every 3 days. As my skin is a little sensitive, I do it every other day. It only takes 5 minutes but it is a faff and, if it goes wrong, you can end up with a major hyper because you had no insulin (no basal, no bolus) until you realise what has happened.
As @fletchweb says, it's a personal choice. What made it for me was the realisation that I could go back to pens if I didn't like the pump so I thought it was worthwhile giving it a go. And since I changed to the pump, my climbing has improved (because I don't suffer from high BG after a couple of hours of stressful ascents) and I get less hypos.
It took me a long time to work out what made the difference and why I would want something attached to me 24 hours a day. Eventually, the penny dropped. With injections, a simplistic assumption is made: it is assumed that your basal requirements are always the same; you take one (or two) basal injections of slow acting insulin a day that are absorbed by your body at a constant(ish) rate. This is great for many. However, for me, it is not the case: I need more basal insulin when I am sitting at my desk or lying in my bed than when I am running around at the gym or climbing the walls. As a pump drips fast acting insulin at all times, you have the option to adjust your basal needs at different times of the day. So for me, I need more basal at night and less in the late afternoon/evening. I also have the option to give myself a temporary boost or reduction depending on my exercise needs.
@fletchweb suggests the pump is not for him as he is very active: it is the fact that I am active which changes my basal demands. And it is very robust: the tube has never broken or, as I have read other people's concerns, ripped from my skin. Once when climbing an overhang, the pump fell out of my pocket and was dangling in the air. Although this was not ideal and I had to make sure I was securely attached to the wall to make a pump adjustment, it did not affect the pump.
I travel a lot: sometimes business and sometimes pleasure: sometimes in the city and sometimes in the wilderness. The pump has been fine for all. When I injected, I would always take spare pens; now I have a pump, I either take my pens with me as back up or a free loaner pump from the manufacturer.
Another advantage for me is that I always have my insulin with me. Unlike many women, it is not natural to carry a handbag around with me all the time and I would go out for what I thought would be 30 minutes but ended up being hours and have no insulin with me so I had to go hungry (or snack on cheese and lettuce).
However, this does not come for free.
The obvious disadvantage is being connected all the time. After 18 months of pumping, I have not got used to it. Some people say they often forget they have a pump: this has not happened to me. If you lie down, you have to make sure it is out of the way (because it is uncomfortable not because it could be crushed); like you, I am slim, so I have failed to find somewhere to hide the pump and would rather I was not known as "the woman who wears a pager" or have to correct people.
Travel is fine once you are there but airports have become a bit of a drag. Pumps cannot be x-rayed. They rarely set the arch off but (because I am slim), the outline is seen in my pocket and I have to explain or, if I am invited to go through the personal scanner, I have to explain.
The biggest disadvantage is related to the advantage: it is much more controllable than injections. As a result, there is more that can go wrong, takes time to set up correctly for you and you have to be more accurate with your carb counting becuase there is no background basal to "mop up" any excess carbs.
Finally, the counter side to the advantage of having insulin with you at all times is having to attach it. IT is recommended to do this every 3 days. As my skin is a little sensitive, I do it every other day. It only takes 5 minutes but it is a faff and, if it goes wrong, you can end up with a major hyper because you had no insulin (no basal, no bolus) until you realise what has happened.
As @fletchweb says, it's a personal choice. What made it for me was the realisation that I could go back to pens if I didn't like the pump so I thought it was worthwhile giving it a go. And since I changed to the pump, my climbing has improved (because I don't suffer from high BG after a couple of hours of stressful ascents) and I get less hypos.
Lulu9101112
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 378
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Insulin
- Dislikes
- Football, Rugby, Sweede, Parsnips, Beetroot
I personally prefer injections because I personally think it's quicker and easier.
donnellysdogs
Master
- Messages
- 13,233
- Location
- Northampton
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Pump
- Dislikes
- People that can't listen to other people's opinions.
People that can't say sorry.
I've had both. 3 insulin pumps in 6 years... had to stop pump due to cannulas no longer working in my skin.
I loved my pump. It reduced highs and lows and gave me great control. I was a rare person that wore it on my arm. Loved it.
However, back to MDI. Love not wearing the pump. Absolutely love it that I dont have a gadget plugged in to me 24/7. Downside that I have huge dawn and waking phenomen and need 1st jab at 4am and two more at 8am before even getting out of bed. Never a lie in. I love the freedom back though.
My hypo's have remained fantastic in being milder since 2010 when I originally went on pump.
It really depends on your lifestyle.
I loved my pump. It reduced highs and lows and gave me great control. I was a rare person that wore it on my arm. Loved it.
However, back to MDI. Love not wearing the pump. Absolutely love it that I dont have a gadget plugged in to me 24/7. Downside that I have huge dawn and waking phenomen and need 1st jab at 4am and two more at 8am before even getting out of bed. Never a lie in. I love the freedom back though.
My hypo's have remained fantastic in being milder since 2010 when I originally went on pump.
It really depends on your lifestyle.
- Messages
- 23,618
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Pump
- Dislikes
- Disrespectful people
Providing you fit the NICE criteria or the ABCD recommendations (if based here in the UK) you should be eligible for a pump, being prone to hypo's would fit in with the Specific quality of life issues (in the ABCD recommendations) so do discuss this with your diabetes Consultant:
http://www.inputdiabetes.org.uk/alt-insulin-pumps/is-it-provided-by-the-nhs/
Playing football shouldn't be an issue using a insulin pump, besides there's tubeless pumps like the Omnipod/Cellnovo that might be an option to you.
As to your question, 5 years ago I would have said injections as I didn't fancy the idea of being attached to a pump, however 2 or more years down the line of pumping insulin I couldn't go back to injections now.
That said pumps are not for everyone, we have had members who have switched to a pump and didn't like it and gone back to MDI, they are very few and far between but there are some who feel that they are better off on injections, just weigh-up the pro's & con's yourself before deciding @kyle0105
