Pump question

Hi Susie, I got approved end Jul 2013, and went live on the pump end Feb 14. It seemed a lifetime, but I'm told I had it pretty good in terms of a wait - others been on the list for 3 years.

As others have said, keep chasing. I regularly emailed the consultant, DSN and pump specialist.

In the interim, I used the time to research into pump therapy as much as I could, so I got the most out of the pump education day I had 2 weeks pre-start. I also tightened up on carb counting etc. The knowledge helped at the beginning. which was a pretty trying couple of weeks.

It's definitely worth the wait. Good luck and keep on at them!

How do I get a pump I need my life back my control has never been I'm sick of being tired all the time trying to raise my 3 boys chasing my blood sugars around grrrrr and now I have changes in the backs of my eyes I need to live to see my children grow up, can anyone advise me please :'(

Hi Emma, so sorry to hear things are tough for you at the mo.

There are guidelines issued by NICE as to who falls into the category for pump eligibility, but I don't know them off the top of my head (sure others could help). I can only tell you how I went about it.

I have retinopathy, severe in 1 eye, and have tried over the last 4-5 years to keep control as tight as possible. Despite splitting my levemir into 3 doses per day, having done DAFNE, checking bloods regularly, I was still having highs are certain points, but crashing lows at other times. I went to my DSN in desperation. My HbA1c was too good to qualify on those grounds alone. So, they went for the angle that I was having regular hypos, combined with the need for as stable BGs as poss due to the eyes.

The DSN was firmly on my side which I'm sure helped. She told me to be religious about testing, and to revise my carb counting, before I went to see the consultant, so I could demonstrate I was committed.

I would say give your DSN a call in the first instance. and explain your situation.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

I have a meeting with a pump specialist in October and was told there were 2 criteria. The first is an inability to get HBA1c levels down to a respectable level which involves compulsory attendance at a DAFNE course and recognised attempts at carb counting etc.

The 2nd is, which is the one I am being forwarded for, is repeated and/or disabling hypos. I have a brilliant HBA1c (normally low to mid 40's) but this consists of readings of 2's and 3's and 12's and 13's.

I have "technical hypo's" nearly every day when my BS falls below 4 and can walk around for several days at a time not being able to get them up. I also do not have great hypo awareness and having not driven for over a year.This is mainly due to me having a very active lifestyle and losing weight and this has increased my sensitivity to both insulin and carbs which makes control difficult.

From what I gather however getting a pump is quite a long drawn out process so don't expect any quick results I'm afraid.

Good luck.

It's exactly a year today that I got the funding for my pump! And then I didn't go on it until Mid October!!

Sorry to itnterupt but ive been offered to go on the insulin pump but declined as ive heard you have to have it attached to yourself constantly except for showering. Is there any truth in this? If so im thinking its going to be pain whilst changing clothes or trying clothes on when shopping. An worst of all infection.

Your fears are absolutely nonsense to be honest.
A pump depending on choice of manufacturer is far less noticeable than injections ( to me, at least).

I wear mine on my arm and wear vest tshirts majority of time in summer. Only had 1 nosey welsh guy ask me what it was (i said a new probation tag!!). From now until May its pretty much under all my clothes and nobody knows I have one. I have a remote control handset (accuchek pump) so instead of hoiking out injections when eating it is a small remote control. If you consider an accuchek pump wait for the new one out that the remote control look like an iphone!!

They are fantastic. Far less intrusive to me than hoiking out injections etc...

If they was such a nuisance then I don't think many people would have them! One of the best inventions....for a diabetic lol! It has helped mycontrol so much, my hba1c has gone from 91 in November to 77 last month they are so worth it! You may notice the pump within the first week but after that you forget its there!!

You are pretty much attached...tho there are cable less ones so you don't have the kind of wire bit you get on loads of pumps. Getting dressed is fine - I put it on the bed and change - you find places - and during the day it just clips to clothes and you forget it is there. I think the pluses for using it far outweigh any issues with being attached to it. It is amazing in terms of control of insulin and the ability to give yourself a really good basal rate that fits you and your life (rather than the fixed peak and trough of things like levemir), exercising is sooooooo much easier with a pump (love temporary basal rates) and you can fine tune doses to tiny amounts - stuff that is impossible on injections and why most people improve their HBA1cs. It gives you a far more flexible life - you can genuinely eat when you want - which is what I was told about 4 injections a day...but soon found out that with the peaks and troughs of basal insulin routine actually worked better for my control - it also has stuff built in so that it keeps count of your active insulin and all those things you have to figure out mathematically in your head - your pump has on board - you still have to work out carbs tho and get the numbers in the pump right - but it does make it easier.

On the other subject.....pump wise - I agreed to go on one in November last year and was told that I would probably get it in September this year - I had to do a dietician thing to prove I could count carbs - I didn't do Dafne, however with a few meetings with the DSNs and stuff I was put on it in May which I think was pretty good

I will be started on pump therapy next year. Looking forward to it. Mine will be funded by the Primary Care Trust. My question is what models do Primary Care Trusts fund? I hope the CELLNOVO is funded as after researching a few models, this has the best features. What models are other members on and are they funded?

I've been on the cell novo for just over a month, and both myself and a number of other users who started around the same time as me are having such problems with them that we've been offered a switch to another pump. I'm going to go onto the new Roche Insight in December hopefully

ElyDave said:

I've been on the cell novo for just over a month, and both myself and a number of other users who started around the same time as me are having such problems with them that we've been offered a switch to another pump. I'm going to go onto the new Roche Insight in December hopefully

Click to expand...

Thank you ElyDave. I like the Cellnovo because of the excercise detector. The Accu-check would be 2nd choice from what I have read. As an active person yourself, is the excercise thing on the Cellnovo a gimik?

zerospam said:

Thank you ElyDave. I like the Cellnovo because of the excercise detector. The Accu-check would be 2nd choice from what I have read. As an active person yourself, is the excercise thing on the Cellnovo a gimik?

Click to expand...

Doesn't really add much to be honest. More useful as a pedometer type gimmick to get people a bit more interested in what they are doing and start from zero. In my case I've found it to be quite inconsistent in what it registers even on the same run course. Yoga generally doesn't register at all, turbo trainer time doesn't do much either.

Take a look in the pump thread herehttp://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/which-pump.65817/ where there's a few of us discussing the issues.