GlitterSparkles
Well-Known Member
personaly i dont want one butt i want to know what you think of them
-
Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »
Pumps
- Thread starter GlitterSparkles
- Start Date
D
Deleted Account
Guest
I have had my pump for 2 years.
I resisted it for many years. I guess there were two reasons: I couldn't understand why it could provide better control and I didn't want to be forever connected.
It provides much better control by being able to adjust my basal throughout the day. This is fantastic: long acting insulin assumes our basal needs are the same 24 hours a day and does not take into consideration variations such as dawn phenomenon. However, the biggest benefit by far is exercising, which I do 5 or 6 days a week. I am able to reduce my basal before running or increase it before climbing allowing me to run further without hypoing, climb harder routes because my BG does not rocket too high and lift heavier weights at the gym.
However, I still don't like being connected all the time. I am slim and have not found a good place to keep my pump out of sight but yet easy to access to dial up a bolus dose (or adjust my basal). Therefore, I find it harder to "hide" that I have diabetes. I am not assumed of it but I don't want to be judged for having it or be treated differently because of it.
And, being slim, I have little padding so sometimes get bruises on my hip bone where my pump usually sits.
Weighing up the two things (extra control and bulky pump), I think the discomfort is worth the control.
In an ideal world I would prefer a smaller pump or one with a remote control (such as an Omnipod) but this is not available in my area.
I resisted it for many years. I guess there were two reasons: I couldn't understand why it could provide better control and I didn't want to be forever connected.
It provides much better control by being able to adjust my basal throughout the day. This is fantastic: long acting insulin assumes our basal needs are the same 24 hours a day and does not take into consideration variations such as dawn phenomenon. However, the biggest benefit by far is exercising, which I do 5 or 6 days a week. I am able to reduce my basal before running or increase it before climbing allowing me to run further without hypoing, climb harder routes because my BG does not rocket too high and lift heavier weights at the gym.
However, I still don't like being connected all the time. I am slim and have not found a good place to keep my pump out of sight but yet easy to access to dial up a bolus dose (or adjust my basal). Therefore, I find it harder to "hide" that I have diabetes. I am not assumed of it but I don't want to be judged for having it or be treated differently because of it.
And, being slim, I have little padding so sometimes get bruises on my hip bone where my pump usually sits.
Weighing up the two things (extra control and bulky pump), I think the discomfort is worth the control.
In an ideal world I would prefer a smaller pump or one with a remote control (such as an Omnipod) but this is not available in my area.
- Messages
- 9,270
- Location
- Worcestershire
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Pump
- Dislikes
- Hypos, rude people, ignorance and grey days.
Hi @GlitterSparkles
I love mine, I can exercise and make adjustments really easily, I've improved my HbA1c, it's given me so much more flexibility compared to injections, simple stuff like bolusing for a pizza or take away is much easier as I can use a split bolus pattern. Like Helen I wasn't so sure I didn't like the idea of being connected to it or handing my control over to a pump, but I got used to it so quickly and now I would never hand it back.
Ultimately the decision you need to make is if you want to manage this more easily, because if you put the effort in to manage your pump then it does take a lot of the effort out of constant calculations, injecting, and being able to be more flexible for stuff like exercise then using a pump will really benefit you.
I love mine, I can exercise and make adjustments really easily, I've improved my HbA1c, it's given me so much more flexibility compared to injections, simple stuff like bolusing for a pizza or take away is much easier as I can use a split bolus pattern. Like Helen I wasn't so sure I didn't like the idea of being connected to it or handing my control over to a pump, but I got used to it so quickly and now I would never hand it back.
Ultimately the decision you need to make is if you want to manage this more easily, because if you put the effort in to manage your pump then it does take a lot of the effort out of constant calculations, injecting, and being able to be more flexible for stuff like exercise then using a pump will really benefit you.
I have been on the pump since 2010. I would not go back for anything.
The frustration of being hooked up all the time rears it’s ugly head on occasion but the results of better control far out weigh the frustration.
Being a type one for over 28 years and the majority on needles, added that I was young and indestructible in my mind to anything I took many unnecessary risks with my health
It wasn’t until I had a retinal detachment, numbness in my foot and other related diabetes problems that I decided to take better control
I can say things are better than ever and adding a better diet I can manage things much easier than needles
The frustration of being hooked up all the time rears it’s ugly head on occasion but the results of better control far out weigh the frustration.
Being a type one for over 28 years and the majority on needles, added that I was young and indestructible in my mind to anything I took many unnecessary risks with my health
It wasn’t until I had a retinal detachment, numbness in my foot and other related diabetes problems that I decided to take better control
I can say things are better than ever and adding a better diet I can manage things much easier than needles
