Hi
@GinaPrice i don't really see how doing a poll on what pumps people use will help you choose a pump for you. You are the key factor in choosing a pump for you.
The most important factor for
you in pumping appears to be reducing hypos.
Will you be funded for the enlite CGM? Or would you consider self funding a CGM? Be warned, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is costly.
The Medtronic 640 when run with the CGM, with which it integrates, does have a predictive low suspend feature. When the CGM thinks you are heading low it will suspend the insulin delivery until it's decided you are going up sufficiently, or two hours has expired.
I'm currently using the Medtronic 640 for the low suspend feature. The pump is fine. I'm not particularly enamoured with it, by any stretch of the imagination. I think its bulky and I find it difficult to wear dresses with it. Although you can remote bolus with it, you can't remotely use the bolus calculator. I'm not at all sold on the accuracy of the CGM sensors - they don't work in my abdomen, which is where Medtronic want you to wear them. The bolus increments are teeny tiny, going down to 0.025 units. The screen's good and the menus on the pump are pretty intuitive to navigate.
I have also used an omnipod. I did love the omnipod. I found the pods perfectly comfortable to wear, I liked the automatic cannula insertion. The bolus increments don't go down as small as Medtronic only down to 0.05 units. The PDM is good and easy to use. It's easy to use it as your record of the day.
Ask your DSN if there are demo pumps available so you can actually have a chance to see and handle each of the pumps, press the buttons and actually hold the pumps/wear an omnipod. That's the best way of getting an idea of which one would suit you best. If you can't get that oppotunity, do a search for them on YouTube to see videos of people siting and wearing the pumps.
Pumping is recommended to try and reduce hypos. Getting the basal rate set to a dosage that accurately suits you is important. Pumping gives you the opportunity to do that. You can also use temporary basal rates when pumping, and that can help with hypos. Bolus delivery on a pump is also much more accurate - you don't need to round up to a unit or half a unit.
Do get hold of a copy of John Walsh's pumping insulin book to prepare for moving to a pump. It like a text book on what you should know to use an insulin pump properly.
