Guest guest Posted February 11, 2011 Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 Hello Everyone, I was wondering those of you who take your insulin by pump why did you decide to do this instead of giving yourself a shot. Thanks, Anita e-mail and facebook: abbrown6211@... skype: anita.brown27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 11, 2011 Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 Hi Anita, I went on the insulin pump for better control. I have variable basal insulin needs throughout the day, so the " flat " basal insulin Lantus provided left me with high blood sugars every morning (even if I went to bed in range and was in range in the middle of the night) and high blood sugars in the evenings. I split my Lantus dose into two injections and that didn't help. I was up to taking six to eight shots a day and still could not get my A1c below 7%, so decided to try the pump. Since going on the pump I've also discovered the ability to change my basal does quickly (changes take effect in a few hours versus a few days like long-acting insulin) has been very valuable because of how chaotic my life can be sometimes (and also stress and hormones have a huge effect on BG for me). Since I am not insulin resistant, being able to deliver boluses in fractions of a unit instead of being limited to only whole units has been nice, as well. I use the rapid-acting insulin Apidra in my pump, though until a few months ago was using Humalog. I have some usable vision which makes using the pump easier, but it is possible for a totally blind person to use one, and I believe we have a few members on this list who are examples. I use my pump by memorizing the menus (it beeps with each key press) and using a strong magnifier to read some of the larger fonts if I need to confirm a change. I will hopefully soon be upgrading to the Animas Ping which has a much better quality screen than my current Cozmo, so this may make a difference in my ability to read more of the information presented on-screen. Hope this has been helpful! Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 11, 2011 Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 Hi Anita, I went on the insulin pump for better control. I have variable basal insulin needs throughout the day, so the " flat " basal insulin Lantus provided left me with high blood sugars every morning (even if I went to bed in range and was in range in the middle of the night) and high blood sugars in the evenings. I split my Lantus dose into two injections and that didn't help. I was up to taking six to eight shots a day and still could not get my A1c below 7%, so decided to try the pump. Since going on the pump I've also discovered the ability to change my basal does quickly (changes take effect in a few hours versus a few days like long-acting insulin) has been very valuable because of how chaotic my life can be sometimes (and also stress and hormones have a huge effect on BG for me). Since I am not insulin resistant, being able to deliver boluses in fractions of a unit instead of being limited to only whole units has been nice, as well. I use the rapid-acting insulin Apidra in my pump, though until a few months ago was using Humalog. I have some usable vision which makes using the pump easier, but it is possible for a totally blind person to use one, and I believe we have a few members on this list who are examples. I use my pump by memorizing the menus (it beeps with each key press) and using a strong magnifier to read some of the larger fonts if I need to confirm a change. I will hopefully soon be upgrading to the Animas Ping which has a much better quality screen than my current Cozmo, so this may make a difference in my ability to read more of the information presented on-screen. Hope this has been helpful! Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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