Artificial Pancreas

Hi everybody.

I’m Type 2, and I presently take 1 mg of Ozempic weekly, metformin, Januvia, Jardiance, and Humalog (when needed).

Nothing works anymore, and I was thinking about the artificial pancreas. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

James

There are probably a few steps that you need to go through before getting an artificial pancreas. One, I would suggest that you get more testing to determine that you are truly someone with Type 2 and not someone with slow-onset Type 1. Two, regardless of the answer for the first point, you probably need to start an MDI regimen of insulin. MDI means Multiple Daily Injections where you a combining a daily or twice-daily long acting insulin (Tresiba, Lantus, Levemir) with short-acting insulin (Humalog, Novolog, Apidra, Fiasp, Lyumjev, etc.) for meals and corrections. Three, you need to understand that there is no “artificial pancreas” out there. There are hybrid systems that partially automate insulin delivery but the user is still in control for meal boluses and overseeing the system. From an insurance point of view, you will probably never get coverage for a pump or anything like that until you are using MDI.

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Thanks, Laddie. I am also on Tresiba. I forgot to mention. I’m also 70 years old.

Are you using a CGM for proper evaluation of the combined insulin, food and exercise routines you are doing? Medicare pays for 80%-100% depending on the plan you have. It would be a real eye-opener and give you actionable data if you are not using one now. You can see the medicare requirements at:

If you come close to meeting the requirements, you can work with your doctor to meet them. Nobody knows how often you need Humalog but if Medicare requires 4 injections + a day, you just tell your doctor that is what you average.

Your doctor will provide all the information to Dexcom.

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I agree with @CJ114. Baby steps. Start with the Dexcom and see how that technology works for you. If things go well, maybe an artificial pancreas system is a possibility in the future.