I put in an order at the pharmacy for Contact-Detach sets (same as the Sure-T’s for Minimed pumpers). They need to call and find out where to order them from on Monday, but when they find out they said they should be able to order them without a problem. I also ordered a box of Tegaderm in case my problem is with site adhesive. I am so hoping this solves my problems, at least some of them!
I’ve been using my legs the past few days and changing sites almost daily because that way I only have a tiny raised bump around the cannula and it’s not nearly as red, instead of a huge itchy, bright red area and a giant hive around the cannula. But overall diabetes in general is driving me crazy. Yesterday I was 11+ (200+ mg/dl) most of the day until the evening when I managed to get down to around 6.8 (122 mg/dl) for the last six or seven hours of the day. Then I went to bed and tossed and turned and could NOT get to sleep, and finally got up around 1:45 and checked my blood sugar and found it at 2.3 (41 mg/dl)! I was like, what the heck!!! So I treated that and clearly over-treated because I woke up this morning at 14.0 (252 mg/dl) and remained high all morning … I finally bumped my pump settings up even more but having random lows like that makes me nervous of doing this. Anyway, the pump settings seem to have helped but it’s only been a few hours so, we’ll see if I go high or low later on tonight.
I’ve been taking 50-60 units a day which wouldn’t be bad except I’ve been eating less than half the amount of carbohydrates I used to! Today I’ll end up taking about 45 units even though I’ve only had 90 grams of carbohydrates … my I:C ratio is 1:7 which is almost double what it normally is. I just really hope it’s the fact that my body is having issues absorbing the insulin. I’ve actually seriously considered going off the pump to see if the insulin at least works a bit better because I have some Lantus sitting in my fridge, but my control without the pump is so terrible that I’m not sure it would show any difference.
Anyway, just had to rant. I tried ranting to friends in real life and they just did not understand how frustrated I am and how crappy being high all day makes me feel! I am also going to my doctor next week to get a referral to an allergist, and am going to ask if he can refer me to a new endocrinologist because I have been wanting a new one for a while and figure now is as good a time as any seeing as how I feel like my next A1c is going to be back in the 8s and I also feel like my control is so crazy that I just need to start from scratch with everything. I am hoping a new endocrinologist might be able to give me some fresh ideas and perhaps be willing to see me for more than ten minutes every three months. I would really love that!
Jen ,
An Animas pumper I know , who is also a Pharmacy technician uses the ones you are describing …she has for years …(.I don’t know the name of the sets ) .
Would this work for you to line yourself up with the/a CDE Pump Nurse ?? …I find my pump Nurse at the Diabetes Clinic very helpful …I can e-mail her any time as well .
I pray things will turn around for you …and yes, I agree friends living without diabetes have NO clue , what you are going through 24/7
This is why I think I need a new endocrinologist… Mine I can’t e-mail between appointments and when I call all I can do is pass on a message to him. My CDE I can’t e-mail, either, although I could call her (I do wish they were set up with e-mail!). Their clinic I think deals mostly with newly diagnosed kids and Type 2s and last time I was there she commented I “didn’t need her” … I think it was meant as a compliment but it really made me feel great about asking for any help (not)!
In my case : CDE pump trainer from way back ( 2001 ) is the same person as the one at the Clinic ( I was there yesterday ) …makes life a lot easier it seems …and yet I am in a relative small community of about 17,000 !
My Brother ( type 2 ) in Ontario can connect with his Clinic Team via e-mail as well .