How long were you T1D before you got the pump?

I feel the same way I will never go back to injections…I have only been on the pump for 3 months and I love it.

That is a good idea to use the lantus at night sometimes

sorry to hear that
i guess they somewhat are right,it’s like putting a peanut butter on the skin of someone allergic to peanuts!
anaphylactic shock isn’t easy
yet
having a pump would mostly reduce your daily needs of insulin
you might want mention that to your dermatologist
hope it helps
i have been diabetic for 9 months,the first month, was anti-pump,scared of it
after that one month,i was bringing up the pump to the doctor every visit !
finally i am getting it maybe the next month :slight_smile:

Hi Mark my you have had diabeties for a long time…the pump is the best thing that ever happened to me…When did you get the pump?

Good for you Saya! I am getting the pump first thing, as soon as I can find an insulin I can take. There has to be ONE I’m not allergic to. As for someone saying you have to be very controlled etc…I would think this would HELP you get better control! Let’s face it, insulin is liquid dynamite regardless of how you take it. It should always be handled with care! I can do it because I have to!

Almost 36 years. I got the pump last August and reached 36 years in September.

Whether or not you get damage from high blood sugars depends to a certain extent on whether you have “genetic protection,” as my endo calls it. I don’t have any micro-vessel problems after 36 years and believe me, I certainly wasn’t a model diabetic all those years, but my kidneys, eyes, etc., have never been compromised. Just lucky in that respect I guess. Still, I do want to be healthy and around to see my eventual grandchildren, so I’m struggling to be good and to use the pump to its best advantage.

  • Patti

thanks
will,i heard that insulin analogues trigger less allergic reactions,what about you?
as for the bad control,complications don’t arise quickly,maybe after 10 years of bad control,even then,not every one gets it,as pattim said,it depends on your genetic protection or something like that
good luck with your next visit :smiley:

I was diagnosed with type 1 at 7 and started pumping at 10 so 3 years. I think the time depends on the the endo clinic. When I started pumping, my clinic was saying you had to be 12 to pump, but they made an exception for me because I had dramatic swings from high to low and dawn phenomena. My family and I were much happier once I was pumping. I have been pumping for 8 years now and I would never go back to shots. I love my pump!

I do know of someone who is allergic to synthetic insulin, but does fine with the animal insulins. Maybe you could look into that?

46 years, I was diagnosed T1 in Feb 1961 & got my pump in Feb 2007. First 4 months were hell with the pump, I had catheter insertion phobia then suddenly everything clicked & now I would never give it up. Pre-pump A1Cs were about 8.0 but I had wild swings at least 1 300+ per day & lots of lows. Now my last A1C was 5.9.

Never got the pump :slight_smile: I love shots, and my A1c is 5.4

ThunderOwl, I agree with those who say that it’s possible to spend years with bad blood sugars without developing those complications. Like others, it was 10 years of T1D for me and blood sugars in the 300s everyday for years before I began pumping and brought my A1c’s below 10. 9 years after beginning the pump, I am complication-free and have an A1c in the 5’s. Of course there are risks with running that high and you are justified in your concerns, but take the time you need to respond to the insulin healthily - you’re going to need it for the rest of your life!

I’ve heard of insulin allergies before. The young man I met who was allergic was allergic only to the synthetic human analogs we use today and could use the pork and beef insulin just fine. Has anyone suggested that to you?

15 long years for me! I LOVE MY PUMP!!! :slight_smile:

Yes, I’d say you will likely do better with the lower doses pumps give you. It’s also important because it is gradual, and your system may well be reacting more to the large amount you need to put in with just a few shots each day.
I’ve been pumping for almost 16 years now, after 38 years of shots. I was doing reasonably well on 5 or 6 shots a day, but still had too many daily roller coaster rides on my bg chart. Besides which when they released the first results of the DCCT (Diabetes Control and Complications Trial) in 1993 I was concerned that my foot neuropathy was getting slowly worse. They said it could not only be stopped but could in many cases be reversed. Called up my endo and told him I’d be on the pump ASAP. So then he had me go in the hospital to train him to train me to use my pump, since h had only inherited a few pumpers that moved into town with 1. Best thing I ever did for him BTW. Oh well, I’d trained his Dad to straighten me out some 31 years before that…
A small added suggestion for you. When Humalog came out I started using it in my pump, which was SO much better than R, the only thing available till then. I thought it worked well, but my new endo changed me to Novolog, which works even better, at least for me. Just seems my body works better with Novolog for whatever reason. That MAY be some kind of an allergic thing (?), but you may find changing from Lilly to Novo insulins (or vice versa) works better for you even now.

My Endo just gave me 6 insulins to try during allergy testing next week. They are all the synthetic analog insulins. She says they are ones she would want to start me on, and the ones least likely to cause a reaction. I asked about animal source insulins and the preservative free form, but they will be last resorts for me. The animal insulins tend to be MORE antigenic, and the preservative-free stuff is hard to get and costly. The co-pays and medicines this month have wiped me out…no money left for ANYTHING else! What the heck happens if you can’t afford the insulin? It’s a very scarey thought!

Hey Thunder Owl. I’m Ali and I have diabetes. I have a different kind of diabetes than most people. Less than 30,000 people in the US have the type I have. I have Cystic Fibrosis Related Diabetes (CFRD). I have used an insulin pump since the second week after I was diagnosed. I began by using a MiniMed, but then I trialed the Cozmo. I truly hated that pump! I now have the Animas and I love it.

Ali, CF AND diabetes just doesn’t sound fair! I guess you are more like a Type 1? My mom got diabetes from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome which can cause Type 2. Glad you like the pump and hope you are doing well on it! I am T1D/Anaphylactic insulin allergy…less than 10 worldwide. I think thats because we often DIE. Today I find out when they are doing allergy testing. I hope they can find something for me to take that doesn’t kill me!

I was on injections for 40 years and have now been pumping for 15 years. The best 5 years of my diabetic life have been the 4 plus years on the OmniPod. I spent years prior to the advent of BG meters high- 200,300, 400’s who knows… Remember typically we only had about BG’s a year. I would not worry much about BG’s in the 200 range or none of us old timers would be alive.

it all depends…after DKA and a BG reading of 918 at diagnosise…they werent too quick to pass me a pump…it was about a year later…good luck

It was 14 years before I got my pump. Just started pumping on November 11, 2009 and it was one of the best days of my life. I feel so much better. This is the best control of my bloodsugars I have ever had.

I got mine shortly after I was diagnosed, I would say within 6 months or so. I had horrible numbers on the pen, but I know others who’ve done just fine on it.

As for waiting until your pancreas is burnt out or the honeymoon period is over, I’ve not heard that, but I know that some people will recommend waiting until about a year or so, when you get your A1C under some kind of control/know the disease more.