I am new here in this forum, and i need some help pls im 24 years old and i have diabetes type 1 since april 2007
I am currently on LANTUS/HUMALOG treatment and i am thinking of changing my whole treatment and getting a pump, I live in lebanon so i am obliged to get the pump with all related accessories including monthly supplements from the US. it is not a big problem because my bro lives in US and could get the monthly supply for me but Could someone help me choosing between the animas 2020 & minimed paradigm 722 ? please know that i should get the easiest pump because i wont be finding any support in my country and no one would help me. so is it easy to use? to get to it quickly? to know how much i need as a basal insuline? and many more stuffs?
Well first off you will need to have a doctor to get a pump and they will be able to help you with the total amount of insulin. If I were you I would call each company and ask them about support they offer and what you could expect from them considering the country you live in. Both pumps are excellent but if one of them offers none to little support that would make the decision much easier.
Thanks david. I will talk to my doctor and i think he will be able to give me the total new amount of insulin to be used in a pump but i wont be able to contact each company and they dont offer any support in my country. That’s why i was asking about which pump to buy.
Welcome, Shad! I’m not sure how things work there, but I think that to even get a pump from here you would need a prescription written from a doctor for the company to even sell you one. These are not items you can just buy off the net or anywhere.
To answer your question, I personally use the MiniMed pump and can recommend it, however my brother uses the Animas pump and he likes it. They are both excellent pumps and you should determine your selection based on the pumps capabilities and which one meets your needs best. If you can go on-line (since you are here I suspect you are able) go to the Medtronic and Animas sites and look at their products. Good luck to you.
Thanks Karen. I just have one question. i am currently on Lantus/humalog treatment.
i take 36 units of lantus daily & about 50 units of humalog daily too.
my question is: while using a pump do i need to take more than 50 units of humalog daily taking into consideration that i will stop taking LANTUS?
I am asking this question because i think i will choose the minimed pump but im confused which reservoir should i choose? the 1.76ml or the 3.0 ?
50 units of Humalog is a lot. You may even want to try Novalog or Apidra as your body may be somewhat resistant to the Humalog. I would go for the 3.0 so that you are not filling them up all the time. Also, contacting Medtronic is very simple and you will have to call them if you are going to start using one of their pumps. You are going to have to get trained and so forth. Medtronic also does email so you may want to send them an email with questions. Personally, I would go with Medtronic but I am biased because I use a 522!!
Shad, you’ll need to consult with your physician about this. You should also have your brother send you the book “Pumping Insulin” by John Walsh. It is an invaluable resource.
YES, YOU WILL STOP TAKING LANTUS.
I was on Lantus/Novalog before I went on the pump. I use only Novalog in the pump, so you’ll likely be using only Humalog in the pump. To start off, my doctor/trainers calculated my basal rate by dividing my daily intake of Lantus, by 24 hours.
So, in your case, 36 units of Lantus/day divided by 24 is a basal rate of 1.5 units of humolog per hour.
The size of the reservoir you use will depend on how much insulin you use on the average over three days. Assuming 1ml=100 units and you are using 258 units over three days (3x36=108 + 3x50=150), it looks to me as if you should get the 3.0ml reservoir. If it turns out that you use less, remember that you don’t need to fill the reservoir completely. I don’t. I only fill it with three days worth of insulin.
Keep in mind that I’m not a doctor, and I’m only explaining my experience. Talk to your doctor, get the book, good luck with the pumping.
BTW, I use the Minimed. I like it fine. They honored the warranty when the first one broke, but that was only once in five years. Now that my warranty is nearing it’s end, I’m considering switching to the Animas because of its partenrship with Dexcom.
Terry thanks for your detailed reply. I would like to ask you about your experience with NOVALOG. This year my use of HUMALOG changed a lot. i am obliged to take a huge number of units in order to stabilize my blood sugar, example: i need to take 18 units in order to eat a meal of 50g of carbohydrates, or 36 units in order to eat 100g of carbohydrates.
Could you tell me how much NOVALOG units you need to eat 50g of carbohydrates?
I am using the MiniMed Paradigm 722 and LOVE it! I use the 3ml reservoir and, sometimes, I can actually get 4 days out of it but I don’t do it often because of the risk of infection. I also use Humulin U500 insulin. That is because the U500 is 5 times as strong as other insulins. They started me on that one because I was taking Lantus and Novolog in larger quantities. With the switch, I am able to cut down the numbers by 5 times and, therefore use less insulin and a lot fewer reservoirs.
You might want to confer with a DR that is on this site. Her name is Sohair and she lives in Saudi Arabia. She is also a pediatric endocrinologist and may be able to help you with advice on insulin and/or anything else to help you out there in the Mideast. It couldn’t hurt to try!! Just search on her name and it will direct you to her site.
Good luck. I hope you can get things off the ground and running smoothly!
i think you should contact the companies making the pumps which u r interested in getting.
I’m not sure of this but i think that the Medtronic has a distributor in Lebanon. just sent them an e-mail asking if they r available in ur country or not ( u could find the e-mail on their website) i beleive this would be easier and rather cheaper than having ur brother send u the supplies every month. (im also thinking about getting a pump and thats what i did to find out that the Medtronic is the only one available in my country -Egypt-)
Hope this Helps!
and good luck with ur new pump
If you would like to learn about the pump before using it try this website. The training is exactly the same as the pump. Here’s some info on insulins. And a fantastic book to get is “Pumping Insulin” Walsh
you may want to reconsider rhis first
if you are taking the pump therapy it means responsabilty ,its not a magic to cast on your self
you NEED pump (acssesories)as you said,the pump is COMPLETELY useless without its infusion sets and all
if you are using insulin pens, imagine it with out its needles
if you are using syringes,its just like having an insulin vial with OUT the syringe it self
but if you really thought about the consequences you may want to conswider plan B in case you dont have infusin sets
If you got a MiniMed, you could upload your pump data to CareLink as often as you wanted. I’m assuming the Internet would allow you to access MiniMed CareLink. Then, get in touch with an endocrinologist and share your user id and password with him.
I’m doing this with only 75 miles between me and my endo, but it should work from anywhere. I would be uncomfortable setting up my own pump.
You will need a doctor to help you transition from MDI to pump as far as figuring out the basal amounts. I do remember they put my niece (diagnosed at 8 years old) on a flat .20 for every time period (she had been on 7 to 8 units of Lantus daily). We then had to figure out her pattern from that; where she went higher (evenings); lower (overnights, with lowest basals 1:30a.m or 2:00 a.m. to about 5am-ish). So I would imagine lower than your Lantus basal and flat would be safer; and you can go up from there. Do get John Walsh’s book “Pumping Insulin” and Ragnar Hanas book “Type 1 Diabetes” (although that is mainly for children and teens), it is a great book. “Think Like a Pancreas” by Gary Scheiner also great and has wonderful charts for figuring out exercise. We have had the Animas pump and we have had to get refurbished pumps when it broke down (we had three pumps in approximately two years; plus we upgraded so that was four pumps in two years). We have had the Minimed Paradigm pump one year and a half and it has never broken down. We did, however, recently screw the battery cap on extra tight (school nurse or our fault?). So we had to return it. We expressed our concerns regarding refurbished pumps and wanted to hold on to our own until they fixed it. They would not do that but they sent us a brand new pump! I believe the Minimed pump is the most reliable, it has been in business for the longest amount of time, they hold most of the market and put a lot of money back into research and development. If you lived in the U.S. and there was no problem getting replacements, I think any pump would do. But, in your case, I would get the Minimed because I firmly believe it breaks down the least.
pls