I’m all hooked up to my T-slim and loving it! Of course, I started on low basal and bolus ratios… but I have no problem making corrections
Right now, I’m on the same basal rate for the entire 24 hour period…waiting for them to see the pattern I told them about (aka I am more insulin resistant in the evening,) I understand that numbers are considered a more objective system for analysis. Like I said, I have no problem making corrections.
Still learning how to sleep with it and go to the bathroom, etc. Definitely getting better at navigating the screen. Hoping by this time next week to be comfortable filling cartridge, inserting insets, etc, etc…
It’s a whole new world! Welcoming all tips from this experienced group
Congrats on starting this new adventure, @Ahnalira! I’ve been pumping for over 20 years, and am definitely far more able to manage my BG with the pump than I ever could without it (everyone’s different, of course). It takes some getting used to, for sure, but most people stick with it once they’re past that initial period.
Here’s my tip: try sleeping with the pump under your pillow, and your body on top of the tubing. I wear a tubeless pump now, but when I wore a tubed pump that worked best for me to avoid getting tangled in the tubing at night.
Yay! Welcome to the club. I just clip my pump to my jammies to sleep or like Emily said, it can go under the pillow or if you aren’t a roll all over the place just lay right beside you. I don’t know what the issue is with going to the bathroom, my pump is clipped to my bra though so that never is a problem.
Now I am going to out myself as the old hippie I am… I sleep nekkid, and I don’t wear a bra. So far, I am putting it into a pocket or clipping it onto my pants.
I did see a “waist tube” on Etsy that is holder for the pump… I might end up wearing those instead of a bra
Welcome to the pump club, @Ahnalira. I started 28 years ago and I never looked back. It’s more convenient, more flexible, and has a much better memory that I do. Did I take that meal dose?
Congratulations! I hope the pump proves as helpful for you as it has for me and so many others! Been on a pump for a bit over a year now – still sometimes trying to figure out some of those nuisances! I usually sleep in a pair of shorts, so I make sure there are pockets - that’s worked for me. Lately, I’ve been putting infusion sets on my arms (got into that habit after my short-lived time using Omnipod) - so I’ve had to worry a bit about where the tubing goes (I’m a guy that doesn’t like to wear shirt when I sleep. Then there’s times when I have sites on my thighs – going to the bathroom required just a bit more thought – or I’m gonna have to go get a new set! Even though the Animas Vibe I use is waterproof, I still disconnect for showers – one less “worry”
Hi Emily c I am a new pump or how long do you think it takes for you to be accustomed to the insulin pump and my doctor still working on Basil settings with me so we’re still doing basil testing is quite annoying to do I was just wondering how long does it take to get everything into place
Congratulations @Ahnalira! Here is hoping that your pumping chapter will be enormously successful, perhaps even ginormously so!
RE: sleeping. I find having the pump under my pillow disturbing because, just as I am drifting off, I will hear the micro-motor move every 3 minutes to deliver the basal insulin. I just lay it on the bed next to me. I am a bit unique though, because I am a side sleeper AND I wake up every time I need to change sides. So when I swap sides, I grab the pump and bring it over to the new side.
Like @Thas, I wear a pair of lightweight gym shorts so I can stash the pump in a pocket when I get up during the night. Oy! Doorknobs!! I have replaced many of the drawer pulls with handles that can’t grab the tubing.
Basal testing… yuck. That’s definitely a difficult process, and hard to get right. I think the amount of time it takes to get correct basals set up, and get used to the pump itself, differs for everyone. Since I started pumping so long ago I don’t really remember how long it took me to get used to it, but tinkering with basal rates is an ongoing process (although not always as intense as actual basal testing, complete with fasting), as our basal needs can change over time. My very rough and general estimate would be to give yourself a month or two to start feeling like the pump is becoming habit, rather than novelty.
Sorry I can’t say anything more definitive! It’s just such an individual process…
I thought the amount of time it takes to complete basal testing and get the settings perfect is EXACTLY the amount of time it takes for your diabetes to change… so you can start over…
Seriously, when I first started on the pump, the CDE worked with me for around two weeks, at which point, though perhaps not “perfect,” my settings were extremely close to that. Things change all the time, but I was at a good baseline at the end of those two weeks.
@Terry4 and @EmilyC , I am looking into the pump, but I get scared when I hear stories of people that went into DKA overnight because the pump stopped working or the absorption was delayed because of scar tissue or something with the tube… Have you ever experience something like that? Has your pump ever stopped working and how did you manage that? Thank you!!!
I have had a pump “stop working” overnight, due to an occlusion, as well as due to insulin running out (once- a miscalculation on my part). The pump alarm work me promptly, and the problem was fixed before it because more than just a nuisance.
While a malfunctioning pump can go south quickly; it’s not that quickly. It’s measured in many hours. That means that you will have ignored your diabetes, no fingersticks, no thoughts of, “I feel weird, maybe I should check my blood glucose,” a complete lack of concern for your metabolic health. I don’t know about you, but diabetes occupies my thoughts frequently. I may be distracted by an interesting movie or some real life drama for a few hours, but I don’t let my diabetes go on autopilot for 8, 12, or 16 hours at a time. It’s not natural for me!
If you think you may be distracted for more than 8 hours at a time with nary a thought of your blood glucose, then maybe a pump is not for you. The same thing could happen on MDI if you miss one or two basal shots.
I’ve never been in DKA so I can’t speak from experience. But I know when my BGs have been running higher than say 250 mg/dl for even an hour. This is not a surprise! I don’t get caught unaware. I fingerstick more than 10x/day, wear a CGM, and am well-tuned into the yucky greasy feeling of being hyperglycemic. If I wake up in the middle of the night and have to pee like a horse, the thought does occur to me that maybe I should check my blood sugar. DKA might be sneaky but it’s not that sneaky!
And your Lantus, Levemir, Toujeo, or Tresiba pen will not alert you that you missed a dose!
[quote=“Terry4, post:15, topic:50406, full:true”]
I’ve never been in DKA so I can’t speak from experience. But I know when my BGs have been running higher than say 250 mg/dl for even an hour.[/quote]
Nor have I; however, I tend to get headaches when my BG rises above 150, so I am aware when things are not right on the high end – So much so, that even though I wear a CGM, at times I feel one of those “high-BG headaches” even when the CGM shows normal BG – so I test and find out that its wrong. My headaches are more “accurate!” (I have milder indications on the low end, hence the CGM, but that isn’t the question you asked…)
I’ve had my pump stop absorbing properly overnight. I was alarmed by my CGM and took a correction. Then I woke a few hours later to an even higher bg when I had to pee! That doesn’t happen often. At night, if my CGM alarms high, I correct then before going back to sleep I will set the alarm higher so I know if I keep rising. For example, it is set to alarm at 140. If I wake up and am 160, I will then set the alarm to 200 just to be safe and not lose sleep.
I am totally with @Terry4 on this one. Paying attention to what your tests and CGM data are telling you is important whether on MDI or a pump. Don’t let this fear stop you from using a tool that is clearly better for most people.
The closest I have come to DKA is when I had a severe exercise-induced low, immediately followed by a bad infusion set (pulled it out a bit during exercise, I think). So, not exactly a pump malfunction, but in the space of about 8 hours, I went from 44mg/dl to over 500. Confused thinking from the low, followed by confused, lethargic thinking from the high … UGH! I solved the immediate problem with an Intramuscular shot. That brought me back into range so I could resume “normal” pump operation after putting in a new infusion set.
For most, the plan for handling a pump failure is to go back on MDI while waiting for the new pump to arrive. It’s not a perfect plan by any stretch, but it does let you tread water.
I did my first inset/cartridge change last evening and had my first troubleshooting opportunity I say it blithely now, but last night I was scared and nervous…honestly, I knew in my mind I was walking a little closer to the “edge” with an insulin pump, but I didn’t realize how nervous I felt about that until my blood sugar started going up and up and up.
I called the T-slim support line, and he helped me test to make sure there wasn’t a blockage in the cartridge or tubing. He helped me change out the cannula and fit it to the cartridge so that I wouldn’t lose three days worth of insulin and the cartridge. What a nice guy, right?
When I pulled out the first cannula, sure enough it was angled. Shoot. I am using the T:90 with a plasctic injector, and he said I probably placed more pressure on once side of the plastic than the other when I released the injection spring.
So, now I’m thinking I might be better off using a system where I place the cannula myself, moving the middle man, if you will, and reducing possible operator errors. As well, I am blessed with stretch marks of birthing two babies and, if stretch marks exclude an area for insertion, then my entire lower abdomen is off limits…if I use an angled inset that I place myself, do stretch marks matter so much?
These are my burning questions for y’all right at this moment
I say it blithely now, but last night I was scared and nervous…honestly, I knew in my mind I was walking a little closer to the “edge” with an insulin pump, but I didn’t realize how nervous I felt about that until my blood sugar started going up and up and up.
