I started my pump 3 days ago! I know exactly how you feel but trust me, the last three days have been the most blissful days Iāve had in regards to diabetes, since being injected with insulin the first time 9 years ago. I went 9 months undiagnosed and almost died. The feelings Iāve had this week are almost as good as that feeling of finally having regular blood sugar again. My A1C prior to the pump was 8.1, not horrible I know, but it was always a disappointment, that no matter how hard I tried, I too could not get over my dawn phenomenon.
Every night this week I have maintained steady, healthy, near-perfect glucose levels, and all because of htis wonderful pump.
What do you mean by āeverything else justs get programmed into the pump and happens without too much intervention on yur partā. Arenāt you the one that programmed it??
Thatās great that itās going smoothly for both of you guys! I had the same reaction!
I was thinking that another useful thing about the pump is that Iām more inclined to recognize changes as being ānaturalā rather than āscrew upsā? W/ R/N that I was using before the pump, every test was sort of like a slot machine? Sometimes itād be ok but sometimes it wouldnāt but my conclusion was that Iād erred.
I can still screw up on the pump but I think the errors arenāt off by as much and that it inclines me to be more organized in my approach. If I run a week through a couple of different sets and my numbers are up, Iāll tweak basals or C/I ratio to put it back. If it goes too far, I can try something else but I use pretty small adjustments and get nice results much more easily than I found myself able to do w/ MDI?
Thanks for the message. Iāve been feeling really good myself! I donāt know if itās psychological or physical or both, but Iām hoping the feeling doesnāt go away.
I am a pump ānewbieā only on the Animas Pump for one week. I would never, ever want to go back to MDI. Get a copy of Pumping Insulin from Amazon.com or any bookstore and read it from front to back a couple of times. Or, you can use it as a quick reference for questions and any doubts you might have. Good Luck and Enjoy
Donāt sweat the age progression. Iāll be 73 in July and I know for a fact that life only gets better with the yearsā¦get comfortable with yourself and enjoy the ride!
I had the same reaction after realizing that although I had been approved for my pump and CGM (yay), I would actually have to learn to USE them (oh no!)ā¦I had very ambivalent feelings about the CGM in particular after reading all of the lovely horror stories about it online. The day my pump came in the mail I ended up going for training (by a stroke of luck), and even though I was shaking with my first site insertion, I quickly realized that it wasnāt a big deal.
I moved very quickly from injections to the pump (about two weeks from starting MDI until the day I got my pump), and it was a pretty flawless transition. One of the big advantages with the pump is that you donāt have to deal with finding a (hopefully clean) bathroom to give yourself an injection when youāre eating outā¦You just push a couple of buttons, and no oneās the wiser. Also, Iām sure youāre already familiar with carb counting since youāre on injections, and the pump makes that easier as well. You just plug in your BG and the carbs you plan to intake, and it does the bolus calculation for you.
All in all, the pump has made my life much easier, and more normalā¦I donāt know about you, but for me thatās huge! As others have said, youāll soon wonder what you did without it! There are also some great books out there that will help you learn more about life with the pump and answer any questions that you may have. I have the following books, although I havenāt had a chance to do more than skim them as of yet:
āāInsulin Pump Therapy Demystified: An Essential Guide for Everyone Pumping Insulinā by Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer
āāSmart Pumping: A Practical Approach to the Insulin Pumpā by Howard A. Wolpert
āāPumping Insulin: Everything You Need for Success on a Smart Insulin Pumpā by John Walsh
I also highly recommend John Walshās āUsing Insulinā for a smart, detailed overview on how insulin works. It gives you a great foundation to work from.
I have the exact same jitter. I just started to figure everything out with MDI. I know how I react at certain time of the day and Iāve got a pretty good control on it. Now Iām worried about essentially starting over!
Iām betting I will. Iām a technophile so it really intrigues me. Plus I love the idea of being able to really fine tune the insulin, instead of making the food work to the dosage.
I agree. Everything you learned on MDI will be useful on a pump. In fact I canāt imagine having to learn everything we learned on MDI (carb counting, corrections, insulin needs, etc) at the same time as learning the pump. Iām glad I did it the way I did (MDI for just short of two years before starting my pump).
I actually read every word of Pumping Insulin by John Walsh before I got my pump. Then I picked it up again today, one month in and found I got a lot out of re-reading because now itās not just theoretical!
I totally understand how youāre feeling!! Iāve been diabetic for 17 years and have only been on my pump for 7 months and am kicking myself for taking so bloody long to do this. My A1C are the best theyāve ever been and I no longer wake up with ridiculous highs or massive migraines from lows. I love eating and extending a bolus instead of injecting myself before and after a big meal (hello sushi!!!). I regret not having done this during my pregnancy 2 years ago. Itās weird for the first few weeks as you keep thinking you forgot to injectā¦lol but youāre going to LOVE this.
I go for pump training on Monday, got my vials of insulin today from the pharmacy. One thing I didnāt have to do is fight with the insurance company!! Not taking 7 shots a DAY is going to be AWESOME!!! I am still worried about the thing that goes into the skin, but it has to happen so I am going to suck it up. I am the kid that hated needles and was a big chicken till about 3 years ago. Still I am EXCITED!!!
Itās natural to have the jittersā¦I just started the pump and so far itās not bad (although Iām not getting the results I want fast enough). You can do it and you really wanted it or you wouldnāt have gotten this far. Keep heart, it will be the best decision youāve made in a long timeā¦just go for the ride. I, too, felt the jitters and when the box came in the mail, I let it sit there for days because I was so scared. Youāll do great!
So how long did it take for you to start getting good numbers? Iāve had mine a week and Iām going way too high from only one piece of bread! I mean how long does it take for the endo to calibrate it? Currently Iām working with an endo nurse. I feel we should be more agressive but sheās worried about me going hypo. I hate going hyper!
