LADA (t1 diabetes) is the latest in my number of autoimmune diseases. After diagnosis, pills were useless; then came years on MDI. Finally, pumping with the Medtronics 508 brought reasonably good control, and the 522 even better control. Unfortunately, with time I lost so many pump sites that could absorb that I had to revert to MDI for a year. Now (drum roll) I use my pump for four days per week, and shots for three days mid-week. The insulins that work for me are Apidra in the pump; Apidra, Humulin R and Levemir for MDI days. The biggest problem is remembering to take the nightly Levemir after those shotless pump day and nights! Does anyone else use some kind of dual treatment?
For years I was lucky to have a miniature dachshund, Wendy, who faithfully slept next to my bed at night and alerted me to lows (and extreme highs). She woke me up four nights before she died of old age to tell me that I was low ( my meter read 41). I will very likely get another puppy, hoping that she can be encouraged/trained to develop similar alerting skills.
Sorry to hear about your loss. We have a dachsund, now at least 14 years old. I’m sure you miss your daily companion and the hypo alertness as well. Did you teach her to get upset when you went low, or did she just do this naturally?
Thanks for your comment. Wendy alerted naturally, probably because we were so bonded. All of our other dogs are medium or large, so she got to be the lapdog, the one who slept next to the bed. I was on my own in the daytime, but that was OK–I have a meter.
Thanks, Mistress Binky, using the forearms is a good idea. Congratulations on those great blood sugars! I think using forearms could work for me with Sure-T’s. I don’t have much real estate for pump sites now, so I mostly wear my pump when my schedule is really going to change, such as holidays and restaurant dining, or when I can’t get off the roller coaster. The more usable sites the better!
Trudy, out of curiosity are your sites unusable due to atrophy? I have that problem, and I have been off the pump for six years because I know it will just happen again.
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