HI! i been a diabetic for 14 years and in the pass year i have not been good with my diabetes my aic is 10.7. and i need to get my diabetes in control again we all know is hard,i love food and it seems that i cant say no to it, and i do not check my blood sugar i guess on my insulin shots. so i was talking to my doctor and i decided to get a pump and a cgm, so i been checking my blood sugars for the pass two weeks and i have to see my doctor in a week to talk about my pump options. i need help i do not know anything about pumps so i was wondering if anyone could advise me in witch pump i should get and cgm. thank you
Good job starting to test your BG! If you want to adjust your A1C that's extremely important. Diabetes sucks but taking control of it can be a rewarding feeling.
Re pumps, I have read good things about all of them here. I have a Medtronic 523, which is perhaps the most "popular" although this is as much because their marketing is very aggressive and they seem to have "penetrated" the doctor mindset as a lot of doctors recommend them first. The display is *very* old school but the data management makes sense and the pumps have been very reliable for me.
Omnipod doesn't have a tube, which makes it very appealing to many people. You stick the gizmo on and run it with a remote.
Animas has a snazzier display than the Medtronic, I can't remember, it might be waterproof but I'm not sure. I don't see a big difference between Animas and Medtronic but I've never played w/ the Animas pumps.
TSlim is a newer company, their pumps are much snazzier than the other ones put together, styled like an iphone with a touch screen. I've never had one of these.
Good for you Cristian! As one who has been there, it definitely takes work to regain control of your control, but I believe it's worth it. I agree with AcidRock - there are lots of options for pumps these days which gives you great variety to choose from to get a good fit for you.
Does your endo have the local sales rep's numbers to try them out? Often you can get a demo for a bit to see if you like it.
I use the omnipod and dexcom and they work very well for me. I know that Animas is coming out with the Vibe soon (where the Dexcom and the pump are integrated). Medtronic's pump is already integrated with their cgm.
Keep up the resolve to test more - info makes all the difference in control!
Hey Christian congratulations on taking the first step in getting your D in control. I have had D for a little more than 38 years and really only recently started to take much better care of myself. If you love food, don't check your blood sugar and guess on your insulin doses then to be honest a pump may not be the right answer for you right now. The learning curve is really steep and you have to be committed to it because it becomes your lifeline. You mess up with a pump even for a short time you can crash and burn quickly.
What might be a better option at least for now is to start with a CGM - I use the Dexcom G4 which is accurate and saves me from having to check my blood sugar 12 times a day. The learning curve is much easier, and if you mess it up, it won't put you in the hospital. It also allows you to feel what it is like to have something attached to you 24/7. Once you can actually "see" in real time what the foods you love do to your blood sugar you can better judge insulin doses or whether you actually really want to eat those foods to begin with.
As for what type of pump if you check with your endo or CDE they can give you the opportunity to handle all of the potential pump options and see if one appeals to you. I personally after 6 months of using the CGM decided on an Omnipod Pump because it is tubeless and waterproof and I swim a lot.
Good luck I hope you find what you are looking for and keep up the good work it all starts with just checking your blood sugars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrVQT2HdoTI&feature=c4-overview&list=UUPzvf_zSsExm2JMvzUizXqQ
difference between animas and minimed