Pump Vacation?

I'm considering a pump vacation because I'm having difficulty with my infusion sites. I'm wondering if it'll be worth it. If you've taken a pump break, please share your story. Is it easy to switch to shots? Is it worth it? How were your bg levels? I know this will vary from person to person but I'm just curious. I will be talking to my doctor at my next appointment.

Here's a post with lots of links about taking a "pump vacation"
https://forum.tudiabetes.org/topics/pump-vacation-1

I recently took a 3 day pump vacation when I ran out of omnipods at college :P I really did not enjoy it at all. I found it to be such a hassle that it wasn't worth staying on shots a second longer than I had to. They hurt a little (which I'm not used to anymore), my blood sugar was volatile and tended to be high. Talk to your endo, they'll help you sort it out.

I took a vacation from my pump last summer. It was not what I hoped it would be. I did not adjust to it like I thought I would. After three weeks of battling the high sugars and feeling extremely fatigued, I decided to go back on my pump. But everyone is different and you may adjust better than me. What kind of difficulty are you having with your infusion sites?

I've taken a couple as one sweaty run blew up a pump and I got caught in the rain once, also running. Both times on the Saturday of a 3 day weekend.

The first time, I was like "eeek" (or maybe "arrgh" or "%&@#" or maybe all of the above...) and went to get N, discovered how expensive it was without an RX, which got me even more riled up but then calmed down and did ok for the weekend. The second time, I decided to call the doc, get an rx for Lantus/ Levemir (it ended up being the latter...) and it was pretty simple. I don't recall any big excitement BG wise. The first time, it was the first time I'd run 14 miles (and it was like 80 when we started and 93 when we finished, really hot...) and then we did bicycling and partying on top of that so it was pretty easy to keep things under control with a lot of activity mixed in. I was pleased with how the Levimir worked too but I didn't really work out with it very much so I'm thinking I still prefer the pump.

Hello-
I took a pump vacation in 2012 when I unexpectedly lost my health insurance and couldn't afford the pump anymore. Funny enough, it wasn't really that bad. Lantus is fricking EXPENSIVE too though and you need to replace it fairly frequently as the proteins in the insulin break down quickly. I found that when I went back on shots I needed to check my blood sugar more often and I absolutely could NOT skip exercise. Blood sugars were the same as they were on a pump when I had regular exercise, at least 3x a week. I definitely battled the Dawn Phenomenon as well- yay surging blood sugars at 4AM that CANNOT be controlled with one shot of Lantus. I did experience more morning highs on the Lantus as on the pump I had my basal rates adjusted to increase starting at 330AM. Things I enjoyed about not being on the pump after using it for 10 years straight: less site management (aka my hips and belly actually healed from 10 years of infusion sites), flexibility to give my shot in my arms (Who wears a pump in their arm or butt?), flexibility with contact sports and physical activities (no worries that my infusion site will rip out), no worrying that my infusion site will catch on the doorknob when I walk by and my tubing is sticking out (trust me, I have a serious problem with this), freedom to wear miniskirts and super fitted chic clothing without worrying about an ugly pump clipped to my outfit, sleeping without waking up with a pump jabbing me in the side or back or...you get the point. Anyway I think going back on MDI (multiple daily injections) has positives and negatives. Only thing is: A1c on the pump was always 7.2 and under....A1c on the shots started at 7.8 and got it down to 7.3 with what seemed like more work than what I had to do on the pump. It's all trade-offs....

Realize that will need to find out how much insulin you need all over again because you will switch insulin (long acting), and generally pumps are more efficient for basal. You can estimate the increase, but it will take a little time.

Basal might not be as consistent and you might need to tweak things. You can't just turn it off to do exercise. There are a couple of T1s on MDI here who take a little metformin before bed to deal with dawn phenomenon. I don't need a lot of sleep, and typically I wake up around 6, make a correction, and go back to sleep for an hour.

Finally, you get rid of some of the variability (infusion sites) that you might have with a pump.

I don't mind the needles/pain, so MDI has been working fine for me. I also live near the ocean/beach, so I don't want ot worry about the expensive electronics. My entire kit fits in my pocket. I have a couple of loaded syringes, a small meter, test strips, and some glucose tablets. I need nothing else. Okay, I'm lying a bit...I also have a Dexcom G4, but often I'll carry one or the other and not both.