So I just wanted to make this post if anyone was curious or thinking about switching to Tresiba. I’ll just say it right now — JUST DO IT! lol
For years I have struggled with the dawn phenomenon. I mean really bad. Not doing anything would land me a 220-250 sugar by morning normally. I have been on Lantus exclusively since being diagnosed 8 years ago pretty much. Lantus was not that great with dealing with the dawn phenomenon with me, but better than Basaglar! Overall it was a ok basal. In June or July I did switch to Basaglar against my will because of insurance reasons. While the stuff is ok, it wasn’t great either. Lantus is much better than Basaglar! Period!
Anyways, not long ago I heard about Tresiba. From what I seen just about anyone that tries it, loves it! And what really peaked my interest is that a lot of people who went on Tresiba also noticed no or less effect of the dawn phenomenon. Thus why I was interested in trying this basal alone. So I was anxious to give it a try. Took a month or so and I finally got my endo to prescribe me a box. I have been on Tresiba for about a week, and it has been awesome so far. Of course my body is still getting used to this new insulin so there is that. But I have noticed overnight blood sugars have really stabilized. I now no longer have to get up and give my self shots to counteract the dawn phenomenon highs that will occur by morning. I will attach a couple graphs of the last couple nights.
If you are struggling with the dawn phenomenon or just not having success with your current basal insulin, I’d suggest you should really consider giving Tresiba a try. I think it is the best basal ever! And it really works to stabilize sugars all day long! BTW, I am not paid to say this lol And lets just hope things continue this good long term
I don’t suppose you are expecting this to be better than using an insulin pump that has many basal settings. I do 6 rates per 24 hours, in order to get more basal during those problematic early morning hours.
I hope it continues to work well for you and please post as you continue to use it. I tried it for 3 weeks when it first came to Canada and didn’t have a good experience with it. My first week was great actually, but I think there was residual Levemir in my system. After that it would wear off in the late afternoon consistently so I went back to Levemir. I don’t experience a dawn phenomenon from a split dose of Levemir though and it works pretty well for me. I might try it again in the future but I have plenty of Levemir to get through and don’t feel like going through a basal transition for a while. It would be interesting to hear from people having good experiences with Lantus or Levemir if the improvement is as dramatic.
I’ve seen people post about Tresiba rendering pumps ancient technology and I think that’s nonsense for a variety of reasons. However, I think it’s good that there are so many options now and I’ve come to recognize that something that works well for me doesn’t work well for everyone and vice-versa. My numbers are often better in the morning than they were on my pump using Levemir, so it’s all an individual thing.
Well it is better than an insulin pump because I’m not on one! Lol And I don’t see myself on one anytime soon neither. I have better control than most people who are on pumps. So yea, it’s not worth my bother yet. There is no advantage over MDI for me. Well there was one until I found Tresiba. And if Tresiba continues to work well then I am all set. Pumps have advantages but also many disadvantages.
Scott, all well put. In this day and age I think forward-looking folks are (or “should”) be considering all of the benefits of pumping, which if they have never used one, would be unaware of. Turning off basal insulin, or reducing it greatly, for activity/exercise is one of THE most useful features of pumping. Once you get a basal dose via a pen, into your body, you are “stuck” with it for the duration of that particular type of insulin, which could be roughly 24 hours. been there; done that.
Thanks, me too! Did you try increasing your dose? It is supposed to last a full 48 hours unlike other basals. So technically you can skip taking it one night and “be okay”. But yeah, everyone is different and react differently. The first couple of days were kinda over the place. Afternoons were higher as well. But everything seems to be normalizing now. I will continue to update.
There are many… But the obvious ones are: the tubing that can and will get in your way. Carrying around another device (a pump), changing sets and filling pump every 3 days (more annoyance), when you shower and sleep there is no place to put a pump (unless you have the Omnipod you are good), you still have to bolus - so you are still taking shots, sites are limited and will wear out eventually, sites fail causing high bgs. I know there are many pros/advantages, but those don’t outweigh the cons for me. I have talked with many long time pump users that have switched back to MDI. Pumps are not to the point yet where it makes sense for me.
I know there are many threads debating this topic endlessly so there isn’t much more to add here, other than that I think it is an individual choice and both methods are more comparable than ever before in the days of Levemir, Lantus and Tresiba. I have been able to achieve the same level of control on either method and both have their problems that only a cure could solve.
Right off the bat, the most bogus claim you mentioned was “when you shower and sleep there is no place to put a pump (unless you have the Omnipod you are good), you still have to bolus - so you are still taking shots,”
How do people think that is true??? When you shower, you just unhook the pump from the set, set it down and take a shower. When done, you hook back up. Showering isn’t going to take long enough for the tiny lack of basal to make ANY difference to one’s bg’s.
Secondly, you wear your pump in bed! clipped to shorts, etc, laid beside you, placed into a spibelt type belt (like my wife does).
I’ve been pumping since 1995. Haven’t “worn out” my body yet, bye pumping.
Site failure? Not if you use steel sets instead of cannulas. site failure so rare for me, I can’t even remember when. oh yeah, when i used cannulas, ages ago.
Some people don’t like to pump. I’ll grant you that.
I already know you can unclip from the set when showering. And the way I toss and turn at night my site would be ripped out by morning!
And I’m glad you love the pump! Some people do! I don’t! And if you are trying to convince me it’s not gonna happen. When and if I ever decide to pump I will come to that decision on my own.
Dexcom is a far more valuable tool for me! I’m good on shots!
My wife and I both toss and turn. Haven’t pulled out a set since back in the 1990’s before I switch to Sure-T’s. I cover the set with an IV3000. The Sure-T’s have a “strain relief” design, in that there is a connector for the tubing, located about 4" from the set, with its own adhesive disk. that makes it quite, quite, difficult to accidentally dislodge a set, compared to other types of sets. I DO understand people’s trepidation in using something new (to them). Besides which, IF doing MDI gives one acceptable results, why bother pumping?
I haven’t been on this forum all that long, so I haven’t noticed any active “pumping pros and cons” threads. SORRY! And I don’t believe in posting to a thread that hasn’t been touched in many months, so I don’t go searching for old threads.
It is fine. I just don’t want to get off topic and start a debate about pumping or MDI. I’m glad it works for you.
And I think you hit the nail on the head right here “Besides which, IF doing MDI gives one acceptable results, why bother pumping?”. My A1C is 5.4. I consider my control better than 80% of diabetics (not sure how far off I am on that percentage). Even some pumpers. So for me why do something different when it works?
I just started this thread to give my opinion on Tresiba and hopefully get feedback from others who use it too. And what works for them.
Yep, your A1c is fantastic. Mine was 5.7 a couple months ago.
Yes, it really makes sense that if MDI is keeping one’s bg’s at a safe level for long-term (and short term) safety, why bother with anything else. MDI is something I did for one year about 5 years ago because I wanted to lose weight (pumping gives us too much “freedom”) and while I did lose around the 20 lbs I wanted to, I had issues that only a pump could adequately address, so I went back on it. that was the only pump “vacation” I’ve ever taken since '95. It remains to be seen if I’ll ever go off of it again. I won’t say “never” as who knows?
Thanks, it is hard work! But you know that! 5.7 is very good as well. While A1c is important I think it is more important to keep sugars steadier… because I have seen some people have low A1Cs but all over the place sugars.
I am justglad we have options to choose! I sometimes wish we had more options but glad we do have options! As 20-30 years ago it was a whole different story as you know.
