When to Pump....?

At what point did you go from shots to a pump? I’m curious as to when my Endo may recommend to start looking at switching out shots for a pump. Thanks for your replies!

I went from shots to a pump when it became obvious I could not control my mid-night and early morning (dawn effect) glucose levels via shots (5 per day: morning, meal times, bedtime). The pump - with its programmable basal rates - provided the perfect solution.

My main reason for switching was persistant night time lows.

I suggest switching at a time when you can devote time to learning to use the pump well! It is a wonderful device, but it does involve a lot of time and effort to use it well (in my opinion).

Are you interested in starting?

I have been having continuing morning highs (dawn phenomenon), which sets me high for the entire day. I have not been instructed by my Endo to correct my highs with insulin. Only to take insulin (Novolog) pre meal. So, I am having a very hard time keeping my BG lower by diet (I prefer using diet vs. insulin when I can) since I am not good at determing how much insulin to take vs. carb intake.

Wow, I am surprised your doc has not had you correct your highs with short acting insulin. It is well proven that having the highs for several hours can even have long term effects especially with complications. I correct my highs mostly in the am when I get up if I am not going to eat for awhile, and when I go to bed.

LindaE

When diet, exercise and Lantus didn’t control my BGs, I went to MDIs. When i continually woke up high and kept going high we switched to a pump. That’s just the way my disease progressed. Now my basal rates control the dawn effect and I usually wake around 80 provided i went to bed under 100. I can bolus for my regular breakfast and correct at 2 hours if I need to. I can eat that apple on the way home from work and bolus for it rather than going high. I would not have injected for a apple. I can’t eat rice, Chinese or Mexican. I can live with that!

I think my endo offered the pump within the first year as an option for me. I had read that 5 years was when complications could potentially develop and I think I secretly felt that the mistake would be discovered…I didn’t really have diabetes after all, or at least a miracle cure would present itself by the 5 year mark. 5 and 1/2 years later, I am still afflicted, so I am now on the pump. Not wanting to be attached to something kept me uninterested, but after passing my 5 year milestone, I came to the realization that vanity was no reason not to take care of my health. So far, I am happy with the switch.

Karen, your endo may be waiting for you to ask as they want you to be knowledgeable and compliant before tackling the technology, I suspect.

I am in the same boat you are. My endo wants me on the pump too, but I am hesitant with no reason. I like the idea but just now getting used to shots, and I like the BG numbers. I could probably get better control with a pump.

My question has been answered…I am currently working with Animas to get a Ping & start pumping. My endo recommended it at my last visit on April 1st. I’m excited and doing a ton of research. I am fininshing up with the book “Think like a pancrease” and just got “Pumping Insulin”. This site has been extreamly helpful, thank you to all who give such great feedback!
KarenS

That’s great news! I’m sure you’ll love pumping, once you learn the basics (and it sounds like you’re working on that). Have you received your Ping, yet? I found the Pumping Insulin book EXTREMELY helpful – I used it to define/adjust basal rates. A virtual encyclopedia for pumpers.

Hi Gerry, I should have my Ping in a few weeks, just got clearance from my insurance company. I am going to have some out of pocket expenses. But I feel it will be money well spent. Just saw my Endo again yesterday and my A1c is 6.1…down from 6.9!!! Very excited! Thanks for checking in with me!

I found one good reason that I am looking forward to a pump… Last evening I was doing my bedtime routine after a long day, and being run down with an on coming cold. I checked BG and I was at 578. Obviously very unusual, but I had indulged in some cereal earlier in the evening and forgot to bolus for it. I also have more trouble with highs when I am sick, so I drew down 10 units of humalog. About ten minutes later I drew down 35 units of basal. Should have been Lantus. Looked down at the vial after seemingly being on auto pilot, and discovered I had injected 35 more units of humalog instead. My check/double check system had failed me. It was my worst case scenario come true. Brain fart big time! This was at 9:45 PM. I dialed the “nurse on call” at my Endo, and she called the Doctor. Solution was to check every 1/2 hour and take on healthy carbs to keep it in check for the next five hours. Most drastic measure I took during the ordeal was a half glass of OJ after my BG dropped 300 points in one 1/2 hour segment. I was able to keep it between 120 and 160 for the remainder of the awake hours. I stabilized right around the five hour mark and was able to finally go to bed around 3 AM, comfortable that I had averted disaster. I can only imagine what would have happened had I not realized what I had done and gone straight to bed. I have only been doing Humalog since June 2009 when I was finally placed in the 1.5 LADA category after struggling with type 2 treatments for four years. I have been using Lantus for two of those four years. My son has been a type 1 for over a year now (age 13) and has been using a Ping since Dec 2008. My Endo feels comfortable that I may be ready for the pump this month mainly because I am well trained as a pump parent. I welcome a device with open arms at this point. My wife feels that my unusual extreme BG played a part in my mishap, but I still feel like a royal idiot because I pretty darn careful about it all. One good thing about the situation is that I am not as terrified of Humalog like I was prior, but I will be a little skidish doing the whole evening routine for a while I believe. Live and Learn.

Wanted to update this thread. I am now using an OmniPod pump and although it has only been for short time, Life is much improved these days. When it’s time to go to a pump. I hope you will consider it.

I started pumping about 5 months after initial diagnosis. I started MDI shortly prior to getting pregnant started the pump during the pregnancy. That helped with so many minor & major adjustments to my basal and bolus rates. Its now been 9 1/2 years that I’ve been pumping and I love it.

BTW, I use a MM R/T 722 w/ CGMS

I’ve been on shots since the day I was diagnosed in 2006. I now want to switch to the pump as shots just aren’t working for me anymore and its been a battle. I figured my team would jump on it and nope, they aren’t (I even wrote a post about it). I do not know how to correct when I am high and have mentioned it to my team and from what I gather, they aren’t going to show me. As Kristen said, switch when you know you have that time to do so. I have the time now as I work part time but that can change and at that time, I may not be able to switch over. So I agree when you have the time to devote yourself to learning, understand and get use to the pump.