Am I the only one?

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Here's my story.

Over the last summer I've done a carb counting course (SADIE for those of us in the Eastbourne area). That helped me to get better results however I just want to take it to the next level. I just don't think that MDI is working as well as I want it to for me. This may well be me being a perfectionist but I am fed up with getting chewed out for never getting my HbA1c under 8%. I'm also going to be looking into getting into much more sport after I get my pump because I don't like exercising on MDI because of all the crap that comes with it such as tanking up on juices/chocolates before heading out on a run because I can't adjust my basal like the pumpers can.

What's more is I'm begining to get fed up with jabs every day. Pumping nearly eliminates the need for jabs bar the set insertion and if things go pear shaped with the sets and lines. It seems the more jabs I take the better my control is. I'm just begining to get tired of constant jabs and quite frankly I don't like it. MDI post carb counting makes life a little more complicated. I'm sure the pump is hard work to begin with but after that to me it seems it'll be worth it.

Tom
 
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Tom Hreben said:
I don't like exercising on MDI because of all the crap that comes with it such as tanking up on juices/chocolates before heading out on a run because I can't adjust my basal like the pumpers can.

What's more is I'm begining to get fed up with jabs every day. Pumping nearly eliminates the need for jabs bar the set insertion and if things go pear shaped with the sets and lines. It seems the more jabs I take the better my control is. I'm just begining to get tired of constant jabs and quite frankly I don't like it. MDI post carb counting makes like a little more complicated. I'm sure the pump is hard work to begin with but after that to me it seems it'll be worth it.

Tom
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this is precisely the reason i want a pump 🙂
 
:I agree, everyone is different and has different needs. I have injected for the last 25 years and i'm only 27 now. But the thought of a pump makes me run a mile. I have been offered a pump on several occasions. I attended a meeting about them and met a few folk with them and the whole idea of it been stuck to me was horrible.
But thats just how I feel. I have had years of terrible highs, ketonasidodis, (not sure how to spell) 6 times as a teenager and many others problems related to being diagnosed at such a young age. Doctors saying ah she'll be fine as she's never know any different. Well thats mince cos it wasn't fine. I finally at 18 decided to sort it out, i work hard to keep my HB1C down at 7ish. I don't fret if i get the odd high now and again. More likely to be low these days. I just try my best. I feel lucky i have got this far and touch wood still hanging in there.
My other problem with a pump was where to put it on items such as my wedding dree last summer. It was suggested in my bra. So i decided to put my mobile in my bra to see how it would be, and i didn't like the idea.

All i'm trying to say is its a personal choice, do lots of research and make the choice yourself. Hang in there and just always try try try yourbest. It's worked for me this far. x x x 🙂
 
I must admit to being a bit squeamish about the thought of having a canula inserted. I'm still a long way off that I hope, but I really don't like the notion. Having said that I'm not sure how I'd cope with injecting either, if that day ever comes.
 
Hi just thought id jump back in on the cannula issue 😛 - its not like an long i/v cannula you get in the hosp. Its a tiny plastic tube with a needle through it, about the same length as a pen needle. Its goes in at 90 degrees anywhere you have a little bit of body fat, and a tiny plastic housing about the size of a three 20ps, stacked on top of eachother, sticks on the outside of your skin.

Tom can verify the painless inserting method, and how how you cant actually feel them once theyre in because i gave him one to try while he was making his mind up and he wore it for a few days!

More people should get the option to look at.play with pumps and all their accesories because its all much less frightening than you think at first.

Right now i have my pump clipped to the front of my bra in the middle. Looking at me you couldnt see it (i have a v-necked t-shirt on too), and i cant feel it. The tube goes down my stomach where it is tucked into my trousers and comes round to my right hip where i have decided to put the cannula for these three days.

For dressier occasions ive found tucking pump into shorts-style magic knickers keeps it firmly in place, you can still access it, and it doesnt ruin the line of your boobs in a slinky dress! 🙂 There are loads of way to hide it and lots of clips and accessories available to help find what works for you!

(for weddings and stuff you can always take it off for the day temporaily with a bit of forward planning and a chat with your team, but id personally be more worried about tryign to access a bit of skin under layers and layers of wedding dress :D)
 
Viki said:
Tom can verify the painless inserting method, and how how you cant actually feel them once theyre in because i gave him one to try while he was making his mind up and he wore it for a few days!
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I definitely can back that up! The inserter device that Viki gave to me at the London meet up made it painless. It was so very quick and it really didn't hurt at all. I forgot that I had the cannula after a little. I just used it to freak out flat mates! In all honesty, I did enjoy having it in because I didn't notice it. I was seriously tempted to start putting my pen into it to give my jabs!
 
Well - my Hannah (17 not diabetic) has just inserted a canula and attached it to Alex's new pump! (no insulin). She said it didnt hurt at all.

I havent told Alex she is wearing it - think i will just tell Han to look at her 'sensor' later and watch his face as she produces a pump!:DBev
 
My boyfriend also messed around with the cannulas when i first started and he also said it was painless. And he has very little body fat which i thought would mean it would hurt quite a bit, but the needles are pretty small so you only need the smallest of fat layers 🙂

Not a problem for me unfortunately 😛 !!
 
Viki said:
My boyfriend also messed around with the cannulas when i first started and he also said it was painless. And he has very little body fat which i thought would mean it would hurt quite a bit, but the needles are pretty small so you only need the smallest of fat layers 🙂

Not a problem for me unfortunately 😛 !!
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I've used a cannula in the past for injecting, it was one designed specifically for diabetics, took the problem of finding 35 new injection sites a week by providing a port for me to inject into for 4 or 5 days - a rest.

It was painless in insert, however, now I can't insert it and if I have it fitted, some days I can't locate the port with my pen 🙄

But it's painless and easy to do, from what I understand you almost need no training to use the ones for pumps.

One comment besides durability (and note taken of the reps demonstration technique!) is sleeping attached to something else. I already sleep with a mask on (to keep me breathing, not so I don't frighter any intruders, before some comedian jumps in). So I can see small tubes and big tube becoming problem of interesting sorts in the morning. Oh, and I move around a lot in bed.

Everything needs to be balanced, my HbA1C dropped 2% last time, so my levels are now in check a bit more work and I'll be back to where I've been for 7 out of the last nearly 10 years... just hoping I can carry on with MDI without assistance into the future, without a pump.
 
That's a good idea david! I might try wearing a port for a few days at some point to see how I get on with a cannula 🙂
 
I was very anti the idea of having a pump until the last 18months or so, the idea just wasn't for me. I think it was particularly the being constantly attached thing that didn't appeal. More recently though I've found that mdi doesn't quite let me get the tight control I want and I've found myself limited in terms of how much further I can push myself for running etc. For these and a number of different reasons like the dp that I seem to have started experiencing and stubborn to shift hypod, I feel that the pump is the way to go. Unfortunatley my consultant won't come round toy was of thinking at the moment, but I'm working on it...
 
Einstein said:
I've used a cannula in the past for injecting, it was one designed specifically for diabetics, took the problem of finding 35 new injection sites a week by providing a port for me to inject into for 4 or 5 days - a rest.

It was painless in insert, however, now I can't insert it and if I have it fitted, some days I can't locate the port with my pen 🙄

But it's painless and easy to do, from what I understand you almost need no training to use the ones for pumps.

One comment besides durability (and note taken of the reps demonstration technique!) is sleeping attached to something else. I already sleep with a mask on (to keep me breathing, not so I don't frighter any intruders, before some comedian jumps in). So I can see small tubes and big tube becoming problem of interesting sorts in the morning. Oh, and I move around a lot in bed.

Everything needs to be balanced, my HbA1C dropped 2% last time, so my levels are now in check a bit more work and I'll be back to where I've been for 7 out of the last nearly 10 years... just hoping I can carry on with MDI without assistance into the future, without a pump.
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David,
Regarding the tubing etc. Alex twists and turns in bed so much it looks like he is on a trampolene - but it has never got twisted round him or come off. He wears a spibelt that keeps it very close to his tummy and the tubing is tucked inside it. You can get different lengths of tubing - some are only about 4 or 5 inches long - so no chance of getting it twangled up!🙂

I know of little 2 and 3 year olds who wear pumps - and you know how rough they can be - pumps and tubing not a problem!

You can get canula 'inserters' or you can get the whole thing in one hit - they are both easy peasy to use and only require a small amount of effort to put in.🙂Bev
 
bev said:
David,
He wears a spibelt that keeps it very close to his tummy and the tubing is tucked inside it. You can get different lengths of tubing - some are only about 4 or 5 inches long - so no chance of getting it twangled up!🙂

I know of little 2 and 3 year olds who wear pumps - and you know how rough they can be - pumps and tubing not a problem!

You can get canula 'inserters' or you can get the whole thing in one hit - they are both easy peasy to use and only require a small amount of effort to put in.🙂Bev
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Alex has a waist though Bev 🙄

Thanks for the info, all worth filing at the back of my........erm..... mind, that's it, seriously good information.

I think it's adjusting to needing one when I don't 'need' one if you understand, defeat is I think the other term :confused:
 
You can wear a pump anywhere - buttocks or thigh or chest. I met a woman who had the canula inserted on her breast and she said it didnt hurt!😱

Alex has no waist! He is to shape..... what a drainpipe is to being bent! I know what you mean though. But if you have a slightly round tum - that wont make a different at all. Its a pity i cant let you use his 'old' pump for a try-out! Perhaps you could ask your DSN for a weeks trial period of a pump?🙂Bev
 
bev said:
You can wear a pump anywhere - buttocks or thigh or chest. I met a woman who had the canula inserted on her breast and she said it didnt hurt!😱

Alex has no waist! He is to shape..... what a drainpipe is to being bent! I know what you mean though. But if you have a slightly round tum - that wont make a different at all. Its a pity i cant let you use his 'old' pump for a try-out! Perhaps you could ask your DSN for a weeks trial period of a pump?🙂Bev
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Thanks Bev, it's more a case of making injections easy, so I can cross that bridge when I get to it.

Let's hope her breasts are real, not sure how insulin and silicon mix 🙄 Certainly won't do her levels any good, even I know that much 😱
 
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