CGM or Pump for T2?

[Christian0706]

Hi their everyone, I’m new to this forum, I suffer with life threatening Asthma and on and off steroids constantly, these send my blood levels all over the place and I’m constantly checking my levels, has anyone got any information if I can have a Pump fitted to control my levels more as it’s getting me down constantly thankyou

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Christian and welcome

Sorry to hear you have such problems with asthma. That must be pretty scary.
Many Type 1 diabetics struggle to get the Freestyle Libre prescribed on the NHS and I don't think it is currently authorizsed for Type 2s but always worth asking your Health Care Professionals. It is possible to self fund them and buy direct from the manufacturer. Myself and many other Type 1s did this until we got them on prescription. It is expensive @£100 a month for 2 sensors (I used birthday money and savings as I am low income) but it was certainly worth every penny to me, for the massive amount of information it provides and obviously that can help to keep me safer.

Do you use insulin and if so which one(s) If you don't use insulin, what would you hope to achieve from the information. Before I got the Libre I started testing much more frequently to get more data (I was testing 10-16 times a day) so you could perhaps do that if you are prescribed strips, but they say that once you test more than 8 times a day, Libre becomes cost effective... to the NHS at least.... so you could possibly argue that case. I have been using it for a year now and I scan about 30 times a day and use that information to assess how my basal insulin is working, how far in advance of food to inject my bolus insulin, if I need to eat a few carbs to prevent a hypo or use a correction dose of QA insulin to bring me down a bit. I treat it a bit like playing a slow and laborious video game to keep my levels in the blue band and out of the red.
Anyway, hopefully that answers your question but if you don't understand anything just ask.

 

[rebrascora]

Looks like you edited your post from CGM to pumps whilst I was typing, so most of what I typed will be irrelevant...

 

[rebrascora]

The chances of you getting a pump as a Type 2 are far less than a CGM I would say and I don't believe they can be self funded like a CGM can.

 

[Christian0706]

Hi thankyou for your reply I’m on toujeo double star and nova rapid and metformin, I test my self constantly and it drives me mad, I will ask my doctor to see if I can have one once again thankyou for all that info I was on about CGM but got confused with the pump and CGM

 

[rebrascora]

A pump would have to be authorized by a consultant at a specialist diabetes clinic because you need lots of support to set them up. I would say that is probably pie in the sky for a Type 2, even in exceptional circumstances. Even Freestyle Libre would need to be sanctioned by a consultant, so you would need to ask your GP for a referral as I don't believe GP's can prescribe them off their own bat. Abbott were doing a free 2 week trial so it might be worth looking at their website to see if that is still available for you to try. You need to have a compatible phone for their app though, so you would need to check that first. I bought a starter kit which includes a reader because my phone isn't compatible.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Hi thankyou for your reply I’m on toujeo double star and nova rapid and metformin, I test my self constantly and it drives me mad, I will ask my doctor to see if I can have one once again thankyou for all that info I was on about CGM but got confused with the pump and CGM

Hello and welcome to the forum.

There are a few rare cases where type2's are given a pump and I think that has more to do with the amount of insulin being used.
Are you def type 2 and not classed as steroid induced diabetes? As I wonder if that would make a difference.

Perhaps also check out the NICE guidelines and see what you can come up with.
Pumps will be prescribed by a hospital consultant not your GP.
Having a pump would also mean an awful lot more blood sugar testing compared to MDI as well.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Unfortunately insulin pumps are not usually considered appropriate for T2, but as @Pumper_Sue says, there may be a chance that you have a slightly different, rarer form of diabetes than classic (insulin resistance) T2?

Good luck with your conversations and discussions with your GP and/or referral to a specialist centre.

What sort of insulin doses are you on? What would be your average Total Daily Dose?