How long have you had a pump?

[helli]

@RichardS have you tried the Medtrum CGM?
I too react to the pump glue and use Hyperfix tape but they use a different glue for the CGM and I don't get any reaction from it.
It's nice having all the data on one app rather than having to jump between two (I used to have LIbre which I read through xDrip+). But I really like having the auto suspend function - when the CGM notices my levels are going too low, it suspends the pump. And it is cheaper than the Dexcom (and produces less rubbish).

I am self funding the CGM at the moment but plan to plead my case at my appointment next month.

 

[martindt1606]

Just wondering how long everyone has been a pump user? I’ve googled and there don’t seem to be many users who’ve had a pump more than 20 years. I ask partly out of interest, but also because I read (and have found) that cannula sites can ‘stop working’. So, I’m wondering if there’s a max time or anything.

I had an Animas pump for 7 years and now have the Tandem (just over 3 years). I have always used the TruSteel Cannula. I do find that 2 or 3 times a month I have high blood sugars which do not respond to control IQ corrections or manual bolus. I have long suspected that this is because I am unlucky enough to have selected an over used site (even though i always check for lumps before attaching). Having had multiple whipples I don't have the biggest surface area on my stomach to aim for and have never got on with a canula in my thigh or bum.

 

[SB2015]

I have used a pump for just over 10 years.

I was fortunate to start when the shorter needles were already available (6mm) and use straight in rather than diagonal cannulas. I think that those factors have helped me not to develop skanky sites so far, apart from when I briefly switched to FIASP, which caused some very nasty messes.

I have tried Buttocks for cannulas but found I caught the tubing and pulled them out, so went back to abdomen.

 

[RichardS]

@RichardS have you tried the Medtrum CGM?
I too react to the pump glue and use Hyperfix tape but they use a different glue for the CGM and I don't get any reaction from it.
It's nice having all the data on one app rather than having to jump between two (I used to have LIbre which I read through xDrip+). But I really like having the auto suspend function - when the CGM notices my levels are going too low, it suspends the pump. And it is cheaper than the Dexcom (and produces less rubbish).

I am self funding the CGM at the moment but plan to plead my case at my appointment next month.

I did not try the Medtrum CGM. I must admit I thought it would be using the same adhesive so that's interesting that they are different! I am happy with the Dexcom though - it works very well for me so I am hesitant to try anything else at this time.

Do you have any issues with the reliability of the Medtrum patches? I've been through 4 base units and whilst the last two seem better I still get an uncomfortable number of patch failures. I find them stressful to deal with and don't have a lot of confidence in the reliability. I'm lucky that I work from home and don't need to travel at all so I'm always near to a ready supply of new patches. I wouldn't feel comfortable going away even for just a few days unless I could take a whole box (10) of patches with me in case I experienced failures.

 

[helli]

Do you have any issues with the reliability of the Medtrum patches? I've been through 4 base units and whilst the last two seem better I still get an uncomfortable number of patch failures. I find them stressful to deal with and don't have a lot of confidence in the reliability. I'm lucky that I work from home and don't need to travel at all so I'm always near to a ready supply of new patches. I wouldn't feel comfortable going away even for just a few days unless I could take a whole box (10) of patches with me in case I experienced failures.

I have been using a Medtrum pump for nearly 3 years. I definitely found the older, bigger, A6 more reliable than the Nano. However, I was one of the first in the UK to have the Nano and Medtrum did admit that I got it too early. My latest pump base has been much more reliable than any previous ones. I used to get a lot of occlusion errors which turned out to be due to overly sensitive software in the pump.
Although my insulin doses are not high (5 units is a huuuge dose for me), I have found I get less errors if I use the Extended bolus feature. As my Fiasp sometimes works too fast, this really suits me.
Looking back through my Pump's Alert log, the last Patch error was in May which is much better than it used to be.
Last month, the needle popped out in the middle of a work meeting which was not ideal.

Like you, I work from home but I also I often travel for work. If I am out for a few hours, I just take a vial and a syringe as a back up. If I am out all day, I also take a spare patch. If I am away overnight, I add my insulin pens (with cartridges) to my bag. And, if I am away for a few nights or week, I take at least 50% more patches than I should need (as well as the pens and syringes). I would need to be away for a few weeks to bother with a whole box.