Insulin pump and CGM treatments availability in Spain

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emerson.marini

emerson.marini

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi all,

I’m new to the community but certainly not new to Diabetes - I have been diagnosed with Type 1 whilst still living in Brazil (my home country) back in 1997.
I have been on insulin pump treatment (Tandem t:slim X2) and CGM (Dexcom G6) for about 2 years now. All via the NHS.
My wife and I have been considering moving to Spain (probably to Valencia, Barcelona or Madrid) in the near future, and currently the most important question to be answered is whether I would have access to the same (or similar) treatment over there.
Being between 87 and 92% of the time on range is something I can’t let go easily. And also the fact that I’m on this treatment mainly because I have had serious episodes of unnoticed low levels whilst sleeping (seizures).
I don’t think it’s relevant, but we’re both EU citizens and have been living happily in the UK for 17 years. 🙂
Any advice or tip would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
emerson.marini said:
Hi all,

I’m new to the community but certainly not new to Diabetes - I have been diagnosed with Type 1 whilst still living in Brazil (my home country) back in 1997.
I have been on insulin pump treatment (Tandem t:slim X2) and CGM (Dexcom G6) for about 2 years now. All via the NHS.
My wife and I have been considering moving to Spain (probably to Valencia, Barcelona or Madrid) in the near future, and currently the most important question to be answered is whether I would have access to the same (or similar) treatment over there.
Being between 87 and 92% of the time on range is something I can’t let go easily. And also the fact that I’m on this treatment mainly because I have had serious episodes of unnoticed low levels whilst sleeping (seizures).
I don’t think it’s relevant, but we’re both EU citizens and have been living happily in the UK for 17 years. 🙂
Any advice or tip would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I believe @Elenka_HM is from Spain but living here right now so may be able to help with information about what would be available to you there as a resident.
 
Hello 🙂

I'm from Spain, indeed, but was diagnosed after moving to England and all my treatment has been via the NHS, so I don't have first hand experience with the Spanish system. I do have an aunt living in Spain who has been insulin dependent diabetic for over 18 years, so might be able to ask her a few questions if you want. I know she was offered Libre just around a year ago. She was surprised I got mine so early, one year after diagnosis. So my guess is that diabetes tech is available but not as easy to access via the public health system.

Might be different for new diagnosis or people who, like you, are already pump users. Hope someone has more useful information.
 
Possibly @Bloden will be able to help, although I think that she was using MDI when on Spain.
 
Hi there @emerson.marini. Yep, I was on MDI when I lived in Spain, and I’ve been back in the UK since 2018 so a lot has changed, I’m sure. I lived in the north, in Asturias. I can’t tell you what things are like now, but moving to a city is probably a good idea. I lived in the sticks, and was down-graded from endocrinology to general medicine cos of the lack of a specialist in my area. I couldn’t fault the Spanish system tho. Good luck!
 
Thank you all for the quick answers. It’s very important to me to know as much as I can to make an informed decision.
 
My aunt in Spain is on MDI and uses Libre, she told me the public health system (Seguridad Social) covers all her supplies except lancets (??).

Unfortunately I don't have information regarding pumps. I found a Spanish diabetic forum, if you understand the language you could try asking there so you have access to people who actually live with diabetes in the country and their experiences, like you would do in this forum 🙂
 
I believe Michael doesn't use a pump or CGM but he does live in Spain so hopefully he can give some information 🙂
 
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