T:slim Basal IQ and Control IQ

[daiseyc]

Hi all,
So I’ve been using the Roche Solo Micropump for the last 18m which is my first pump in 30 years of diabetes! I am really happy with it but I have just been approved for a Dexcom and have been offered a pump change too, to a t:slim with Basal IQ / Control IQ.

I have two small children (3yr old and 13m old) so tubed pumps make me quite nervous! Has anyone swapped from a tubeless to a tubed pump?

I would really appreciate any feedback from current tslim with basal / control IQ with Dexcom users, and how likely it is my sites will get ripped out with little ones climbing over me
I’m also used to my target bg being 5.0 so worried about the target bg limits for the hybrid closed loop!

The good, the bad, the ugly, please!
Thank you!

 

[Inka]

Hi @daiseyc I can’t comment on the T Slim as I have a different pump, but my pump is tubed and I’ve always used tubed pumps - with babies, toddlers and young children. I haven’t had any issues. The tubing is under my clothes and my cannula site can be on my thigh, tummy or bum. They’ve all been fine and have survived children and assorted pets through the years.

Are you self-funding the Dexcom?

I think @everydayupsanddowns uses the T Slim.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @daiseyc

I no longer have small children, but I do have a large hairy dog who has yet to manage to pull out a tubed site for me.

I’ve not had a tubeless pump, but have had several ‘pump bungee’ moments over the years which sites have survived. The only time I’ve dislodged a pump site is where the tubing has hooked on a door handle and I’ve walked away at full speed. Other times the hooked tubing has brought me to a halt and the site has survived, so it does take quite a yank to dislodge them.

My experience with the tslim and dexcom has been excellent so far, both Basal IQ which I used for a month or so, and more recently Control IQ.

Both systems only work well if you have your basal pattern, meal ratios and correction factors properly adjusted (on an ongoing basis) and if you can try to leave them alone as much as you can. I also have had to learn how to give the system the information it needs, when to leave things, and where to intervene.

Control IQ targets 6.2mmol/L, and this cannot be changed. However I find Control IQ has been very helpful in terms of ‘smoothing out’ my efforts (especially overnight) and improving my ‘time in range’ with almost no hypos.

International consensus suggests 70%+ between 4 and 10 (with >4% below 4) is ideal. I tend to run my range as 4-9, and this has been a good (but not all that unusual) week, which I could never achieve with Libre as I miss too many things in-between.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Just remembered that @helli has used both tubed and tubeless (though switched in the opposite direction) and may have some thoughts on the differences?

 

[helli]

Thanks for the tag @everydayupsanddowns.
Yep, I have experience of tubey and tubeless - in that order.
I have no kids or hairy (or not so hairy) dogs but am very active so had moments when my pump had a bid for freedom when I was climbing or doing a summersault from a flying trapeze. However, despite it dangling from my climbing harness or attempting a loop the loop, it remained attached and caused more distress to the people watching than it did to me.
I usually wore it in a pump belt or clipped to my waistband with the tube tucked under my clothing and never had a problem catching it on anything. Many women wear their pump clipped to or in their bra which is certainly out of the way if ... ahem ... your bra is big enough.

I prefer a tubeless pump because it is more discrete but if only a tubey one were on offer or if a tubey pump had additional features that I needed, I would not hesitate to take it.

 

[daiseyc]

Thanks for the tag @everydayupsanddowns.
Yep, I have experience of tubey and tubeless - in that order.
I have no kids or hairy (or not so hairy) dogs but am very active so had moments when my pump had a bid for freedom when I was climbing or doing a summersault from a flying trapeze. However, despite it dangling from my climbing harness or attempting a loop the loop, it remained attached and caused more distress to the people watching than it did to me.
I usually wore it in a pump belt or clipped to my waistband with the tube tucked under my clothing and never had a problem catching it on anything. Many women wear their pump clipped to or in their bra which is certainly out of the way if ... ahem ... your bra is big enough.

I prefer a tubeless pump because it is more discrete but if only a tubey one were on offer or if a tubey pump had additional features that I needed, I would not hesitate to take it.

Thank you! This is what I needed to hear! Whilst I’m so happy with my tubeless pump, the features of the tubed pump are making it hard to ignore. I think I just need to adjust my mentality towards to tubes! I mean, I’ve torn off my tubeless pump on door frames from time to time

 

[daiseyc]

Welcome to the forum @daiseyc

I no longer have small children, but I do have a large hairy dog who has yet to manage to pull out a tubed site for me.

I’ve not had a tubeless pump, but have had several ‘pump bungee’ moments over the years which sites have survived. The only time I’ve dislodged a pump site is where the tubing has hooked on a door handle and I’ve walked away at full speed. Other times the hooked tubing has brought me to a halt and the site has survived, so it does take quite a yank to dislodge them.

My experience with the tslim and dexcom has been excellent so far, both Basal IQ which I used for a month or so, and more recently Control IQ.

Both systems only work well if you have your basal pattern, meal ratios and correction factors properly adjusted (on an ongoing basis) and if you can try to leave them alone as much as you can. I also have had to learn how to give the system the information it needs, when to leave things, and where to intervene.

Control IQ targets 6.2mmol/L, and this cannot be changed. However I find Control IQ has been very helpful in terms of ‘smoothing out’ my efforts (especially overnight) and improving my ‘time in range’ with almost no hypos.

International consensus suggests 70%+ between 4 and 10 (with >4% below 4) is ideal. I tend to run my range as 4-9, and this has been a good (but not all that unusual) week, which I could never achieve with Libre as I miss too many things in-between.

View attachment 15574

Thank you!! This is great to read and I’m definitely learning and leaning towards making the switch. I’m someone who likes to make a very informed decision so that there are no, or at least fewer, surprises 🙂
My HbA1c has been 33-38 for the last 5 or so years but I could definitely do with improving my time in range. I definitely spend more than 5% of my time below 4!

 

[daiseyc]

Thab

Hi @daiseyc I can’t comment on the T Slim as I have a different pump, but my pump is tubed and I’ve always used tubed pumps - with babies, toddlers and young children. I haven’t had any issues. The tubing is under my clothes and my cannula site can be on my thigh, tummy or bum. They’ve all been fine and have survived children and assorted pets through the years.

Are you self-funding the Dexcom?

I think @everydayupsanddowns uses the T Slim.t

Hi @daiseyc I can’t comment on the T Slim as I have a different pump, but my pump is tubed and I’ve always used tubed pumps - with babies, toddlers and young children. I haven’t had any issues. The tubing is under my clothes and my cannula site can be on my thigh, tummy or bum. They’ve all been fine and have survived children and assorted pets through the years.

Are you self-funding the Dexcom?

I think @everydayupsanddowns uses the T Slim.

Thank you for your response. It’s great to know that I’m not completely mad considering a tubed pump! My 3 year old little girl would definitely be ok with not tugging but my 13m boisterous little boy perhaps not so much... he does know “No!” though
I’ve just been approved funding for the dexcom so this is part of the reason I am considering a pump change for the hybrid closed loop opportunities

 

[Inka]

I wear my pump in a Hid-In belt round my waist under my clothes usually. The tubing is then inside my clothes too 🙂 I use 60cm tubing - long enough to give flexibility but not so long that I’m having to coil up the excess like a lasso! The sets I use currently rotate 360 degrees so that helps too.

None of my children have ever really shown interest in touching my pumps. My jelly babies are another matter though! They’ve mysteriously disappeared many times over the years

Good luck with your new pump. It should be great with the Dexcom 😎

 

[daiseyc]

I wear my pump in a Hid-In belt round my waist under my clothes usually. The tubing is then inside my clothes too 🙂 I use 60cm tubing - long enough to give flexibility but not so long that I’m having to coil up the excess like a lasso! The sets I use currently rotate 360 degrees so that helps too.

None of my children have ever really shown interest in touching my pumps. My jelly babies are another matter though! They’ve mysteriously disappeared many times over the years

Good luck with your new pump. It should be great with the Dexcom 😎

Ohhh I seem to recall seeing some of those cannulas at a pump fair, once. Can you let me know what they're called? Perhaps tandem have something similar!

 

[Inka]

They’re the Soft Release O infusion sets and I use them with my DANA RS pump (they’re DANA sets). I thought the rotating thing would just be a gimmick but it’s great, and so much easier. Also, the adhesive tape is magic - it never leaves any of those horrible black marks when you remove it! It’s heat-activated too.

Here’s the info:

https://advancedtherapeutics.org.uk/shop/infusion-sets/soft-release/

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