Insulin pump

Hi all, well I finally get my insulin pump on the 9th november. I went just for a quick chat today before the big induction day, and I have to say I feel quite scared. Everything I know with injections is going to change..can't really explain it to be honest.

I will be getting mine in January/February, I cant wait..................

the carb counting and dose calculations will be the same, you will just have to test a lot more, at least to begin with anyway..........good luck........

I got my Pump on the 8th October I was excited and scared at the same time. Everything I had been doing for the previous year was in lead up to this event.

I was scarred because I knew that it was going to go haywire for me because even though my BI Levemir dose was working perfectly at 65-75 units per night & 25 units in the morning that part was going out the window.

QA (Bolus) - I had worked out my ratios and times to 2 decimal places with DAFNE, we converted them to the pump carbs:units required ratio format and plugged them straight into the pump and they have been perfect since. The only thing that got me confused was correction sensitivity - the pump has no capability to have multiple sensitivities across different BG ranges like we do through the DAFNE app!!

BI (Basal) - initial settings were for about 1/2 the total BI I used to take spread evenly across the 24 hours. It didn't work, highs in the morning lows in the afternoon. My strategy to working it out was to focus on the bedtime only & fix that first. Testing every 2 hours overnight & figured out quickly where to make the adjustments (my rule was to change the Basal 1 hour before the point I wanted the adjustment kick in). After this I moved onto the morning and repeated the process, then the afternoon. I am now on 39.125 Basal compared to nearly 100 Levemir. Amazing!

Excercise - now BG adjustments for exercise I handle by adjusting the Basal 1hr before & 1 hour after excercise rather than via the QA or additional food. This is the awesome power of the fully customisable Basal delivery.

And something else that happened was my QA:BI is now roughly 50/50 on the pump where as before it was 25:75. My body just never liked long acting insulin by the looks of it.

Also I now sleep through the night, have done that for a very long time.

I haven't by any means got it perfectly tuned yet but I'm determined to get it perfect.

As a DAFNE graduate you'll have a very very good leg up on being able to work it out, I'm sure you'll get it happening quickly! Nothing to be worried about. Don't forget to ask,email, phone you HCP if you are not entirely sure what you are doing it correct!

forgot to add a practical tip. As a guy I have a hairy belly which is incompatible with cannulas, I bit the bullet after my 2nd cannula lasted only a day & a half and waxed it.

i've had my pump a month now, was very scared before i got it and the first week found it such a major culture shock constantly feeling i had forgotten something !! my injection lol but 3 weeks later that feeling has gone its like i never injected. it has been quite frustrating getting my levels correct, lots of testing and carb free meals, but well worth it. my hcp has been amazing so supportive and helpful they are there for you so make sure you use them and their expert knowledge.
i know its early days but i feel like my life has totally changed, and am very happy with my pump.
good luck when you get it, hope all goes well.

Can anyone help me with the multiwave bolus i dont know how many units to take straight away and the time range on the rest of the bolus plzzz help

Hi peeps, thanks for all your comments. I am looking forward to it, just cant believe how scared i do feel. The whole needle thing is freaking me out. When I do my own injections i take as long as i want and slowly to, even now after 15 years i am the same.. I am sure i will get used to the whole thing. Glad i have you all to help me x

don't worry about the needles, i use the insertion tool that came with the pump, but my friend inserts hers manually very slowly as she always injected before. its personal taste really and what you're used to. hope all goes well x

Hey, well i have been on insulin for 3 days now, and they feel like the longest 3 days of mylife.
I feel I don't completely understand the pumo, i enter all the information and the pump does it magic. Only thing I am unsure about is, if my pump says 2.5 and i have just had say 40g do i enter what the pump is telling me or do i add on the carb count?
I have felt that today I have been stupidly high on BG levels and i hadnt been this high on injections for a very long time

2.5 what?

I use a Medtronic Minimedipad Paradigm I usually use the Bolus wizard which asks 2 key questions.
1. BG (optional - if I have taken a reading)
2. Grams of carbs being taken.

If I ignore question 1 it will calculate insulin with no correction. If I do answer question 1 it will calculate insulting with +|- corrections.

I was high for the first few days while figuring out the Basal Rates. I'm still struggling a little with morning highs but I'm nearly there (struggled with them prior to pumping too)