Hello all
Just thought I’d introduce myself. I’ve been living with T1 for 30 years now having been diagnosed when I was 18. I’m on NovoRapid and recently changed basal to Tresiba from Levemir. I’m hoping to go on the pump and am currently on the waiting list for that. No major problems but I do have background retinopathy which hasn’t required anything further to be done and also my hypo awareness is fairly poor. Other than that I’m in good health and love exercise especially cycling.
Hi Cyclist_Matt, I had some retinopathy about ten years ago. I was having too many highs and lows even though my A1c was very good. The trauma to my body caused by the roller coaster effect of the highs and lows led to spots of retinopathy, and some neuropathy. I started using a pump in 2007, and the number of highs and lows was greatly reduced. The retinopathy disappeared, and never returned. The neuropathy is still there, but it rarely bothers me.
I don’t know if you have frequent highs and lows, but if you do, and you start pumping, your retinopathy may improve a lot. It may eventually disappear!
hi @Cyclist_Matt, I guess there’s something out the 30 year mark… =) I was on shots for almost 30 years befor switching to a pump. For me it was a great decision and it makes it less difficult to switch between days behind a computer and days swinging from trees (jk, but my job is either sitting or moderate and sometimes very high activity). It takes a bit of getting used to but I bet you’ll do fine. the best book out there for understanding pump issues is “Pumping Insulin” cheap buy, and good read on Amazon. cheers and good luck!
Thanks both. Yes, I wasn’t sure about pumps. I was comfortable with injections and the thought of both something new and it being attached to me all the time made me a little unsure. My control is not too bad but could be better (couldn’t everyones) with my last two HbA1c’s being 6.6. However, after reading about pumps, speaking to people who have them and to my diabetes nurse and consultant I’m looking forward to it now and I’m hoping it will help even more with my control and especially when exercising.
Hi Matt. Glad to hear you are headed towards using a pump. I have been diabetic for 49 years and been using a pump for 15 years. My A1cs run in the 6.5 range, but I have way too many lows and, as a result, have just recently begun to have hypoglycemia unawareness. Also just recently, I decided to try a different, tubeless pump, the Omnipod. I wish I could tell you how that’s going, to add to your knowledge of pumps, but I haven’t started using it yet since I am using up the supplies from my current pump. I will also soon be starting to use the Dexcom continuous glucose monitor, which, hopefully, will cut down on the lows and the highs. I will try to remember to follow up on the website to let everybody know what I think about the Omnipod.
Thanks Granniesmith. I’m not sure yet whether I’ll get a choice as to which pump I’ll get. I do like the look of and have also heard good things regarding the Medtronic MiniMed 640g but will be interested to hear your thoughts on the Omnipod.
My own hypoglycaemia awareness has been poor for some time now and my consultant suggested trying to run my levels higher for a while to see if it returned. I would love to try a Dexcom CGM but would need to self-fund and the cost at the moment for me is prohibitive. I do use the Abbott Freestyle Libre on occasions (I don’t think this has been licensed in the US yet?) again through self-funding and have found it to be extremely useful. Most of the time though for blood glucose control I’m reliant on finger pricking and strips.
Hello Matt. I am going on 34 years living with TD1. Im gonna say that going on the insulin pump 8 years ago was the best choice i made to deal with my TD1. I see you say you are experiencing hypo awareness problems. I was experiencing the same problem before i decided to finally go on the insulin pump and i use along with the pump(medtronic 530g) the medtronic(enlite) sensors. The sensors really help me with seeing when my blood glucose is dropping fast or raising fast. I wish you luck with getting the pump and hope it helps you have better control of your hypo awareness.