Diabetic insulin pump ...

[Guest guest]

Could anyone with experience of the diabetic insulin pump give me their views

good/bad on this device please as my young friend Jack is considering having it

fitted - he's been type one from a baby and has had some serious high's and has

collapsed a number of times with serious low's.

Below is an email he recently sent to me ~

 

Thanks - Ray.

 

Well, every diabetic has his own way of dealing with the condition. Sadly, we

are not at a stage where we understand every minutia of the condition such that

we could engineer a pill that would fix it *snap*. So, it's down to the

individual to follow his or her own best knowledge of how to dynamically deal

with it, day to day. As to what other people think of it, I don't know, but it

looks good to me. You have the device which fits into your pocket. It contains a

vial of insulin which has to be replaced, obviously. This device is then

connected by a tube to a needle in the centre of a sticky plaster type thing,

which stays on and under the skin while the device is in operation. Then, there

another device, about the size of a thimble, which sticks onto your body. This

senses your blood hormone levels (sugar levels) and relays it to the main

device. It gives a fresh reading every 5 minutes and is also " smart " in the

sense that it can tell you whether the current reading is going up or down and

how sharply. Why it can't be REAL real-time I don't know, but that's as good as

they get right now. The device continuously releases a small amount of insulin,

faintly mimicking a real pancreas. The dose is programmable. Unfortunately,

that's as autonomous as it gets, as you still have to program a bolus (as

apposed to continuous base) dose for meals and what have you. It's main

desirability for me is that it won't allow you to go too high, which is a pain

in the ass. I'm waiting for the Medtronic team at Derroford (Hospital) to

contact me about discussing having the device prescribed for me.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

My daughter is a Type 1 and has used a pump since she was 7. Life with a pump

is much

easier than having to deal with shots. The pump gives a basal amount of insulin

every

hour over a 24 hour period. Bolus amounts of insulin are given for food. The

best thing

about a pump is that one is not tied to such a regulated schedule for eating.

Usually

people are able to keep their blood sugar under better control with a pump.

They are very

easy to deal with, even small children (toddlers) use them. You wear a small

lead with a

short plastic needle that delivers the insulin. The insertion sets are changed

out every 2-3

days. Very easy to do. The automatic glucose sensors have been in testing for

a while

now and are available for adults. We are looking forward to getting the glucose

monitoring device soon. I would highly recommend the use of a pump. I would

also

highly recommend the use of the enzyme supplement VitalzymX, it could help with

the

amount of insulin used. Has your friend ever tried going dairy free (casein

free) and

gluten free? My daughter also had the problem of erratic blood sugars with some

very

scary highs and lows until we put her on a GFCF diet. It was amazing how level

her blood

sugars became, especially with the removal of dairy. The lows in particular are

very

dangerous for Type 1's as they will become unaware of lows quickly and once that

happens it is dangerous for them to be alone. There are also dogs trained now

to work

with Type 1's, similar to seeing eye dogs, who are trained to notice lows. The

dogs can

smell when the person's blood sugar drops.

 

Linn

 

, " zen " <zen141669 wrote:

>

> Could anyone with experience of the diabetic insulin pump give me their views

good/

[Guest guest]

Thanks for that Linn ... almost 6000 members and 1 reply so these insulin pumps

must be quite rare ! as you say - life for a diabetic is easier with the pump

than having to inject insulin 3 times a day as in in his case ... How amazing

that even toddlers can use them, I've forwarded your reply to Jack re: the

VitalzymX and I know he is experimenting with various eating regimes including

Bitter Melon, but he has also got a liking for the golden throat charmer - he is

19 after all, I do nag him about it which is something his parents don't do I'm

afraid to say, his life threatening diabetic coma's have been alcohol induced

(imo) ... Thanks again Linn and I'll keep you posted through the group on how

things turn out.

Ray.