What are the pro's and con's on insulin pump therapy?

Question

I have been a diabetic for 23 years. I have been taking shots for 18 years. My last A1c was 7.4, which is a little higher than I would like it to be. I am very active. Especially during the warmer months.

Plus, if it is really hot outside, will it effect the insulin that is in the pump?

I just need to knowif this is the right thing for me.

Serious answers only, please.

Answer 1

I have been on the pump for four years now and I have never had any problems with environmental temperature effecting the insulin, and I live in Indiana where the summers can get 95+ and the winters can get -25 degrees. Pros and Cons

Pros: typically only one infusion every three days, easier to manage, just type BG and grams of Carbs in seconds and you are good to go, and now they have ones that will keep constant monitoring of Blood Glucose. you only have to buy one type of Bolus insulin, once I got used to using it I started to feel better overall.

Cons: you have infusion sets which pretty much a small IV rather than little insulin needles, the sites can start to itch and become infected, you have to wear it almost all the time even when you sleep, the needles with the infusion sets are larger and throughout time it can leave many scars, they are Expensive! mine was nearly $8,500 and with my insurance company paying 85% I still had to pay almost $2,000 out of pocket. and mentally for me it tends to be a constant reminder that you have the disease.

but over all I feel it is worth it, but everyone is different. Something I tried when I was in your shoes was I bought a toy pager and wore it for about two weeks to see if I thought it might was right for me.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I have been on the pump for almost 5 years. I am so glad I made the decision to switch.

As far as the temp affecting the insulin, I have never had this happen to me. Where I live it is pretty humid in the summer, plus most of the time when I wear the pump, I wear it in my bra so it's often at a temperature of 98.6 degrees.

Biggest pro is much tighter control. Before I was on the pump, My long acting insulin was very hard to predict so I had problems going low too often. You can program the pump to give you exactly how much insulin you need for during a certain amount of time. Another thing I like is you aren't always feeding lows due to exercise. You say that you are pretty active, you can just turn down your basal rate before activity and that will give you less insulin thus preventing you from going too low. Another thing I like is more freedom to eat when you want. If you decide to eat anything, all you have to do is program the pump to give you the amount of insulin you need.

I agree with the cons above me, but another thing that is a con is you have to be on top of your blood sugars at all times. Since there is no long acting insulin in your body, if something happens to impede your pump from delivering your insulin, you could be very high and DKA pretty fast. Another con is if you don't have discipline to control your food consumption, new pumpers tend to gain weight with the new found freedom.

If you have any other questions, feel free to email me.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

I have been on the pump for about a year. I actually like it. I was 3 months pregnant when i first went on it and was really kinda scared and feeling like a weirdo but i got use to it and my a1c have been really good 6.3 and i actually like the pump it does require you to change your infusion site every 2-3 days and check your blood sugars atleast 4 times a day to avoid lows which i sometimes expereince but not to bad i like being able to just program my pump and eat not have to worry bout carrying around syringes and insulin and all that stuff i already have it on and the good thing is its not really noticable to it is kinda expensive though hope fully you have medical insurance a 2 months supply of infusion sets and reservoirs add up to about $700 through minimed. its worth it though i hopefully never want to have to gho back to syringes i rather 1 needle every2-3 days than 3 needles per day. I think the pump would be a good choice for you just will take some time gettin use to wont take long to get the hang of it. good luck.

Answer 6

I don't have an answer to your question, but I am glad you asked it. I am diabetic also and have been wanting to get on the pump. I hope I can soon. This information has been very helpful!!!

Answer 7

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