Insulin Pump Users

>I LIKE THAT - LAURIE’S GIVING ADVICE!!! 8^)

Rachel, how’s that for a great introduction! I joined the list in March
asking pretty much the same thing you’re asking — what’s this about, is
it worth it? — and NEVER would’ve taken the plunge if it weren’t for the
support on here.

After a month on the pump, I’ve quit having reactions (although everybody
says that’s not a permanent guarantee, but already it’s easier to tell
when my blood sugar’s dropping). I’ve lost six pounds, which wasn’t a
goal but is a nice bonus…just because I’m not constantly eating sugar
to counteract the reactions. And, like Chrissy, I love being able to
sleep late if I want and not have to take my shot gear with me when
eating out.

There are some down-sides, too, which — this was stupid of me — I never
anticipated because I was so caught up in the brochures’ lyrical
descriptions of flexibility and freedom. (If I’d anticipated the Bad’s
as well as the Good’s, I don’t think I would’ve been nearly so upset at
encountering them.)

The down-sides I’ve noticed are that inserting the needle STILL hurts,
same as giving a shot (although you don’t have to do it as often) and the
pain lasts about as long as it does with a shot — sometimes it’s over
immediately, sometimes it twinges for another hour or so. If you’re not
especially dextrous, it’s hard learning to do the site changes (after a
couple weeks it’s a piece of cake.) And at first they make you get up at
midnight and 3am to do blood-sugar checks, which is horrible if you’re a
person who can’t fall back to sleep easily. (But I think later most
people do those checks only once a month or so.)

On the technical side, I don’t have any results yet as to whether or not
my overall blood-glucose level is better because (GRIPE, GRIPE) the
doctor who was supposed to print out my CGM results for our visit
yesterday forgot to do it! All the data SAYS you’ll live longer, feel
better, etc., but I felt fine to begin with. I’ve heard other people
say, though, that there was an immediate difference in how they felt…it
might depend on how bad you feel before starting.

I wouldn’t call myself a hundred-percent convert, yet, but I think it’s
sure worth looking into. And it helps to hang out here for a while and
see the kind of things people talk about…everybody is wonderful at
responding to anything you ask!

Laurie, who hit One Month today

This entry was posted on Monday, December 13th, 2004 at 12:16 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.