Major Changes In My Diabetes Management: Back On A Pump & Trailing Dexcom G6! Part One
So if you've been peeking at my blog on and off for the last few years you would of seen I tried pump therapy for the second time in my life during 2015; and it was a MASSIVE fail! I hated every minute of it, the sites were causing me constant pain, i kept accidentally ripping it out, the insulin going in caused me so much discomfort that I had to call it quits after about a month.
The main reason myself and my team wanting me to try pump therapy was because I was having pretty dangerous hypos (low blood sugar) in the mornings and during the night and i was never waking up. My hypo awareness was fading because my body was getting so used to the feeling of being low really early in the morning which was quite concerning since I am home alone during the day Monday til Friday. It didn't matter how many times we adjusted my long acting insulin, my carb ratios, my short acting insulin; my only choices were to make my blood sugar either run too high all day and feel, well shit, or run too low all day and make me feel, again, like shit. However it seemed like my Fibromyglia would not let me wear an insulin pump, we just made the best out of what we could.
Fast forward to 2017 and the Freestyle Libre sensor was becoming all the range and it seemed like it could be a massive help with my morning hypos as my boyfriend could scan my sensor and see what my blood sugar was on instead of him having to wake me up and watch me check my blood sugar to make sure he witnessed me treat a hypo; we've had some scary incidents where he thought I wasn't that bad as I was acting 'fine', he left for work and I slipped into such a bad hypo I was thrashing about in my bed trying to reach my phone and hypo treats because I was almost unconscious.. welcome to the scary parts of T1D. I managed to get a trail session with the Libre on the NHS (you get the reader and one sensor to trail) and I used it on and off for a year or so but honestly; I really didn't like the Freestyle Libre sensor.
Firstly the sensor can't go in tattoos and has only been tested by Freestyle on the back of the arm. I have one full Japanese sleeve on my left arm and just one thin strip of free skin on the back of my right arm in between my tattoos so this was a massive issue! Luckily that free strip of skin on the back of my right arm is in the perfect spot for the Libre sensor, but you can't just continue to use the same spots for medical devices over and over as you'll build up scar issue which will stop the sensor working well; which is why it can't go in tattoos in the first place! I tried to place the sensor on my leg two times and both times the sensor was either very inaccurate or just caused me a lot of issues. (Trigger warning if you keep scrolling: one photo of a lot of blood..)
Secondly for me: the sensor was super inaccurate a lot of the time. I'm unsure if this is because I have to take quite a lot of medication, whether that spot on my arm is too close to the existing tattoos and scar tissue or the sensor is just not that great.. but this inaccuracy seems like a very common problem for a lot of people using the Freestyle Libre. I couldn't get it on the NHS in my area at the time (yay postcode lottery..) so paying £50 for a sensor that was usually not even correct most of the time is just something I didn't want to do anymore. And for my non T1D people: that's £50 for one sensor that lasts 14 days.. so this particular diabetes treatment was just not working out for me or my wallet.
Flash forward again to 2018 and I'm not sure why but I was really wanting to give pump therapy a go again. I was lacking little to no hypo awareness at this point, we'd tried different long acting and fast acting insulin, and after a super pointless appointment with my Endo (Diabetes Specialist) where I stated every time we change my long acting insulin by even one unit I'm either too high or too low constantly, he replied "well you can't keep having these hypos so let's bring it down" and completely ignored my plea to try anything else; I marched (or rolled with intent because you know, wheelchair user) to the front desk and booked the next available appointment with my Diabetes Specialist Nurse because I was not happy.
I had a month or so to wait so I went home and researched insulin pumps that I could get on the NHS which offered manual insertion infusion sets, and I found Medtronic! We thought the reason I had so much pain with the last infusion sets was because of the 'violent-ness' of the infusion set being fired into my skin, so I thought maybe manual insertions could help a little bit.
My team managed to set up a spontaneous meeting with the Medtronic pump rep in my area so I could actually test out the manual infusion sets that Medtronic offer: Sure T infusion sets. I travelled on 3 buses by myself in my wheelchair to do this but I was so determined on changing my diabetes management I travelled for hours by myself to get it done! The pump rep was so lovely and helpful, I went away and wore the infusion set in my leg for 2 days and it went great! I messaged my Diabetes Specialist Nurse and said I wanted to get onto the Medtronic pump training sessions for 4th Jan 2019 (it was around Nov 2018 at the time I think) and she only bloody did it! That's an amazing achievement to get onto a pump that quickly on the NHS; I'm sure my British diabuddies will agree!
To make this very long story short: I've been on the Medtronic Minimed 640G for 4/5 months now and I bloody love it! The pump has made a huge different being able to change my basal rates during the day, set temp basals and just being able to actually enjoy the foods I want to eat and being able to really customise how I treat my diabetes with this insulin pump. And the best part.. I've actually been using Medtronic's Mio infusion sets which aren't manual! I rarely feel pain from them and if I do it stops after a few minutes; I couldn't ask for a better result!
This time round I really knew what sort of accessories would help me not drop my insulin pump so much and not rip out my infusion sets out due to my shaky hands and rubbish coordination; and one of those accessories is pump belts! I use a Spi Belt during the day around my waist and then Diabet-eyz lyrica pump belts at night so my pump is on my stomach so I can move about as much as I like without rolling on my pump or pulling it out in my sleep!
Another huge thing about now loving pump therapy is following a lot of type one's online who are also on pumps as I can get tips and tricks on how to wear a pump, using a pump, just anything really! Community is key when going through a health change of any kind! I have learnt so much from people on Instagram over the years and I'm forever grateful that communities like that exist!
One thing that has made wearing a pump more 'fun' would be discovering Pump Peelz! I LOVE accessorising medical devices and making them match to my style because it makes something that can be quite hard to manage/deal with more interesting and personal; over the years I've found this key to keeping me motivated to look after myself.
I've been honestly blown away by Pump Peelz! The quality of the vinyl is impressive and after having one on my blood glucose meter and two Peelz on my pump: none of them have peeled away, they've gotten moisture on them and not budged, they're FOOL PROOF to apply (this coming from a girl with constant hand tremors and bad coordination!!) and the graphics on the vinyl are bright and clear. The only downside for me is that Pump Peelz is based in America so it does take quite a while for me to receive my order and postage is, actually to be honest fairly reasonable considering, but still something I have to take into account as a international customer. I try to order in 'bulk' so I won't need to pay for shipping every time I might want to change my Peelz to combat this downside. Also I do this to try and reduce air miles as I know it's not good for the environment, HOWEVER, Pump Peelz do lots of little things to combat waste and making sure their company is eco-friendly as possible, i.e. they only print to order etc, information on this can be found here.
If you got this far then thank you so much! I find it difficult to blog but I love doing it so it means the world to me that people read my posts! Hopefully it won't take me too long to get Part Two up with some more information about being a Dexcom user (especially in the UK)!
The main reason myself and my team wanting me to try pump therapy was because I was having pretty dangerous hypos (low blood sugar) in the mornings and during the night and i was never waking up. My hypo awareness was fading because my body was getting so used to the feeling of being low really early in the morning which was quite concerning since I am home alone during the day Monday til Friday. It didn't matter how many times we adjusted my long acting insulin, my carb ratios, my short acting insulin; my only choices were to make my blood sugar either run too high all day and feel, well shit, or run too low all day and make me feel, again, like shit. However it seemed like my Fibromyglia would not let me wear an insulin pump, we just made the best out of what we could.
Fast forward to 2017 and the Freestyle Libre sensor was becoming all the range and it seemed like it could be a massive help with my morning hypos as my boyfriend could scan my sensor and see what my blood sugar was on instead of him having to wake me up and watch me check my blood sugar to make sure he witnessed me treat a hypo; we've had some scary incidents where he thought I wasn't that bad as I was acting 'fine', he left for work and I slipped into such a bad hypo I was thrashing about in my bed trying to reach my phone and hypo treats because I was almost unconscious.. welcome to the scary parts of T1D. I managed to get a trail session with the Libre on the NHS (you get the reader and one sensor to trail) and I used it on and off for a year or so but honestly; I really didn't like the Freestyle Libre sensor.
First time trying the sensors on my thigh.. didn't go so well!
Secondly for me: the sensor was super inaccurate a lot of the time. I'm unsure if this is because I have to take quite a lot of medication, whether that spot on my arm is too close to the existing tattoos and scar tissue or the sensor is just not that great.. but this inaccuracy seems like a very common problem for a lot of people using the Freestyle Libre. I couldn't get it on the NHS in my area at the time (yay postcode lottery..) so paying £50 for a sensor that was usually not even correct most of the time is just something I didn't want to do anymore. And for my non T1D people: that's £50 for one sensor that lasts 14 days.. so this particular diabetes treatment was just not working out for me or my wallet.
I had a month or so to wait so I went home and researched insulin pumps that I could get on the NHS which offered manual insertion infusion sets, and I found Medtronic! We thought the reason I had so much pain with the last infusion sets was because of the 'violent-ness' of the infusion set being fired into my skin, so I thought maybe manual insertions could help a little bit.
My team managed to set up a spontaneous meeting with the Medtronic pump rep in my area so I could actually test out the manual infusion sets that Medtronic offer: Sure T infusion sets. I travelled on 3 buses by myself in my wheelchair to do this but I was so determined on changing my diabetes management I travelled for hours by myself to get it done! The pump rep was so lovely and helpful, I went away and wore the infusion set in my leg for 2 days and it went great! I messaged my Diabetes Specialist Nurse and said I wanted to get onto the Medtronic pump training sessions for 4th Jan 2019 (it was around Nov 2018 at the time I think) and she only bloody did it! That's an amazing achievement to get onto a pump that quickly on the NHS; I'm sure my British diabuddies will agree!
To make this very long story short: I've been on the Medtronic Minimed 640G for 4/5 months now and I bloody love it! The pump has made a huge different being able to change my basal rates during the day, set temp basals and just being able to actually enjoy the foods I want to eat and being able to really customise how I treat my diabetes with this insulin pump. And the best part.. I've actually been using Medtronic's Mio infusion sets which aren't manual! I rarely feel pain from them and if I do it stops after a few minutes; I couldn't ask for a better result!
This time round I really knew what sort of accessories would help me not drop my insulin pump so much and not rip out my infusion sets out due to my shaky hands and rubbish coordination; and one of those accessories is pump belts! I use a Spi Belt during the day around my waist and then Diabet-eyz lyrica pump belts at night so my pump is on my stomach so I can move about as much as I like without rolling on my pump or pulling it out in my sleep!
Another huge thing about now loving pump therapy is following a lot of type one's online who are also on pumps as I can get tips and tricks on how to wear a pump, using a pump, just anything really! Community is key when going through a health change of any kind! I have learnt so much from people on Instagram over the years and I'm forever grateful that communities like that exist!
One thing that has made wearing a pump more 'fun' would be discovering Pump Peelz! I LOVE accessorising medical devices and making them match to my style because it makes something that can be quite hard to manage/deal with more interesting and personal; over the years I've found this key to keeping me motivated to look after myself.
I've been honestly blown away by Pump Peelz! The quality of the vinyl is impressive and after having one on my blood glucose meter and two Peelz on my pump: none of them have peeled away, they've gotten moisture on them and not budged, they're FOOL PROOF to apply (this coming from a girl with constant hand tremors and bad coordination!!) and the graphics on the vinyl are bright and clear. The only downside for me is that Pump Peelz is based in America so it does take quite a while for me to receive my order and postage is, actually to be honest fairly reasonable considering, but still something I have to take into account as a international customer. I try to order in 'bulk' so I won't need to pay for shipping every time I might want to change my Peelz to combat this downside. Also I do this to try and reduce air miles as I know it's not good for the environment, HOWEVER, Pump Peelz do lots of little things to combat waste and making sure their company is eco-friendly as possible, i.e. they only print to order etc, information on this can be found here.
'Winter Berries' Pump Peelz
'Northern Lights' Pump Peelz
The final update is that I'm now a wearer of the Dexcom G6! I'm going to do a part two blog post talking all about my thoughts, how it's helped me, my comparison's between Dexcom and Freestyle Libre and more.If you got this far then thank you so much! I find it difficult to blog but I love doing it so it means the world to me that people read my posts! Hopefully it won't take me too long to get Part Two up with some more information about being a Dexcom user (especially in the UK)!
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