[lloeppky]

Hi! So I have been on a pump now for 6 days and I am wondering how long it took other people to get everything worked out. My BG is ALL over the board. I am getting to the point where I am afraid to eat or do anything, becausse I can't get my BG under control. I know it's not supposed to be instant, but how long do I have to feel icky because my sugars are not reaching under 10.o for more than an hour??? Sorry, I am ranting. It's just been frustrating these last 2 days. I am supposed to go onto the Continuous Glucose Monitoring too and I am worried that it will just mess eveything up again.

Whine, whine, complain, complain.
lloeppky

[lugnut48]

I got mine last October and still don't have it figured out. But then again, I haven't put in the time or effort to figuring it out either.

But it is under better control than what it was when I first started the pump; the fine tuning part sucks (at least for me.)

[Veektor]

I've been on a pump for 4 years and I still don't have it perfect. Be patient and check your BG more often. That makes up for not wanting to do anything or eat anything. Keep a food log and it will get easier. I promise you.

[Gordonm]

The first week was bad for me. I was all over the place. The second week was better but by the 4th week I had it down pretty good. So it took a few weeks to get it right. It still is not perfect as I still have some lows due to excercise but it is way better than MDI.

[Lloyd]

The CGM should help!

-Lloyd

[xMenace]

Don't churn. Work smart! Whether you use a reliable CGMS or not, you should still absal test. How to do Basal Testing

Read up, consult your doc, then do it! That's when I gained control.

[AJ21]

i've been on it just over a year and i'd say the first month was quite an adjustment, and there's still days where i'm all over the map, but for the most part - i'm pretty consistant.
you'll get used to it, it's just a matter of learning what's workind and playing with what's not.
i remember one important thing - change the basal's, ONE at a time. give it rest in between, don't change them all at once!!

[barbarac]

A little over 2 years and still don't have it right. A1C's still high, and adjustments are made every 3 days if I do what they tell me--usually more like 5. I am tired of fooling with it, but keep trying. Getting ready to go away and have one whole bag with all my pump stuff and all. Find vials were much easier--but not exactly better. This whole thing is a pain.

[amccrazgrl]

I been on my pump 3 years now and I'd say mines about 90% worked out.
Depending on different times of the month and season can cause my basal to need tweaking along with weight gain and loss.
So I would say I have everything down except the tweaking that can be done on those off days. I'm good at carb counting about 95% of the time.

[lloeppky]

Thank you SOO much! I do test every hour so I can get the patterns of my day. I called my nurse and she changed the basals, carbs and my sensitivity. I'm hoping I won't be high in the morning! I REALLY appreciate the support and advice that I get on here. Thank you!

lloeppky

[Jalama]

Originally Posted by lloeppky

Hi! So I have been on a pump now for 6 days and I am wondering how long it took other people to get everything worked out. My BG is ALL over the board.

I started my pump on 8/27 and have been working closely with the nurse (who represents the pump company) and my doctor. It takes a while for the long term insulin, Lantus in my case, to get out of your system, 24 - 48 hours. So you can't really tell how anything is going the first few days. The nurse told me being consistent is going to help most right now in telling how things are going. So even though it's a drag I am trying to eat each of my meals at the same time each day with the same amount of carbs at each one. We're going to make one change at a time starting with the night time basal rate, then see how this effects other readings throughout the day.

It's kind of aggravating to do this, as I was thinking of the new freedom I would have on the pump to eat when I want and how much I want. But I am confident in the skills of my healthcare team and the wait is going to be worth it. I am already planning that once I am stabilized I will treat myself to a movie with popcorn in (gasp!) the middle of the afternoon when I wouldn't usually be eating. The outrageous things we diabetics do...

You can make it, work closely with your team and keep good records

[Mich]

lloeppky ,

I began using a pump because of convenience and the record-keeping it provides. It doesn't change anything about how my insulin works. I have to keep in mind that my Novolog begins in about 15 minutes and continues for about 3 hours. I also have to keep in mind the glycemic value of foods (potatoes raise my blood sugar faster than peanuts.) After a while both of those things become rote and it isn't so much effort. Kind of like driving a car.

I found this info online regarding Novolog, you might check for the same info on the insulin you use in your pump. And, by the way, if you are dosing during or after a meal, it will probably take TWO hours for your sugar to return to normal. That is why many of us are limiting our carb intake per meal to keep things on a more even keel.

Good luck. It will happen, it just takes a while.

Mich

[Oradev]

Originally Posted by lloeppky

Hi! So I have been on a pump now for 6 days and I am wondering how long it took other people to get everything worked out. My BG is ALL over the board. I am getting to the point where I am afraid to eat or do anything, becausse I can't get my BG under control. I know it's not supposed to be instant, but how long do I have to feel icky because my sugars are not reaching under 10.o for more than an hour??? Sorry, I am ranting. It's just been frustrating these last 2 days. I am supposed to go onto the Continuous Glucose Monitoring too and I am worried that it will just mess eveything up again.

Whine, whine, complain, complain.
lloeppky

I would give it a good six months. That's about how long it took me. Of course, I still have days where I am saying WTF?!?!?

[judi t]

I've been on an Animas pump for three months. I'd say I'm doing everything very confidently now but do remember that I had moments of extreme anxiety about it all initially - most resolved by emailing my endo, or the Animas helpline or just checking the Animas manual. I had to get used to 'trusting the pump'.

My BGs are still not perfect. But I'm heaps better off than on MDI. And I feel so free.

Persist with it.

[JJM335]

Originally Posted by lloeppky

Hi! So I have been on a pump now for 6 days and I am wondering how long it took other people to get everything worked out. My BG is ALL over the board. I am getting to the point where I am afraid to eat or do anything, becausse I can't get my BG under control. I know it's not supposed to be instant, but how long do I have to feel icky because my sugars are not reaching under 10.o for more than an hour??? Sorry, I am ranting. It's just been frustrating these last 2 days. .
lloeppky

Hi lloeppky:

I knw a lot of people post that it was just "hook-up-and-go" , but I started pumping in July and went through a similar experience to you. I was OK for the first 24 h, but as soon as the last drop of Lantus was out of my system, all **** broke loose. My Bg went into rollercoaster mode. As little as 30 g of carbs (correctly bolused) would send my BG to > 20. I found this very disturbing. Thankfully, my DSN was always available by phone, so I did get support from her.

Eventually, after a couple of weeks of basal testing, I began to get my basals sorted out and things quietened down a bit. I now only rarely see those mad high numbers, and I am beginning to learn to fly this thing. There is certainly no way that I would ever go back to MDI.

Hang in there. It WILL get better.

Joel