Ask the Expert: How do I know if I should switch to an insulin pump?

July 23, 2009

By Jessica Gibbons, Certified Diabetes Educator and Registered Dietitian

“I have had type 1 diabetes for over 45 years. My blood
sugar is under control. I inject Lantus twice a day and Humalog 3 to 6 times a
day. My doctor says I don't need an insulin
pump. What do you think?”

Pumps are such an individual decision! There are some real
benefits to wearing a pump. One is the flexibility that a pump offers. If you
are a busy person who has little time to spare, it is nice to be able to quickly
dose insulin at any time when eating or correcting an elevated blood sugar.
Another really nice feature of a pump is the ability to adjust basal rates.
Basal rates replace Lantus and can be fine tuned hourly so that if you
generally get low in the middle of the night, you can drop your basal rate
during those hours, or if you get high each morning when you wake up, you can
increase the basal rates during those times thus more tightly matching insulin
to blood sugar patterns. It is also easy to be more precise when wearing a
pump, since you can enter your carb ratios, correction factors and target blood
sugars into the pump. You don’t have to do the math, you can use unusual
numbers (i.e. a carb ratio of 1:9), the pump does it for you and it leads to tighter control.

There is a learning curve associated with a pump, and it will
initially require some thought and effort on your part. Wearing a pump can be
more expensive than giving shots or using a pen, so one would need to take that
part in to consideration as well. Overall, pumps are loved by those who wear
them, and while they are certainly not required for good blood sugar control,
they do tend to make great control easier! www.diabetes.org
has a longer answer to this question, listing many pros and cons of pumping,
there are discussions on this site as well as blogs on the Children with Diabetes website where people discuss pump usage and there are many people who wear pumps that would be willing to give you their firsthand experience with a pump. I’ve been wearing a pump for eleven years and have thoroughly enjoyed it!

From

Comment

nichy9_83

July 27, 2009 7:20 PM I switched to the pump because I'm a fragile diabetic and my sugars weren't controled with shots. I had to go to 3 different doctors before one finally put me on a pump. They kept saying "you have to be a good diabetic with a good A1C before you can be put on a pump." But I believed the pump would make me a good diabetic. Then I found a doctor who said "every diabetic should be on the pump, no if's and's or but's." Since you're taking like 4-6 shots a day or more, the pump would be like one shot every 3 days. What's better than that?! You have more freedom and less pain from the shots. You can skip a meal or eat more than you use to, if that's what you want. The pump helps you be able to do that and be like a normal person. It's true, it is a personal decision. If your sugars are controlled with shots and you're ok with taking shots, then don't get the pump, because you don't "have" to or "need" to. But if you want less shots and more freedom, then find a doctor who will give you the pump. I live in Fort Worth, Texas and my doctor's name is Jaime H. Castro. Hope this was helpfull!