TMI thread. Discussion of sensitive ADULT issues/triggers. Enter with awareness!

[APerfectLie]

Originally Posted by fringed n fab

OMGoodness! So is that easier to use than just daily injections? Do you constantly have to wear it? I think I'd just take the shots and get it over with myself. I'd hug you if I could.

Way better than shots. With shots, you have to take fast acting insulin and slow acting insulin. This means you have to mix insulins and take shots at certain times every day. I took shots for my first three years, and for three years I had to follow this schedule:

7AM- take a shot and eat 75 grams of carbs
10AM- 30 grams of carbs
12 Noon- shot and 75 grams of carbs
4PM- shot 30 grams of carbs
7PM- shot and 75 gams of carbs
10 PM- shot and 30 grams of carbs

I had to follow that schedule everyday for three years! And since you are taking both slow and fast acting insulin, there was really not much flexibility with the times. Also, I was taking set amounts of insulin, so I had to eat those exact amounts of carbs. So if I was hungrier, I couldn't eat more. And if I was full, I still had to eat all those carbs! The pump only uses fast acting insulin, so you can fine tune your "background insulin" that offsets the normal rise in blood sugar due to your liver and you can administer more insulin for the carbs you eat, when you want to eat them. I can now sleep in. I can now eat as many or as few carbs as I want. Also, when I go places, my pump is with me. I don't have to load up my vials of insulin and some syringes along with my glucose meter. Another thing, the insulin pump continuously monitors my blood sugar, so I know if it is shooting up or if I'm headed for a low blood sugar. It really doesn't come down to the pain from shots, because they aren't that painful, it is that the pump makes management a whole lot easier. Only downfall tho is that the pump is expensive! Also, I do have to wear it most of the time, but there are times when I can take it off. It easily disconnects from the tube that is in your body, so you don't take the tube out when you need to disconnect, you just disconnect it from the infusion site. I usually only take it off to shower or swim or exercise.