Minimed Paradigm Insulin Pump - Getting Used To It and Eating

I'm getting used to my new insulin pump. I've had it about two months now. It's a MiniMed Paradigm with Medtronic. The company has been terrific to deal with. It is getting easier to manage my diabetes, but I'm still not keeping it in a good range. That's my fault. I have to become more aggresive with my eatting and diet. I seem to stay hungry. They say the insulin will do that.

I remember I was having such a hard time making the choice between Medtronic's Minimed, the Omnipod and Insulet and another insulin pump company. I'm glad I chose the Minimed. It's hard though still remembering that the pump is attached to me and I have the tubing to deal with. It's great being able to keep track of my numbers, knowing how much insulin I have "on board" in my system and having the pump calculate my dosages for me. I still need to manage these numbers to keep in range. I've had some very low numbers (40's thru 60's) and still have the highs (300s and 400s). But, I do know that I can get them in better range if I do my part a lot better.

My problem is I love to snack and eat. My eating schedule is erratic and days are very long. I'm not real good at watching all I put into my body in a day. I'm not a 3 time a day eatter with a couple of snacks thrown in.

I check the web for interesting recipes and I watch my carbs.

I'm getting ready to order the Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) that goes with the Minimed. It will help me with those lows and highs I've been having if I can see where I'm at at any time. I already feel like a pin cushion on my stomach and have been using alternate sites. It's getting better because I don't have to give insulin injections so much now. I still do a lot a fingerpricks (7-10 a day). It's good for me know where I'm at, so I don't mind so much.

Pumping Insulin

I've started using the Medtronic Minimed Insulin pump about 3 weeks ago. There are a lot of ups and down, especially my sugar. Now, for the first time, I'm having to deal with drops in my blood sugar more than highs. But, I'm actually loving the freedom that not having to give myself so many injections is freeing me from.

Don't get me wrong, I still have to check my blood sugar with needle sticks and put the numbers in my pump manually, but not the injections. They are delivered by the pump. Sometimes I forget that I have to check. It feels like I am forgetting to do something.

I'll keep you updated on my progress with the pump and getting a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). I really need to start blogging more. Sometimes just talking about the challenges of using an insulin pump, the hoops you jump through to be able to care for the medical costs and issues, trying to keep enough sick leave with my job, etc., is enough to drive me crazy and wondering if there wouldn't be an easier way. But, I'm also coming to think of the insulin pump as my lifeline, my external pancreas. I'll leave some of these issues to discuss another time.

Hopefully, I'll get followers somehow on my blog, and have other people contributing their comments and links. I know there are many sites on diabetes. Let me know where they are so I can link my blog to them.

Signing off, Laurette

Diabetes, Type 1: My Journey

I developed diabetes in January '09 and have since moved from a type 2 to type 1 diabetic. I have been on the oral meds and injections.

This past week I just started using insulin in my newly acquired insulin pump. This has been stressful, physically and mentally. I'm still getting the hang of things. Also, I've had so much help along the way to controlling my diabetes. It's good to see my numbers having come down from 560s to 80s. I've had many highs, but I'm now having numerous lows. The pump is helping to gete things in control.

I haven't updated my blogs for a while, but I want to include as many people as I can on my journey with diabetes. I'll working on making this blog more current. Let me know your story.