Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sue59 on December 31, 2011 at 8:38am

Thanks to AR and jrtpup for your explanations of SD. I had heard of it, but not as SD, and you both gave good explanations!

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Permalink Reply by Donna H on January 4, 2012 at 4:54am

The pump has offered me slightly better control but there were so many other benefits too -- I find I use less bolus while on the pump. I think it has to do with the ability to tweak corrections in smaller increments than I can I can with injections. And, while the insurance companies that may rely on this study may not see it as meaningful from a cost perspective -- the freedom, ease, and discretion it affords me are huge benefits for me mentally and emotionally. Unfortunately, emotional and mental health benefits are overlooked when measuring "effectiveness."

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Permalink Reply by MyBustedPancreas on January 4, 2012 at 5:35am

I agree and this really worries me (overlooking of the mental and emotional aspects of living with a disease like T1D and how a pump can benefit those aspects of life with D). I mean, I love so much that I can discretely bolus with my pump without having to make a big deal of things (like at a restaurant). Or that I feel safer giving myself small corrections using my pump, something I could never do on MDI. Or that I feel safer exercising because I can decrease my basal rate on the fly to where it needs to be. It worries me that these studies will overlook all these important aspects.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on January 4, 2012 at 5:21am

Another "benefit" that I saw that's not in the "marketing" materials nor did my doctor mention it but having the pump log everything is *much* more reliable than I am. It may improve the quality of data I can provide to my doctor. I know a lot of people report being responsible with logs/ journals/ etc. but I ***loathe*** logging, always get obsessed with missing things or whatever and it drives me a bit nuts. The pump, particularly with a CGM, gives them plenty of data to put in their pipe to smoke. There's a Christopher Gardiner video about the A to Z study (finding low carbs to be easier to maintain weight loss I think?) where he mentions that "Everybody cheats" in reporting food but this is somewhat harder to do if you use a pump accurately. The fact that it acts as a "scribe" , or maybe R2D2, following you around keeping track of stuff, is really useful to me and should be considered by insurance companies and medical providers more. They operate on the assumption that "everyone with diabetes needs to log" and take that as a given but it's a PITA!

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Permalink Reply by MyBustedPancreas on January 4, 2012 at 5:38am

I could not agree more. I too am a horrible logger. I've tried everything, but so far, my pump and Carelink have been the only methods through which I can get accurate and reliable data on how I'm doing. Having these data mean that I am able to accurately adjust my basal and bolus rates.

Everyone with D does need to log their data, BUT it's impossible to do this accurately and reliably if you, oh, I don't know, HAVE A LIFE!! Sure, you can do it for a week, maybe even a month, but life is busy and between my job and family, there's just no way I can reliably do it. It's just not possible.

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Permalink Reply by jrtpup on January 4, 2012 at 5:47am

That's why I call my pump Daphne, after my late mother-in-law who I adored, but who nagged me mercilessly :)

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