Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Zoe on May 24, 2012 at 9:23am

Yes, I am replying to my own post again this morning! I think I'm handling this ok, though I had a hard time sleeping last night. (First I had to take the battery out of my Ping so it would stop singing to me) and woke up very early (for me) anxious to call Animas. They didn't seem as gracious as I expected (or maybe it was my anxious morning brain!) and kept saying, we try to avoid emergency provisions. They asked me if I could get sample sets from my doctor. I laughed and told them my clinic pcp wouldn't even know what a set was. Then they said I would have to pay for the expedited shipping. The reason I ran out of sets is I'm very tight financially till July and tried to stretch the sets too close. But what can I do? I'm not doing this until Tuesday! I said fine and they said they would send me a "sample" two-pack for $30 and $30 more for the expedited shipping. I said $30 is only a little less than what I pay for a full box with insurance. So they checked and realized my Tuesday order isn't a full order so they will send me a box to be billed to my insurance and I will only pay for the $30 expedited. And here I thought "samples" were free, and so was expedited shipping in an emergency! Maybe their policies have changed.

So I have today and part of tomorrow to get through (my UPS usually comes late afternoon). I was 180 at bedtime but didn't want to correct as my correction factor at night is 62 and I didn't trust those syringe doses. How do people use those with any degree of accuracy?! I took 5 units Levemir at bedtime. I woke up at 260 and corrected with 3 units this morning. (correction factor of 40). Four made me nervous. I guess I need to resign myself to being high (but not 300, please!) for a couple days..sigh

I'm undecided whether to take two doses of Levemir for 24 hours adding up to my current total basal (11 units) or what I was on before the pump (16 units). Anybody who did that have a suggestion?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Trudy on May 24, 2012 at 9:57am

Hi Zoe. I've resigned myself to the fact that everything with diabetes involves guessing. Still if it were me, I'd take a split dose -- that small input, small problem idea. Remember that over time Levemir begins to build up in your system, not an enormous amount, but noticeable if you're insulin sensitive. Therefore you should probably turn down your basal a bit temporarily when you go back to pumping.

I've pretty much resigned myself that I'm now off the pump permanently (probably!). I use a Levemir pen and 1/2 dose syringes for Apidra and Regular. I do hold that syringe up to a bright light when I take a shot! My A1C is not as good as when I was on the pump, but I'm getting by. Good luck!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Zoe on May 24, 2012 at 10:17am

Thanks, Trudy. I'm glad you're doing ok back on shots. I hope the 1/2 dose syringes aren't half as close lines! I actually use insulin syringes (which I never used for insulin) for my cat's nausea medicine and depending on which the vet gets I have the really thin hard to read ones (which also have fragile needles!) or the much thicker kind which are much easier.

Thanks for reminding me too, to turn down my basal doses when I get my pump back on!

I definitely decided on the split dose for exactly the reason you state! I was just trying to decide between the basal dose (11 for 24 hours) or my old Levemir dose of 16. I'll probably settle somewhere in between. Oh such fun!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Trudy on May 24, 2012 at 10:23am

Somewhere in between sounds good. Give your kitty a pet from me. Can't imagine what I'd think about if my diabetes suddenly disappeared!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Zoe on May 24, 2012 at 10:34am

Thanks Trudy! You got that right! And it's amazing how little of it we can explain to "civilians"! I was rushing to get to an event on time last night which contributed to my blowing through all those insets! When I did get there I muttered something about a "minor crisis". When I pushed back my auto repair appointment again to next week I mumbled "medical thing".

That's why I come on here to share the mundane details of my D life. Lula (the cat) just thinks thinks the solution to everything is to cuddle and allow me to pet her - she's probably right!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stemwinder on May 24, 2012 at 6:50pm

Hang in there Zoe. I know it's difficult. Sounds like you and Lula have this thing figured and I'm sure Lula is doing her part.

Gary S

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Zoe on May 24, 2012 at 6:54pm

Thanks, Gary!I actually have normal blood sugars at the moment - minor miracle!

Permalink Reply by DianaS on May 24, 2012 at 2:17pm

For future reference another source for sets would be your local Animas rep.

A couple things I've done to minimize the risk of running out is to always always reorder as soon as I open my last box. I've also used autoship successfully and get a few sets ahead for emergencies.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Zoe on May 24, 2012 at 2:27pm

Thanks Diane, I didn't think of that. Is the local Animas rep the person who was my trainer? Or maybe it's the sales rep who I first contacted? Not even sure I have that number! Anyway it's on its way and will arrive tomorrow.

Yes, you are absolutely right, I was waiting till last minute to put the bill forward to when I actually have some money..lol

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page