The Life of a Diabetic » Insulin Pump Problems http://thelifeofadiabetic.com Living Normally With Diabetes Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:00:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Testing Out Other Insulin Pumps http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/testing-out-other-insulin-pumps/ http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/testing-out-other-insulin-pumps/#comments Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:00:00 +0000 Chris http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/?p=1398
  • Insulin Close Call This weekend provided me with a close call.  I knew...
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    I loved the pump.  I loved the way it worked and how it helped me manage my blood sugar levels a lot better.  Then I got into finding blogs online and just reading them and learning that there were other diabetes companies that existed other than Medtronic and One Touch.  I spent some time working for a diabetes supply company, so I had access to a lot of different products from different manufacturers and found out the benefits of all these different pumps.  I also learned more as I blogged longer and met more people using different kinds of pumps.  So, this finally leads me to the reason of today’s post.

    I have been happy with Medtronic, but I’m not 100% loyal to Medtronic.  I would like to try other pumps.  I would love to try or test out the One Touch Ping and Omni Pod.  I have been given the trial pod for Omni Pod and I have worn it and I loved it.  The only issue is that I would be changing out the pod every 1.5 days based upon the amount of insulin that I use.  If I lose weight then the possibility of my insulin usage can go down and then I can use an Omni Pod.

    Along with insulin pumps, I would love to try out the Dexcom CGM, but I just haven’t had a chance to do so.  I have used the Medtronic CGM in the past, but haven’t used it in nearly a year because I haven’t had any sensors and some issues with the insurance company.  Starting next year I will begin using a CGM again.  Whether it is Medtronic or Dexcom, it is one of my top goals for 2012.

    For those that have used multiple pumps, not those that have only used one and will tell me how much you love it, but only those that have used different pumps, which have you liked better and why?

    I appreciate any responses or feedback in advance.

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    ]]>     http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/testing-out-other-insulin-pumps/feed/ 1     Oops, That Blood Sugar was my Fault http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/oops-that-blood-sugar-was-my-fault/ http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/oops-that-blood-sugar-was-my-fault/#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:30:29 +0000 Chris http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/?p=1316
  • Scary Low Blood Sugar at the Driving Range Today was such a beautiful day and I was sitting...
  • Forgot to Reschedule Endo Appointment, Oops It’s been a while since my last A1C and my...
    • Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]>     Yesterday was one of those days.  You know, the days where you blood sugar goes from like 160 to 450 within a few hours and you have no idea.  Mainly because you didn’t test your blood sugar for almost 6 hours.  Sunday’s are my relaxation, cleaning, and shopping for the week day all in one.  I ate lunch and bolused and my blood sugar was fine.  When dinner time came I realized that I was out of my insulin in my pump, which is weird because I never let that happen.  Thinking back on it, I do remember hearing the warning beeps several times throughout the day, but I didn’t do anything about it to check and see how much insulin was left.

    In a sense, I pretty much just told myself that I knew I was getting low, but that  didn’t have to do anything about it right then and there.  Not a good idea.  This is what leads to blood sugars of 450.

    Luckily it came back down.  I am writing this post now at about 6:30 in the morning and my last sugar level was 219.  A hell of a lot more acceptable.

    Well, have a good day everybody.  I am very close to making a few huge announcements.  I can’t make them yet, but soon, hopefully, very soon.

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    ]]>     http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/oops-that-blood-sugar-was-my-fault/feed/ 0     Airport Security http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/airport-security/ http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/airport-security/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:00:00 +0000 Chris http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/?p=920 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> I know there has been a lot of discussion lately about airport security and the new guidelines and the new types of screenings that show images of your body and what not.  I was first going to post about the issues that I already have to go through, as well as other diabetics when going through security.

    As is right now, when I get to the security gate, it’s not just taking off a jacket and worrying about taking my shoes off, but I take my computer out of the bag, take out the bag of insulin and supplies and put that in it’s own separate bin that way I don’t have to get an individual search, even though that still happens most of the time.  I also disconnect my pump and put it through the x-ray machine as well because my clip sets off the metal detector, so it’s easy to just disconnect for 10 seconds then it is to unclip it and then re-clip it.

    After that, it’s over.  I dont have as many issues with my security checks as I did when I was using insulin pens and needles and syringes.  At that time my bags were checked a lot.  I’ll be taking a lot of insulin with me for this trip since it is for Thanksgiving, so I already know there will be a lot of carb intake, ha.

    Well have a great day ya’ll

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    ]]>     http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/airport-security/feed/ 0     Sugar Free Saturday Volume 2 http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/sugar-free-saturday-volume-2/ http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/sugar-free-saturday-volume-2/#comments Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:00:00 +0000 Chris http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/?p=911 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Well, last week I decided to go back to trying my Sugar Free Saturday way of cutting back on my insulin intake so I can possibly get that OmniPod I want so bad.  Sorry if you are tired of hearing about how I want the OmniPod, but it is the only way to continue to remind myself what I am fighting for, why I am eating a salad at lunch or a half of sandwich instead of a whole foot long sub or food court chinese food.  It is all because I am losing weight to make lifestyle changes.  There is going to be some sugar in my food intake tonight, unless the wedding that I am going to doesn’t serve the cake until after midnight.

    Speaking of which, this post isn’t going to be long because I have to get ready for this wedding that I have to go to tonight.  Going to weddings are not really fun in my mind, but I try to make the best of them.  I have to make sure that I always take an extra infusion set and insulin, and strips and anything else that I may need because there is no going back to get more supplies or leaving the wedding earlier.  Unfortunately, that happened to me one time.  My cousin got married back in 2007 and I flew back home for it because I was in the wedding party.  Well long story short, the reception was at a campgrounds about an hour away and we were to spend the night there.  About 2 hours into the reception, I realized that I only had about 15 units of insulin and forgot to bring more. So I had to go all the way home and miss the whole night of fun and time with the family.

    Well, have a great day everybody.  Only one more day until World Diabetes Day.

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    ]]>     http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/sugar-free-saturday-volume-2/feed/ 0     Restarting Sugar Free Saturday http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/restarting-sugar-free-saturday/ http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/restarting-sugar-free-saturday/#comments Sat, 06 Nov 2010 12:00:25 +0000 Chris http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/?p=885 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> A long time I came up with an idea to start something called “Sugar-Free Saturday.”  It wasn’t a completely sugar-free Saturday, but I was not going to eat things with a lot of sugar like ice cream, desserts, or any other extremely sugary items.  I will still eat bread and some chips (which I don’t eat much of anyway), but it was just a way to eliminate a day of high sugar intake that way I can cut down slowly on the amount of insulin that I am using.  I also wrote recently about wanting to switch to an OmniPod, but I am too fat because I use on average 150-180 units of insulin a day (yes, it’s a lot, I know).  I am doing everything possible to cut back consistently so maybe I can switch at the beginning of next year.  But that will depend on the insurance because they are the ones that decide how we live our lives right?

    I have been perfectly fine with using my MiniMed Paradigm 722 for several years, zero problems with it.  So that is not the reason that I want to switch, I just have found myself with a lot of highs when I go to the beach or I go to the pool because I am in the water and I am not connected to my pump.  Then when I come back to the towel or whatever, I have to test every single time to see how high it went up or down or whatever, then re-connect, and hopefully not have to insert a new infusion site because the one that I am wearing fell off from the saltwater.  Whoa, that was a lot longer of a rant than I had expected.

    Back to the point that I was getting to at the beginning of the post.  I am declaring Saturdays, Sugar-Free Saturdays again.  Eventually this will hopefully become the norm and I will have to declare just one day a week an actual sugar Saturday.

    Have a great rest of the weekend everybody, Monday will be here before you know it unfortunately.

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    ]]>     http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/restarting-sugar-free-saturday/feed/ 3     It’s An Insulin Pump, You Idiot! http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/its-an-insulin-pump-you-idiot/ http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/its-an-insulin-pump-you-idiot/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 16:12:27 +0000 Chris http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/?p=600 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> How many times have you heard yourself use this phrase, or something close to it?  Sometimes I use words a little more intense then idiot.  I don’t like to call people idiots because you don’t know there education background and where they grew up.  So  they may have never heard of diabetes, I know I knew nothing about it before I was diagnosed.  But there are times when people just piss me off about it.

    Last week when I went to a country concert and was patted down because God forbid you actually sneak in some liquor instead of paying $12 for one beer.  He felt the insulin pump and asked me to take it out and I explained it’s an insulin pump.  This guy was trying to do his job, I understand, but just because you are wearing a yellow jacket that says “Security” doesn’t give you the right to act like a flat-top cop and think you control things.

    I took it out of my pocket and he actually touched it to feel it, for what, I have no idea.  When he handed it back to me, I noticed that a button was pushed.  What if he pushed the button 3 times and set a bolus for me, who knows, maybe a max bolus of 25 units and I had no idea about it?  Then I’d have to go and knock down about 5 hot dogs and 5 fries which would probably be more expensive then a trip to the ER!

    I’d love to hear your experiences of people giving you problems of an insulin pump, or when you have been asked if it’s a “pager” and to “turn it off”.

    Have a Great Day!

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    ]]>     http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/its-an-insulin-pump-you-idiot/feed/ 7     High Blood Sugars at the Hockey Game http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/high-blood-sugars-at-the-hockey-game/ http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/high-blood-sugars-at-the-hockey-game/#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:27:32 +0000 Chris http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/?p=494 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Last night I went to the Florida Panthers vs. Washington Capitals hockey game. It was embarrassing to be a Panthers fan last night because they got their butts handed to them, to speak in nice terms. My account rep had upgraded my seats for me for that game so we were sitting in the Lexus Club level where the food options are a lot larger than at the regular concession booths. This isn’t sounding good for somebody with type 1 diabetes who just had food court Chinese food about 2 hours prior to the game. Can you see where this is leading?

    Amanda was hungry, so I told her to get whatever she wanted and I would just finish what she didn’t eat because I wasn’t really hungry. I tested my blood sugar before she ate and I was at 307. High, yes, but I wear an insulin pump, I can correct that easily. I take a correction bolus and wait about 5 minutes before I do my little insulin check. About 10-12 times a day I will rub the infusion set and then smell my fingers for insulin. Amanda tells me that I need to be less obvious when I do it, because I look really weird, which I agree, I probably do.

    When I felt the infusion set, it was soaked, so I knew I was going to smell that disgusting smell of insulin, and I did! In a normal situation I would have freaked out and been worried that my sugar is going to stay high. Normally, I would just bolus like 25 units knowing that not all of it was going to get absorbed. Luckily, I had inserted an infusion set on my backside a few nights ago, but since my sugar was high at the time I put a second one in on my stomach. When my sugar is high, infusion sets on the butt don’t work. So I didn’t take that one out, so I was able to hook up the tubing to that.

    Now the hardest part is trying to figure out how much insulin my body actually did absorb. I bolused at about 90% and when I went to bed I was at 195 and woke up at 156.

    Now for a quick update on my cough and ear thing that I have had going on forever, it seems like. My ear is still clogged, the nasal spray I was prescribed doesn’t work and when I try to clear them myself, it just makes them more clogged. I am going to try the Neti Pot again tonight and see what that does for me. I have an appointment on Monday, so we will see how that goes.

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    ]]>     http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/high-blood-sugars-at-the-hockey-game/feed/ 0     Life of a Diabetic Weekend Recap http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/life-of-a-diabetic-weekend-recap/ http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/life-of-a-diabetic-weekend-recap/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:30:35 +0000 Chris http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/?p=439 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> First, I want to thank you all for your feedback, RT’s, and comments from the Fired Up Friday post about drink options.  I am glad to hear that I am not just being a drama queen (or would it be king?) and overreacting to something like this.  Anywho, the weekend was great!  It of course went by way too fast, but I accomplished a lot.  Friday night, Amanda and I were going to see that Shutter Island movie but decided to wait a week or two so there is not as many people there when we go to see it.  I hate being in a crowded movie theater, I don’t like tight spaces.  Plus, since I’m diabetic, my blood sugar can get high as we all know and I will need to run to the bathroom a million times during the movie.  Since, we decided not to go that night, we didn’t do anything.  My blood sugars were still a little high all night Friday, in the 175-190 range.

    Saturday morning was the WordCamp Miami conference, so I was up at 6:00 a.m.  I got my stuff ready the night before because I knew I would forget either my meter, or extra insulin, or a couple extra infusion sets, etc.  The conference was a lot of fun and I learned a lot more about WordPress then I initially knew going down there, so it was well worth it.  If you are interested in that type of geeky, web stuff as well, then read my other blog as well, Chris Stocker, Inc. because I don’t talk too much about on it here.  Saturday night we headed up to West Palm Beach for the Opening Night of the Waterfront.  It was basically just some streets blocked off and lots of food, beer, live entertainment.  I’m not so sure about the exact history of it, but I gave you a link if you’re interested, but it was fun.  Amanda and I ate at some Mexican place and the insulin didn’t seem to take, so that type 1 diabetes thing I have made the sugars a little high, about 275.

    Sunday morning was another little community thing that Amanda, her brother, and myself went to.  It was in Lake Worth, FL and it was some outdoor thing where artists and kids were drawing on the street with chalk, it was actually pretty damn cool.  I’m having trouble with my camera uploading things, so I will post some of the pictures tomorrow from it.  Other than that, it was time to go home and get to work.  I have a few blogs that I am almost finished designing for clients and a couple of other websites that are still in process.  I’m getting a little stressed from the work, but after these couple projects are finished it will slow down because there aren’t any other large projects lined up right now, but I prefer to be extremely busy like that.  The busier I am, the more of these I drink.Rip It Sugar Free Energy Drink - Diabetes

    Finally, for the bad news.  My ear is still clogged up pretty bad, so I am going back to the doctor on Tuesday to just make sure that I don’t have an infection or something else worse going on.  I found a place that will accept the insurance, so it won’t be as much money to pay for this visit.  I really appreciate all your help and suggestions.  The Neti Pot worked miracles, but it doesn’t keep it un-clogged, it always seems to clog back up after I use it, or sometimes it doesn’t even work.  It’s just becoming frustrating right now.  But, just another obstacle to overcome when you have a life of a diabetic

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    ]]>     http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/life-of-a-diabetic-weekend-recap/feed/ 0     Blood Sugars Stayed High All Sunday http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/blood-sugars-stayed-high-all-sunday/ http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/blood-sugars-stayed-high-all-sunday/#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:46:46 +0000 Chris http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/?p=386 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, Sunday was just very blah.  Even after I posted the blog, it didn’t get much better.  My blood sugar hit a high of 465, right before I was to go to dinner.  I took almost a 17 unit correction and knew I wouldn’t be eating for about another 30-45 minutes.  Everybody ordered pizza, but I knew that I obviously couldn’t eat that  with a high blood sugar, so I opted out for a Greek salad.  Luckily, the waitress forgot to put my order in and my salad came out 10 minutes after everybody else was eating.  This gave my sugar more time to come down, which it came down to 285 before I ate.  It just felt like crap sitting there not being able to eat the pizza because my sugar was so high.  But this is that’s what goes on sometimes when you’re living a life with diabetes.High Blood Sugar

    The salad was good for my diet however, so that was one good thing.  One of the in-laws had asked me, why I was eating salad, was it better for my diabetic diet?  I said, well I’m just on a general diet, nothing special because I am diabetic, I have insulin to take if I eat bad things.  After having a short conversation, I said why don’t you read my diabetes blog on a daily basis, because you can learn a lot about diabetes from it, and from reading one of the other diabetes blogs.  Hopefully you all see your reader base go up by one :)

    Because of the high blood sugars yesterday, I decided to take a break from my BBQ sauce that I have fell in love with over the past several weeks.  I figured that it would be a good idea to keep that high fructose corn syrup out of my diet for a while.  Somebody sent me an e-mail after I wrote that post about their sauce being the only one approved by the ADA, I’d love to try it, if you are out there listening.

    Well it is a Monday, so I should probably start working on some projects that I probably slacked off Golf Courseon over the weekend.  I’d so much rather be doing this again (see picture on left, Par 5, second shot)

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    ]]>     http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/blood-sugars-stayed-high-all-sunday/feed/ 0     Just a Blah Sunday Morning http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/just-a-blah-sunday-morning/ http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/just-a-blah-sunday-morning/#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:09:23 +0000 Chris http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/?p=381 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> This Sunday morning has not had the greatest start to it so far.  For one, I had a high blood sugar all night long.  Partially my fault, and partially because a bad site.  I changed the site this morning and my sugars are still a little high, but slowly coming down.  I hate eating when I have a high and am trying to correct it, but I had just woken up and there was sausage and gravy over biscuits waiting for me downstairs, so I just had to.  The weather outside is not very nice, not bad, just not nice.  It is cloudy and just looks, blah.  I shouldn’t complain though because it is about 75 here today.

    To add to that I have this annoying cough that won’t go away.  I’ve had it for about 2 days, but now it is at it’s worst.  Amanda has been sick with a little cold, so I think I am picking that up as well.  I’m hoping it calms down a little for dinner tonight.  It is Amanda’s grandmother’s birthday so the whole family is heading to a local pizza joint for dinner.  Today is also another big day in my sports world, no not the Pro Bowl.  Florida Panthers best player, David Booth makes his return today after being injured with head injuries since October.  The worst part is that the game is home, I have tickets, and I am skipping it for the family dinner.

    Speaking about sports, last night my alumni Florida Atlantic University played a women’s / men’s doubleheader in basketball against their rival Florida International University.  This is a big game in itself, but even bigger last night.  Former Piston’s star, Isiah Thomas is now their head coach, so of course the FAU fans were getting on him big time about his little mishap while being the Knicks coach.  FAU kicked butt and won.

    One final thing, I watched the Julie & Julia movie last night, it was ok.  I liked the part of the movie when she was blogging, but the France junk I didn’t like.

    Well, my coffee is out, so I need a refill and I need to get back to work.  Had a few proposals get denied, so time to get working on some new ones.

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