We all have our favorite meter’s, pumps, syringes, glucose tabs, CGM’s, and whatever else you use to manage your diabetes. Here are my top 4 essentials to managing my diabetes.
Medtronic Minimed Paradigm 722
This is my insulin pump of choice at this time. It is the one that I was given when I first got the pump 5 years ago, well it was a Paradigm 712 at that time, but I upgraded to the 722 at the beginning of the year. I don’t have any issues with the pump, but there are some things that I do like with the other ones as well. This pump is my life right now. I would not be able to manage my diabetes as easily without it. I did MDI and it just didn’t work for me, I eat too frequently and eat at random times that just make it best for me to use a pump and bolus at any given time.
Freestyle Lite Meter
For a very long time I used all One Touch products. That stopped about a year ago when I received a Freestyle Lite meter, and I haven’t switched to another since then. I absolutely love this meter. I never have any problems, it’s small and the best part about it is the light it has. I test more frequently, especially at night because of this light. I would never test at 3 am because I didn’t want to turn the light on because then I can never go back to sleep. With this meter, I can just turn on the light on the meter, test, and go back to bed. I do use other meters in different situations. I use a True2Go meter when I am traveling or golfing because it carries easier. I look forward to trying out the Contour USB, who knows, that may become the new meter of choice, we shall see.
Minimed CGM
Even though I don’t use this as often as I should, when I do, it helps me out tremendously. My average BG levels are about 20-30 points lower when I use it. It comes down to dealing with the pain of inserting a new sensor. That is the number one reason that I hate to put it on because quite honestly, it hurts. The needle is extremely long, so that’s not a plus either. Once it’s on and calibrated I love it.
Skittles
You may be wondering why this is one of my essentials. Well, it’s because this is the most comfortable item that I like to use. When I eat a bag of Skittles(the small bag shown here), I know how much it will bring up my sugar, which means that I don’t overeat. When I am eating other things like glucose tabs or orange juice or whatever else, I don’t know how much it will raise my sugar, so then usually my sugar is way too high at that point then.
I have that same meter too. I wanted the Cosmos but it was a new company and that year was the first insulin pump they had made. I went with this one because the company was tried and true and had been making pumps for many years. It turned out that even with the large numbers and other wonderful things the Cosmos went out of business.
I don’t use the sensor as I cannot afford the sensor strips. Sometimes I wonder why those things are so expensive. I lost my insurance when our company went out of business.
I called the rep of Medronics and asked him why they could not just make and sell the part of the tubing that inserts into me separately and more inexpensively for those who do not have insurance. I explained that I could use the same tubing many times as it just snaps onto the part that is attached to me. He said it was a set and would not interchange and I told him I do it all the time. Often I don’t want to do the prime and so I just unhook the tubing and insert only the cannola into my skin and snap on the same tubing. He did not understand. Shortly after that I saw where they were selling the tube with two inserts. However it was at the same price. Did he get the idea from me? Don’t know but they did it wrong, was supposed to save money.