# Pump fatigue



## CosmicHedgehog (Jul 9, 2018)

Does anyone else get fed up wearing a pump?... or is it just me? This time of year especially( but all year round too) I find it such a pain. I'm quite slim and no matter where i put it it sticks out or gets in the way. Just a general ball and chain feeling. I have tried lots of bands cases/ hole in pockets etc.. I know rationally that i need it... But that doesn't stop me keep wanting to go back to pens. I go through cycles of feeling like this and in some ways it's almost like self sabotage. logically i know i have to have one, but i dream of taking it off and having good control on injections.  I have to talk myself out of disconnecting and injecting on a daily basis at the moment. I feel like i will never be fully comfortable having a pump. I've been on a pump for a few years now so it's not a new thing in theory i should be well used to it by now. I know it sounds like a weird thing to vent about but it's affecting me quite considerably. Wondered if anybody else felt like this?


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## stephknits (Jul 9, 2018)

How do you feel about your dexcom?  Does having it stuck on you bother you too?  If not, then maybe you could look at changing to a patch pump next time if they do them in your area? 
I often forget where I have stuck mine and they only occasionally get in the way.


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## CosmicHedgehog (Jul 9, 2018)

stephknits said:


> How do you feel about your dexcom?  Does having it stuck on you bother you too?  If not, then maybe you could look at changing to a patch pump next time if they do them in your area?
> I often forget where I have stuck mine and they only occasionally get in the way.


That is a good point, but Currently feeling the same about dexy. although i can tolerate it better than a pump.. How big are omnipods? I wear my dex on my arm or thigh, can you do that with pods? i have thought about that before although i don't think my clinic give out pods, just roche and medtronic i think.


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## HOBIE (Jul 9, 2018)

Having T1 is a pain at times. Sticking pins into yourself 4 times a day ? Good luck


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## stephknits (Jul 9, 2018)

Am currently wearing the pod on my thigh.  I stick it on my arms, legs, stomach and lower back.


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## CosmicHedgehog (Jul 9, 2018)

HOBIE said:


> Having T1 is a pain at times. Sticking pins into yourself 4 times a day ? Good luck


 Doesn't bother me at all, I was on mdi for 20 ish years. I'm not taking my pump off, i just wanted to know if anyone else has these feelings towards it.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Jul 9, 2018)

I have known a few people who have stopped using pumps for various reasons. Mostly when they find they get unpredictable results from site failures though, rather than attachment/adjustment. Though I think I have seen at least one other person who never quite got used to wearing one and switched back. 

It took me 6 months to get over the last few niggling ‘it’s a bit inconvenient to wear when’s and I’ve not looked back since. 

But then I find I have a large number of ‘it’s much more convenient for’ situations and generally my results are so much better, so pens would have a difficult time winning me back.


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## CosmicHedgehog (Jul 9, 2018)

stephknits said:


> Am currently wearing the pod on my thigh.  I stick it on my arms, legs, stomach and lower back.


Oh cool! Thanks. Might have a talk with my team about it.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Jul 9, 2018)

Here’s a blog post from Ginger Viera who chooses syringes over an insulin pump that might give you some food for thought - even if you don’t feel the same way!

https://www.ontrackdiabetes.com/type-1-diabetes/6-reasons-i-dont-use-insulin-pump


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## CosmicHedgehog (Jul 9, 2018)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> I have known a few people who have stopped using pumps for various reasons. Mostly when they find they get unpredictable results from site failures though, rather than attachment/adjustment. Though I think I have seen at least one other person who never quite got used to wearing one and switched back.
> 
> It took me 6 months to get over the last few niggling ‘it’s a bit inconvenient to wear when’s and I’ve not looked back since.
> 
> But then I find I have a large number of ‘it’s much more convenient for’ situations and generally my results are so much better, so pens would have a difficult time winning me back.


Thanks for the reply. I see that it is better for me to be on a pump.I really need micro doses and am on a really small amount of insulin daily and my sensitivity is 1u reduces me by 7mmol (correction factor) and 1u to 20g carbs ratio. My control is really sensitive, for example: i set a 70% temp basal rate yesterday because it was so hot and that took me from 0.59u an hour to 0.41u an hr is (rate vary in the day and night) Not even remotely achievable on mdi .. but that niggling thought of disconnecting seems to be stuck with me constantly at the mo. Maybe it's just that i don't really have a choice that bugs me. I don't know. Neither injecting or changing cannulas bother me as i was diagnosed aged 7 so for me its normal.. not even remotely fussed by needles of any kind. It's more a head issue than a real practical issue. I'm never going to love my pump but i need to find a way to tolerate it if you see what i mean


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## CosmicHedgehog (Jul 9, 2018)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Here’s a blog post from Ginger Viera who chooses syringes over an insulin pump that might give you some food for thought - even if you don’t feel the same way!
> 
> https://www.ontrackdiabetes.com/type-1-diabetes/6-reasons-i-dont-use-insulin-pump


How she talks in that article is how i feel, thanks for sharing that article mike, made me feel like someone understood  just don't even know if it is possible for me


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## Radders (Jul 9, 2018)

Thank you for posting your story. I can’t say I have experienced the feelings you describe. You describe it very well though so I can tell this is a worry for you. I suspect being diagnosed at a young age gives a very different perspective on things - I was 29 so the fight I had to get a pump, and the feeling of control it gave me for the first time, more than outweigh the inconvenience of wearing it. 99% of the time it’s on my waistband and sometimes I wear it on the inside of the band to stop it sticking out as much. Wearing dresses is a challenge so I don’t do that very often. As Stephknits says, perhaps you could consider looking at a different pump next time to see if that feels any better. 
Also perhaps some of the niggles are things that others might have overcome? At least you might get some ideas to try. 
Could you get some long acting insulin and take a holiday from the pump to see how you feel about going back to MDI?


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## CosmicHedgehog (Jul 9, 2018)

Radders said:


> Thank you for posting your story. I can’t say I have experienced the feelings you describe. You describe it very well though so I can tell this is a worry for you. I suspect being diagnosed at a young age gives a very different perspective on things - I was 29 so the fight I had to get a pump, and the feeling of control it gave me for the first time, more than outweigh the inconvenience of wearing it. 99% of the time it’s on my waistband and sometimes I wear it on the inside of the band to stop it sticking out as much. Wearing dresses is a challenge so I don’t do that very often. As Stephknits says, perhaps you could consider looking at a different pump next time to see if that feels any better.
> Also perhaps some of the niggles are things that others might have overcome? At least you might get some ideas to try.
> Could you get some long acting insulin and take a holiday from the pump to see how you feel about going back to MDI?


Thank you. I'm trying my best to be honest not to over think it all. The more i think about it the more confused i become.. like a chronic MDI vs Pump fence sitter. I can't escape the fact that my control is better on the pump and that i'm grateful to even have one as i know some people are still fighting for them. I just wish i could learn to accept that this is how it is now and lump it. At the same time i feel what i feel, and it's driving me nuts! I have taken myself off the pump a few times over the years for a pump break  and i do feel very free and much happier... until by the end of the week holiday my control had deteriorated into yoyos of hypos and hypers. Plus side i have successfully stopped myself mulling over this in my head yet again for the million time and actually written it down. That's got to be better than having it bouncing around in my head.


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## SB2015 (Jul 9, 2018)

I am glad that you have written it down.  Also it took me some time to learn that it is okay to feel annoyed, angry, ... about having to manage this condition.  It kind of stopped me thinking I ‘ought not to’ feel like this and getting cross that I did.  It is perfectly understandable.

Like you I am on tiny doses of insulin so would never get the control that I have without my pump.  The benefits of pumping far outwiegh the MDI, but you also know that for yourself.  It doesn’t stop me loving the time in the shower with cannula out and no pump just for a short while.  Then the new cannula goes in, and on I go (with the odd rant here and there as part and parcel of having T1)


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## Radders (Jul 10, 2018)

CosmicHedgehog said:


> Thank you. I'm trying my best to be honest not to over think it all. The more i think about it the more confused i become.. like a chronic MDI vs Pump fence sitter. I can't escape the fact that my control is better on the pump and that i'm grateful to even have one as i know some people are still fighting for them. I just wish i could learn to accept that this is how it is now and lump it. At the same time i feel what i feel, and it's driving me nuts! I have taken myself off the pump a few times over the years for a pump break  and i do feel very free and much happier... until by the end of the week holiday my control had deteriorated into yoyos of hypos and hypers. Plus side i have successfully stopped myself mulling over this in my head yet again for the million time and actually written it down. That's got to be better than having it bouncing around in my head.


Getting our worries out of our heads and onto paper or a screen can be so helpful sometimes. Glad it’s helped you!


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