# Insulin types...confused!!!



## Cayers (Sep 28, 2011)

Hi..saw dietician today and she has confused me...Molly is on two injections a day humilin m3 and she has said bosul x4 a day will be better and she will end up on it anyway. Do we go down this route first before we try for a pump? As she also said inserting tubing does hurt more than injections. Only been diagnosed for 4 weeks so perhaps we should wait and see how control goes?

Will playgroup inject?not sure how I feel about this option. Why don't they have school nurses now?


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## Northerner (Sep 28, 2011)

Hi Claire, I can't answer all your questions, but can say that the 4 injections a day (basal/bolus or MDI - multiple daily injections) is much better for flexibility and good blood sugar control. Learning how to use it will also stand you in good stead should you be successful in getting a pump as many of the principles (chiefly carb counting) are the same


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## ruthelliot (Sep 28, 2011)

Hiya, I could go on forever about how fantastic a pump is ( Ben was on mdi or basal bolus from diagnosis at 18mths and moved onto pump just after 4th birthday) and though he was never on just two injection I agree with Alan that mdi must give much more flexibility and pump way more again. What I have to say is that putting the canula in is totally painless - we use a little local anaesthetic cream and the whole process ( reloading pump etc) takes no mire than twenty mins. We still give Ben the very occasional injection for various reasons and he feels them but doesn't even notice when canula goes in. Removing canula was painful until someone recommended plastoff spray and know no problem at all so whatever you do don't let that put you off. 
Ruth


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## Ruth Goode (Sep 29, 2011)

Carly is on 4 injections a day sometimes 5 or 6!!! The staffs at Nursery will do the injecting after DSN assess them for legal reasons.  At moment we still go in and do testing and injecting ourselves.
Carly been offered a pump, we are still waiting for a vibrating alarm alert for me and she is doing well with injections but her level isn't good still go too high or low!


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## Adrienne (Sep 29, 2011)

Cayers said:


> Hi..saw dietician today and she has confused me...Molly is on two injections a day humilin m3 and she has said bosul x4 a day will be better and she will end up on it anyway. Do we go down this route first before we try for a pump? As she also said inserting tubing does hurt more than injections. Only been diagnosed for 4 weeks so perhaps we should wait and see how control goes?
> 
> Will playgroup inject?not sure how I feel about this option. Why don't they have school nurses now?



Hiya
Firstly yep absolutely MDI ie 4 injections a day are 100% better than mixed insulins.  I can't stress that enough.

As for inserting tubing hurting more than injections, oh deary me, she is so very wrong.  Obviously it depends what canula but every one that my daughter has tried generally do not hurt, sometimes she can't feel them.

I really do urge you to join the cwd toddlers email group, you can then ask the relevant people these questions.  I can answer them all but my daughter is now 11 years old and some of the others are adults and whilst you all have our answers there is nothing quite like getting opinions and help from others with the same age child who has been through all of this already.  You get more of an insight.


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## Monica (Sep 30, 2011)

I totally agree with Adrienne

My daughter has been on the 2 injections regime, basal/bolus and is now on the pump. Even though the basal/bolus took more injections, Carol was adamant she'd NEVER ever go back to 2 a day.

Whether Molly goes on basal/bolus (also called MDI) or the pump, you will have to learn how to carb count.

I've had a cannula inserted in my tum and I have to say, It did NOT hurt at all. Carol said that pulling it off again hurt a little the first time, but with time she learnt how to do it without pain. We do have some wipes to help the stickyness to soften, but she doesn't even use them anymore.

Please do join us at CWD

Good luck


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## Hanmillmum (Sep 30, 2011)

Hi, even if the cannula insertion is an issue you can use a topical anaesthetic cream to numb the area, there are always ways and means - we use this on my little one as it became an issue, but I don't find it a hassle and its only every 2-3 days.


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## Cayers (Oct 1, 2011)

*Thanks...pumps*

Thanks for replies which pumps are you/children on please? We are looking For a pump that does glucose testing and alerts when high/low. I expect we will need to trial 4 injections first before we try to get nhs to fund pump.


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## Monica (Oct 3, 2011)

Cayers said:


> Thanks for replies which pumps are you/children on please? We are looking For a pump that does glucose testing and alerts when high/low. I expect we will need to trial 4 injections first before we try to get nhs to fund pump.



As far as I'm aware there are no pumps directly that do glucose testing, but there are pumps that work with sensors, which means Molly would have to have 2 things attached to her body, one: the pump cannula and two: the sensor that  does the glucose reading. Carol has a pump, but not the sensors, so I can't tell you how it works. Adrienne is the person to answer that one.


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## shiv (Oct 5, 2011)

Cayers said:


> Thanks for replies which pumps are you/children on please? We are looking For a pump that does glucose testing and alerts when high/low. I expect we will need to trial 4 injections first before we try to get nhs to fund pump.



The pumps themselves don't do the testing, but you can get a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) which will detect levels and changes in glucose. They are much harder to get funded on the NHS but it is definitely worth asking for. There are 2 pumps which work with CGM - the Medtronic and the Animas.

Also, there is no reason for you to need to try 4 injections a day first, in theory at least! There are some hospitals who put children onto pumps from the day of diagnosis


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## Hanmillmum (Oct 5, 2011)

shiv said:


> Also, there is no reason for you to need to try 4 injections a day first, in theory at least! There are some hospitals who put children onto pumps from the day of diagnosis



This was more or less the case for us, Millie went from 2 injections at diagnosis to the pump after 3 months, we never tried MDI.


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