Would love to hear from those who are type 1 and on Insulin pump

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nicnoahshaun
nicnoahshaun Posts: 63 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I would love to hear from those who are type 1 or on insulin pump and if you have figured out what to do or had any success with weight loss.

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  • brendak76
    brendak76 Posts: 241 Member
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    I am. The thing that's helped me the most is getting the right basal settings on my pump. I've just finished strict basal testing (it took about a month off and on and it was miserable) but now that my rates are set correctly I don't "have" to eat. I also plan my workouts around meals so I don't have to eat extra food than normal just to cover a workout. I'm still weighing, measuring and counting calories just like everyone else though.
  • nicnoahshaun
    nicnoahshaun Posts: 63 Member
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    Thanks for your reply brendak. I have had type 1 for most of my life and I have always had to watch everything I eat because the more insulin I have in my body the more weight I will put on. I have always been about 20 pounds over weight. I used to try to do the adjustments on my bump myself and I still do my best and would have a good week or two and then my sugars would go craze for whatever reason.
  • brendak76
    brendak76 Posts: 241 Member
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    nicnoahshaun wrote: »
    Thanks for your reply brendak. I have had type 1 for most of my life and I have always had to watch everything I eat because the more insulin I have in my body the more weight I will put on. I have always been about 20 pounds over weight. I used to try to do the adjustments on my bump myself and I still do my best and would have a good week or two and then my sugars would go craze for whatever reason.

    I have a new endo that's been super helpful with the basal adjustments. I've been type 1 for 8 years but my 15 year old son has had it since 9 months old. I thought I knew everything there was to know about pumping but my dr proved me wrong. She made some changes that were the exact opposite of what I would have done and they worked.

    I don't know your gender, but TOM can cause crazy numbers for a few days a month too. If you don't have a good dr, I would think that would be the first place to start for help. My new dr has been just fantastic. I needed that because trying to keep up with a diabetic teenage son is challenging enough.
  • nicnoahshaun
    nicnoahshaun Posts: 63 Member
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    brendak I couldn't even imagine having a child with it. I have twin boys who are six years old and I always have the thought in my head I hope and pray that they don't ever get this. I think it is great though that you have a good doctor to help both you and your child to better manage it. Your little one is very lucky to have you and It is good that he or she has a mom who sounds like she knows what she is doing. Do you know of any web sight that would help me figure out my insulin sinsativaty or any thing that will help me figure this out. I can't see my Endo right now because I am trying to get caught up on medical bills. And yes to answer your question I and female and my sugar and hunger goes crazy the week before my monthly.
  • brendak76
    brendak76 Posts: 241 Member
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    Pumping Insulin by Walsch http://www.amazon.com/Pumping-Insulin-Everything-Need-Success/dp/1884804845

    And Think Like A Pancreas by Scheiner http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0738215147/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_1?refRID=1ADN7RWTGHDDC0Z6E777

    Both great books. I hear you on the medical bills. We are drowning in them.
  • Sharisunshine
    Sharisunshine Posts: 41 Member
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    I am 37 aND have been type 1 for 23 years ans pumping for 18. I struggling a LOT with weight loss. Seems every time I exercise or eat right I get low blood sugar and have to treat it, or get high and have to take more insulin which causes more weight. Neverending battle.
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,123 Member
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    Hi! I've been pumping for about a year. Here's what I've found helpful:
    1. Make sure your basal rates are solid. If your basal rates are too high, you'll be consuming extra calories in order to treat lows, while if your basals are set too high, you are at a higher risk of developing diabetes-related complications. Remember that you need to adjust your basal 3-4 hours prior to when you start noticing your BG change.
    2. Exercise, but think ahead. I'm an idiot and tend to not account for anticipated exercise when I do my mealtime bolus, or I don't reduce my correction bolus when I know I will be exercising to bring down a high. This has caused a ton of lows, which end up cutting into meals/snacks where I could use my calories. If I know I am going to be exercising to treat a high, I will cut my correction bolus in half. I also try to exercise right after a meal so that the BG-lowering effects of exercise will coincide with my post-meal spike (this helps a ton whenever I go out to eat and helps to minimize the 5-6 hour spike I get with restaurant foods).
    3. Minimize lows. This might be really obvious, but I found weight loss to be a lot easier when I reduce my lows to less than 2-3 a week. A lot of times, I would lose 5 pounds, and my insulin sensitivity would skyrocket and cause a ton of lows that would slow down my weight loss. After contacting the endo and getting my basals re-solidified, I then start losing weight at my normal pace.
    4. Allocate calories for hypo treatment. When prelogging, I tend to allocate 50-100 calories a day for potential hypo treatment. If I need to use those calories, oh well. If I don't, then I can eat them at the end of the week.
  • nicnoahshaun
    nicnoahshaun Posts: 63 Member
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    Thanks everyone for all your help! I know it's going to probably take me some time but I don't want to give up.
    I'm going to try and exercise around my meals and try to avoid the lows. Also my biggest challenge is when I have my monthly. I think I need to work on my basal patterns and bolus less to avoid the lows. Thanks again!

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