The exclusive support forum for Insulin Pumps! http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php Fri, 18 May 2012 23:36:47 -0500 10 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4664 skymontanaro Linda B Fri, 18 May 2012 17:22:23 -0500 4664 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4644
Just joined the forum, though I have been reading various posts for a few weeks. I'm making the move to get on a pump and should hopefully get connected in the next 2 months.

Thank you to everyone posting on this forum, it has been very useful to me. I hope to participate a lot more as I get a new pump.

Cheers
Chris]]> Garns skymontanaro Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:21:18 -0500 4644 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4662 I just put the one from my 722 on so I'm back in business. I ordered a new one from MM today and it looks a little
diffrent than my old clip...Hummmm....;-(

I'm still upset over the clear tubing change...I thought the Silhouettes would be excluded from this tubing change but
my last order of Silhouettes have the clear sticky tubing...;-(]]> JohnG JohnG Wed, 16 May 2012 14:00:31 -0500 4662 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4655
The fundamental observation is that sensor alerts are helpful when they tell me something important that I don't know. They are annoying when they tell me something I'm already aware of, especially if I have already treated the problem. It's even worse when the same issue is alerted over and over again.

Here are scenarios that have annoyed and frustrated me, and suggestions for how I would fix it if I could. (I'm using the Revel 723, but I suppose the other pump models behave more-or-less the same.)

1. I'm washing dishes, and my hands are covered with soap and salad oil. My pump alerts that sensor glucose is too low or high, or is headed there. So now I have to drop everything, wash and dry my hands, and cancel the alert because otherwise the pump will keep yelling at me over and over and over. It's the same problem when I'm working under the car covered in grease, or my hands are covered with paint, or my hands are full carrying a big box up the stairs. The solution is simple. When I'm awake, I want self-cancelling alerts. The pump told me there is a problem; I'll deal with it when it's convenient. Don't make me drop everything to stop the pump from nagging. One way to implement this would be by time of day: if it is between, say, 8am and 12pm, either suppress a re-alert of the same issue, or at least let me set a long delay so the pump won't re-alert the same issue every 60 seconds.

2. I have my low-limit set to 80 mg/dL. I look at the pump, press ESC, and it shows that my SG is 83. Pressing the down arrow, I see that 5 minutes earlier my SG was 88. Ok, I'm headed low, so I eat 2 glucose tabs. Three minutes later, the pump alerts that I've gone low. I already knew that! And the pump can detect that I already know, because I did press the ESC button while on the home screen, to cause the pump to display the SG screen. The same issue happens with HI and predicted LO/HI. I think the pump should suppress alerts of SG excursions if I have recently caused the SG screen to be displayed.

3. Recall that I have my low-limit set to 80 mg/dL. The pump alerted a predicted low and an actual low, and so I took some glucose. My recent SG readings are 92, 87, 82, 77, 75, 76. Then the pump alerts SG LO 79. That alert is annoying because, as anyone can see, my SG has already headed back up and will be good in another 5 minutes. If the pump can do a "predicted LO", it certainly could do a "predicted no-longer LO" and suppress the alert. Same goes for HI alerts when the trend has turned around and the SG is predicted to head back below the upper limit.

4. The pump is delivering a bolus. It alerts. I can look at the SG screen, but there is no way for me to see the alert message because the pump is preoccupied with the bolus. The alert doesn't show up on any status screen yet, so if I don't already know what's wrong, there's no way to find out. Is it SG? Is it Reservoir LO? And even if I do know what the problem is, there's no way to cancel the alert. It's going to yell at me again as soon as it finishes delivering the bolus, and there's nothing I can do to prevent that. Here's what I want: defer all alerts until I can both see what the alert is, and I can cancel the alert (or it self-cancels per #1 above.) If the alert is so important that it shouldn't be deferred, then by golly show me the message, don't just make noise and show me the ongoing bolus count.

5. I (or my meter) enter a calibration of 102. Two minutes later the pump alerts SG LO 73. Sheesh! I just gave the pump very good evidence that my BG is fine: there's no excuse for them to tell me that I'm too low or too high. I want the pump to suppress alerts about SG excursions after I give a calibration that says my BG is in range.

6. The pump alerts me Pred Lo. I clear the alert and go back to what I was doing. A minute later, the pump alerts me BG BY, which forces me to drop everything _again_ to clear the new alert. The pump should have combined the two alerts one right after another. If an alert is given, and another is scheduled to be given soon, that second alert should be moved up and given now so I don't get interrupted twice.

7. The pump alerts Pred Lo, and I clear it. Five minutes later it alerts SG LO. That second alert is not informative, and should be suppressed. If I believe the predicted low, I am dealing with it. If I investigated and decided that the sensor is wrong, then I'm all set. Either way, the following LO alert isn't going to get me to take any action. It is only going to annoy me. Now it's OK if it wants to re-raise the alert 20 minutes later if the SG is still bad (and is predicted to stay bad --- see #3 above).

8. It alerts LO 76. Twenty minutes later it alerts LO 77. Twenty minutes after that it alerts LO 77. And twenty minutes later it alerts LO 78. Come on now. What's the point? The SG is not dangerously low, and it is not getting worse. Maybe I know something that the pump doesn't, like the pizza arrived 10 minutes ago so I'm not going to stay low for long. Anyway, repeatedly re-alerting a stable situation that is not dangerous is merely annoying, not helpful or useful. Such alerts should be suppressed.

9. My BG is high. I take a correction bolus. Three minutes later the pump alerts SG HI. Wow that's annoying. I just took the correction (which the pump knows, because it delivered the insulin), so obviously telling me SG HI isn't useful or helpful. After I take a bolus, the pump should suppress HI and PRED HI alerts until the insulin has a chance to work and we can see if we need another correction.

The themes that underly my suggestions 1-9 above are these: I don't want the pump to alert me to something that I already know, especially if I have already dealt with it or I know the pump is wrong. And I don't want the pump to interrupt me repeatedly---nagging is never appreciated.

10. Here's another major issue but it is not about alerts. It's the draconian policy of abruptly turning off the SG display 12 hours after the last calibration, or immediately after a CAL ERR. Refusing to display the SG doesn't make me safer, it puts me at increased risk. Maybe for some reason I can't take a meter BG reading right now. It would be reasonable for the pump to show the SG plus question marks or another symbol that indicates that the displayed SG is less reliable than usual. It would be ok to replace the least-significant digit of the SG with an X or a rounded value because of a reduced precision. But it isn't the case that 11 hours and 58 minutes after a calibration the SG is useful, yet 3 minutes later the SG is completely worthless. There needs to be some kind of substantial grace period so the patient isn't suddenly thrown to the wolves.

11. Here's another issue. As people age, they generally lose the ability to focus on fine print. Without reading glasses, I can see the SG number just fine because it is displayed so large, but if I need to do anything that requires me to find my way around the pump menus, I need to navigate by memory because I can't read the small print on the screen. And the status screens become almost useless. It shouldn't be too hard to add a mode that increases the print size.

If the pump were a user-programmable device, we could write apps to fix the kinds of issues described above. But the US FDA may never allow that, so these must remain "opportunities" where only Medtronic has the ability to improve the patient experience. I sure hope they do.

]]> bkh GA Hiker Tue, 08 May 2012 13:59:30 -0500 4655 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4663
Any help is greatly appreciated, oh I am on Novolog using a Revel 723. Thanks!]]> Silenced Liz Wed, 16 May 2012 16:25:15 -0500 4663 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4657 I used my stomach to the side, not a lot of fat to play with unfortunately.
Inserted the needle which hurt like hell and then hooked up and went on my way.
I only had it in for one hour before it had to come out because it was painful.
I have a very high pain threshold and it felt like I had been stabbed, I never have been but I imagine that's what it's like.
It bled like a trooper on removal and continued to be painful for a good few hours after.
I have a nice perfectly round dark purple bruise today, no bigger than 6mm but what a pain!!

]]> Mrs O Evona Sat, 12 May 2012 07:35:47 -0500 4657 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4661 Genuinely you will never get this pump back off me, except for in 4 years time when it will be time for an upgrade!
What a completely life changing event.
Yes it has been very hard work and very frustrating at time.
Yes there have been moments when I have wanted to give it a flying lesson out of the window.
But right now I am absolutely loving Seven, she is the best.]]> Mrs O Peter B Wed, 16 May 2012 02:03:37 -0500 4661 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=3599
So this morning, I got logged on, and I was shocked to see that I was instructed to reload the USB drivers. Simply shocked! Anyway, there were a few hoops do jump through - e.g., disconnecting the dongle, etc. I did all that, and after 5-10 minutes, I was able to get logged in and begin uploading my pump.

It read the pump completely (got to the 100% mark), and I got the following error message: "Transfer failed. The system did not accept the data due to a processing error. .... Press Done to start over."

So, I dutifully pressed Done, and it went through the process of reading my pump again, and then I got the same error.

OK, time to call MM. After only 15 minutes on hold, I spoke to a nice gentleman who told me that the servers that process the data in Minneapolis were still not back up - he said most of his calls this morning were about this issue. Again, I was shocked!

So, I guess I won't be able to do my Sunday diabetical stuff til later on today. I told the guy if I couldn't get on by tomorrow, I'd call again. Doncha just love upgrades?!?

Tom]]> gigem99 JohnG Mon, 13 Sep 2010 08:24:32 -0500 3599 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4660
He was kind of talking to the squirrel, and I had to stop and watch the exchange. The deputy was on a bicycle (a lot of Boulder deputies ride bikes), and he was dismounted and talking real softly to the squirrel, and hadn't seen me. The squirrel was just chattering away (haven't you heard a squirrel chatter?), and it tickled me to death.

I finally got down to where the deputy was and asked him about talking to that squirrel. He just growled at me, "I talk to a lot of squirrels". I thought that was really funny, and laughed and headed back down to the lake. He told me to stop, and he asked me for my fishing license and drivers license before I could go any further.

Fortunately, I never go fishing without a license, so I was OK. Here it is May 15th, and I still don't have one. I'm fixing that next week when I get paid again, and heading down to the river.....

Tom]]> gigem99 Mrs O Tue, 15 May 2012 18:53:19 -0500 4660 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4659
For the next 10-15 minutes, I had the open circle in the top left hand corner of my pump - the alert deal. I've never seen that, that I can recall. The isig was decent - ranging from 5-7. Then, the circle went away. I still don't know what to think about that. Has anyone else seen that, and know what it meant?

Then, the isig dropped below 3 and I got the 'sensor error' message. That lasted for 10 minutes, and then the isig rose back up to over 7, and the 'sensor error' disappeared. This is pretty weird.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get another week out of this one. It had been acting flaky last week - calibration factors around 15-17, and I figgered it was a goner, but the past couple of days, the isig has risen, and the cal. factors dropped back below 10.

I think I found a place online where I can order a box of 4 sensors for about $160. I'll have to do that next week, since I only have 1 sensor left - and it expired a long time ago. It's still gonna hurt me though - I just had to drop over $2000 into my SUV to have my transmission rebuilt. I'll swear, if its not one thing.....

I've decided I'm gonna win the lottery.

Tom]]> gigem99 Liz Tue, 15 May 2012 12:17:05 -0500 4659 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4658
Senators Richard Burr and Tom Coburn have introduced a bill that is designed to increase transparency of the FDA approval process and also to trim some of the bureaucratic hurdles that new devices (such as pumps & CGMs) must overcome. A good article on their proposal can be found here. Hopefully, this is a positive step forward in giving patients access to cutting edge devices in a quicker but equally safe manner.

If you think this proposal has merit, I'd encourage you to ask your Senator to sign on as a co-sponsor of the bill (S. 2292) and that it be favorably reported out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensoions Committee and sent to the full Senate for consideration.]]> Tomster Tomster Mon, 14 May 2012 10:35:38 -0500 4658 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4656 That is the first time since MDI and going on the pump that this has happened.
I was so happy it made me smile all day.
I don't want to tempt fate but I feel I have really made some progress recently.

This is for Seven, my pump.

It's always good to share something positive in the world of diabetes!!]]> Mrs O Linda B Sat, 12 May 2012 01:51:43 -0500 4656 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4651
So i am on day six of having my CGM in well today it died which is not a big deal since this is the first time i have had it on have been on the paradigm 754 since april 13th which is very recent so anyways i have used the iv3000 on the transmitter and sensor which i found puckered in the shower (used it on my insertion sites) which is fine but i tried it on the sensor and did not like it i think moisture got into it so i switched to tagaderm which is great for the shower but when i took the tagaderm tape off i noticed a bit of redness around the top and bottom which was itchy then i took the transmitter off and whoa i have a cresent shaped blister on one side so i am wondering if it was from the moisture from the iv3000 and not airing the area out before i put the tagaderm on? anyway has this happened to anyone else and if so what i can do to prevent the blisters?
Thanks
Brandy






Type 2 diabetic since 2004 on pills then insulin pen in 2009 and pills now on pump and pills]]> bmaillet Linda B Thu, 03 May 2012 22:49:02 -0500 4651 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4654 Arlene S. Arlene S. Mon, 07 May 2012 21:16:55 -0500 4654 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4653

]]> Arlene S. Mike G Mon, 07 May 2012 16:31:47 -0500 4653 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=3692
I've seen a few posts here about people inserting in their butt. That just didn't make sense to me. But I'm all new to this. I just don't want to continue using the same sites all the time again and have a potential problem in the future. I would be afraid of rolling over on it in bed at night if I used it more to the side or back. I sleep on my back and sides but never on my stomach. I also could never use my lower back because it's way too sensitive (I've had 3 surgeries on my lumbar spine) to try and insert anything there. I can't even tolerate my wife giving me a back rub when it's down that low.

Any ideas?]]> Shawn Liz Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:41:49 -0500 3692 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4637 Newbie here.................how do you handle a shower in the morning with a pump and infusion set ? Tonypumper Mrs O Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:51:30 -0500 4637 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4583 My pump was shipped yesterday. The trainer has suggested I bring it along with some IV3000, what do you recomend? And do you cover your site when showering? Im new at this! muffetsmom muffetsmom Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:43:31 -0500 4583 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4652 I've heard of others that do input their BG readings but can you do that on my Paradigm 522. I couldn't find an obvious way. The BG readings are captured by the bolus wizard but I'm not often doing a bolus when I check my BG, nor calibrating.

Thanks, Peter B]]> Peter B Liz Fri, 04 May 2012 17:32:17 -0500 4652 http://www.insulinpumpforums.com//index.php?showtopic=4638
I've been having problems with bubbles in the tubing from the early days. I've tried everything - My DSN even let me try another pump, but the bubbles still appeared, usually in the 2nd day of a set (I change sets every 2 days). The only explanation we can come up with is temperature change during/after ballroom dancing, which I do most days.

When I say I've tried everything, I do mean EVERYTHING. I've read loads of suggestions on line and tried all of them but it made no difference to the bubbles. I do get the occasional bubble-free set, but these are few and far between.

Are there other ballroom dancers (or sports enthusiasts) out there who have had the same problem and (hopefully) found the cure?]]> dancer dancer Sat, 21 Apr 2012 07:52:29 -0500 4638