About diabetes pumps-what are they, how do they work, what brand do you have/.prefer?

I am a type one diabetic looking into getting a diabetes pump of some sort. I have heard of the animas and the minimed. Are there any others? What do you have to do once you have one? Do you feel it give you insulin? Any information, opinions, thoughts, or comments you have will be helpful! Thanks.

I am a nursing student and know a little about insulin pumps.

Basically they are fantastic. Very small look similar to a pager. They work on the same principle as a morphine pump, or patient controlled analgesia (PCA). The vial of insulin sits in the device and the device releases insulin into your body as it鈥檚 required.

The insulin runs into your body through a butterfly type delivery device. Basically a little tube that is inserted with a small needle into the fatty layer of your skin, usually located on your tummy. So basically the same area you inject yourself with your insulin. This tube is connected to a cap like device that sticks on your skin.

The insulin pump tubing clicks onto this cap. So the delivery device (the tube under your skin with the cap) can stay sited for 3 days, so this means you are only having to use a needle on yourself once every three days rather then having to inject yourself 3+ times a day. Which is great hey!

The insulin pump itself is quite easy to use; it is very smart, with intensive programming. Some of them are even able to monitor your blood glucose level (using samples of blood from the inserted tube) every 5 minutes.

So put simple, it is constantly monitoring your blood glucose level, and in turn constantly sending you a background dose of insulin to keep your BGL stable. When you eat you need to calculate the amount of carbohydrates in your meal (they teach you how to do this) you enter this into the pump and it will send you the required bolus amount of insulin you need automatically.

You don鈥檛 feel any of the insulin going in because it is such a small tube and is derived very slowly.

Benefits is you don鈥檛 have to worry about hypo's anymore! You can sleep in, because it is automatically giving you the insulin you need. When you have a shower the device simply clicks off your body (it can be disconnected for up to an hour safely) so swimming is ok. Running is now safe as you can run and exercise with the device in situ.

They are a great idea really,. If you have the opportunity to get it, go for it!

I have a Minimed Paradigm 522, and I love it. You insert a long needle into you (preferably with an inserter device) once every 3 days, then you remove the needle and that leaves a small piece of flexible tubing in you. You don't even feel it. You don't feel the insulin going in. After you've injected that needle, which is uncomfortable for a moment, maybe a little sore for a minute or two afterwards, you literally never even feel it. It gives you so much freedom and your BG's will be so much better. You do have to check your BG frequently, ideally 6-8x/day, but you get used to it. It's the closest thing we have to an artifical pancreas and it's the only way to go. You'll love being off shots.

I am a Certified Diabetes Educator, and deal with pumps all of the time. I also have a type one son (17 yrs old). We chose the Medtronic (MiniMed) pump. It really is a matter of choice, they all do a great job, but I like Medtronic because of the support you get if you have a problem. Plus, if you decide to use a continuous glucose sensor, Medtronic has one that integrates with the pump, reads your blood sugar every 5 minutes, and displays it on your pump. This is a greatest feature to me. Good luck, check out all of the pumps at http://www.insulin-pumpers.org/ . You might even get in a chat room there and get some opinions.

A third very popular model is Cozmo. They have spring-loaded injections, to minimize the pain. Animas is good, it can deliver in .01 increments, making you best able to tweak and maintain level blood sugars and remain within range. Minimed is compatible to the real time blood glucose monitoring system. So if/when that program is covered in your state and you have a Minimed, it'll be a matter of activating that program rather than switching pumps.

We have a minimed. I like it. The menu is easy to navigate and it's not overly complicated. She doesn't feel it give her insulin. It improved her A1c more than injections ever could. Pre-pump, when she went to bed, I'd have to make sure her sugar was nearly 300, just so she'd wake up at the low end of normal. It was nuts, and so unhealthy.

Now her sugars are stable througout the night. And she can eat when she's hungry. And she doesn't HAVE to eat when she's not hungry. She's not restricted to a protein at night anymore. Those are the positives, along with her A1c, of course. The downside is the "permanent fixture", the site marks, and it can be a pain during the summer. I'll give you a hint w/ the site marks. We noticed a huge difference when we went from every three days (site change) to every two. She still gets them, but they dont take nearly as long to heal.

Congrats on taking the plunge.

I'm a type 1 for 40 years and got the pump about two years ago. I love it! You ask some very good questions, you are obviously thinking this through beforehand.
The pump you choose is a personal decision, but the hardest part for me was finding a doctor who is familiar with different pumps. (One doctor I called only saw patients if they used one particular brand.) I would recommend talking with someone at the pump's customer service department to ask them for names of doctor's that are familiar with the pump you choose. (Then you have to see if that doctor is accepting new patients and if they take your insurance, etc.)
You have to do a lot of homework BEFORE you choose which pump to go with, but it's better to be informed ahead of time.
I went with the Deltec Cozmo. It has the built in glucometer that communicates with the pump, which really simplifies things. Their website is very informative, so I would recommned exploring that:
www.cozmore.com.
I would also recommend goggling online insulin pump support groups. You can get a much better idea of all the ins and outs others are experiencing with the different pumps.
I really hope this is helpful for you in making an informed decision. Best of luck to you with whichever pump you choose!!!