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Why You Should Consider an Insulin Pump

Barbara Bradley, MS, RN,CDE

May 1, 2004

The number of people opting for insulin pump therapy grows. Worldwide, the number is approximately 300,000.

Are you thinking about using this intensive-management option? Has your diabetes-care provider suggested it? Do you know someone using a pump and think it might give you improved control of your blood glucose and lifestyle?

What are the benefits of using an insulin pump?

provides more precise insulin dosing-within 0.025 of a unit.
offers improved insulin absorption with continuous delivery. Insulin therapy with a pump mimics the pattern of how insulin is released in a person without diabetes.
helps you to manage illness, growth spurts, hormone swings, other medications affecting blood glucose, varying activity levels, Dawn Phenomenon (pattern of early morning rise in blood glucose levels), or nocturnal hypoglycemia.
reduces the peaks and valleys of severe high and low glucose levels.
helps to decrease, or reverse, hypoglycemia unawareness.
manages delayed food absorption by adjusting or extending the meal bolus delivery to match food absorption.
stabilizes your A1C level.
helps you match insulin to food. It is impossible to inject hundredths of a unit of insulin without a pump. Are you able to draw up 1.05 units into a syringe? Carbohydrate counting and target glucose level adjustments are more easily managed.
offers increased flexibility to manage special-occasion meals, delayed meals, spontaneous activities, “sleeping in.”
frees you from rigid management schedules.
lets you enjoy special-occasion foods without guilt.
allows you to eat when you want to eat, not because you have to eat. One pump user says, “I can skip breakfast, I can skip lunch or eat it at 2 p.m. I can eat dinner at 4 p.m., 9 p.m. or 11 p.m. if I want.”
helps you feel better and increases energy. Injected insulin absorption can be unpredictable. Insulin might not be available to help you metabolize the food you have eaten, or too much insulin might be active at a time when you least expect it. Another pump user said, “I didn’t know I was feeling bad until I started feeling better.”
gives you the freedom to travel with ease. When traveling, you can adjust insulin delivery to your destination time zone.
allows you to eliminate daily multiple injections. With a pump, you rarely need to inject.
lets you exercise safely. Basal insulin (constant background delivery) rates can be reduced or temporarily stopped, if needed.
helps you plan for and maintain tighter blood glucose control for a healthier pregnancy.
helps you manage a young child who is a “picky eater.” Meal boluses can be programmed after consumed food is added up.
helps you to lose weight, if you are motivated.
can improve your sense of well-being and quality of life.
helps you attain a more “normal” lifestyle.
gives you more control of your diabetes and your life.

If you think you want the benefits of insulin pump therapy, discuss your reasons with your diabetes team.

There are several manufacturers of insulin pumps; most will have staff to answer your questions and assist with processing for insurance coverage once your health-care provider writes a prescription. You will want to research not only the initial costs of the pump but also the ongoing costs of the infusion sets and other pump supplies. There are a variety of insulin pumps available so you can choose the one that will best meet your lifestyle and diabetes management needs.

Categories: A1c Test, Blood Glucose, Columns, Diabetes, Diabetes, Food, Hypoglycemia Unawareness, Insulin, Insulin Pumps, Losing weight, Low Blood Sugar, Syringes

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