The insulin pump is a small computer that delivers insulin through thin, flexible tubes. It uses a battery to power its motor and has a reservoir for storing insulin in the skin. The pump’s software can calculate how much insulin your body needs and then deliver it at the appropriate time or rate.
Wearable and discreet
An insulin pump is a small device that can be worn continuously. It is not much bigger than a pager, and it often fits into your pocket. This means that you can carry your pump wherever you go, even if you are swimming or exercising. Also, because it’s not obvious when someone is wearing an insulin pump to people around them, they won’t get strange looks or comments from strangers. Also, a CGM insulin pump is a good choice too.
Accurate dosing
One of the biggest reasons that people choose an insulin pump over injections is because they can be more accurate. For example, insulin pumps can be programmed to deliver different types of insulin—basal rates and boluses, for example—which makes them a great option for people with a variety of metabolic conditions.
When you’re using an injection, it’s hard to know exactly how much insulin your body needs at any given time. With a pump, on the other hand, you can set up different profiles that will deliver insulin based on mealtime or exercise times as well as basal rates throughout the day.
Easier carb counting
Carb counting is a way to manage blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates are a source of glucose, which your body uses for energy. The more carbohydrates you eat, the higher your blood sugar will be. Carb counting can be difficult, especially for people with diabetes who must monitor their carb intake, so they don’t go too high or too low.
With an insulin pump, you won’t have to worry about calculating the number of carbs in your food—the pump automatically calculates how much insulin you need based on how many carbs are in what you eat and when. Experts like Tandem Diabetes say, “You can upload your pump data wirelessly to the t:connect web application.”
Eliminates injection pain and needle marks
For many people with type 1 diabetes, their daily injections are a burden. It can be painful to inject and leave you with sore injection sites, needle marks or even infections. Insulin pumps eliminate the need for needles completely. That means no more pain or discomfort associated with injections and no more worries about infection risks or accidental needle sticks.
Automatic basal rates
You may want to know basal rates and how they can help you. Basal rates are the amount of insulin you need at night and during the day, which is delivered automatically by a pump. They’re based on your body weight, activity level, and other factors. While pumps can adjust these automatically, most people set them to a certain level for each day so that they don’t have to worry about adjusting them manually all the time.
Insulin on-board features prevent accidental insulin stacking
Stacking is when you give yourself too much insulin at once, and it causes a hypoglycemic episode. When you have no insulin on board (OBO), your body will still react to the number of carbs you eat by producing more glucose in the bloodstream. So if you eat a lot of carbs and then go into ketoacidosis, it can be dangerous because all that extra glucose from your meal has nowhere to go because there’s no OBO existing.
