Recent Posts
Thanks so much for your support and "welcome" - you are right, I do love the flexibility of it, and the fact that I no longer have to calculate boluses in my head! I still have a lot to learn on how to do some of the other things with it that you mention, but that's the next challenge.
How are you doing?
Welcome to the world of pumping! You've already discovered the best part about the pump...the flexibility to handle "not normal" situations like sick days, and holidays, and travel, and lunchtime meetings, and sleeping in, and changing your exercise program, and....and...and.....
Hope you get over the cold soon.
So, just wanted to update you all that I am NOW A PUMPER! Today is Day 8 of the insulin pump and so far so good. However, I have a nasty cold/virus and am getting very familiar with the temporary basal rates. It's amazing how being sick changes basal needs. I've been somewhere between 150-180% of my normal basal rate since I've been sick. Sheesh.....Looking forward to getting this bug out of my system so that I can go back to basal testing, etc.
One thing that I have learned in my short stint is that my insulin resistance has gotten so much better after RNY. It's been about 17 months since my surgery, and my weight is fairly stable now. We started with a very conservative basal rate, and I hate to cut back because I had so much sensitivity. That's really amazing to me! Before my surgery, I was using about 42 units of basal insulin and now I'm down to about 9 units. Crazy - and a wonderful blessing!
I've really appreciated all of the advice and experiences you have all shared. It's been so helpful to me in this transition!
After surgery I was off all insulin for 5 weeks. Just taking 1000 ml metforin twice a day. Then blood sugar started creeping up. It was over 170 every morning. Then my endo put me back on insulin and I am taking 25 units at night to keep it under 150 in the mornings. Still taking metforin also.
Now my question to you? Will I continue to loose weight. I am out of town for a month and have no access to a scale. I just feel fat, well I am fat LOL. I mean I feel like I am no longer losing. Been back on insulin for a Lille over a week.
any suggestions?
Hello fellow Type 1 & insulin pump users! I started researching WLS 10 years ago and could only find 1 or 2 Type 1 diabetics on the OH community. I was diagnoised a Type 1 diabetic at 26 yrs, after being diagnoised with Graves Disease at age 24 yrs. I was gaining so much from being insulin resistant. Before my surgery, I was on 100 units of insulin a day/shots. I went on the Medtronics Paradigm pump in 2006. It took some time to get use to it, but like you said its so much easier to lower my basal rates before excersizing. If my blood sugar is within target, I will have to turn off my pump because my sugars drop very quickly. I lost 100 lbs in 14 months then I leveled off. In 9 yrs I gained 20 lbs back, but its my fault because I am a carboholic. Pretzels are my weakness! The more carbs the more insulin. Right now my average daily total of insulin is between 45-50 units of Humalog in the pump. My endo said if I can get that number to 40 units, I would lose weight. I'm having issues of aborption because of having so many abdominal surgeries. For 5 years my infusion site was circling my belly button, but now I've had to put the infusion set on my upper leg. My issues now are mainly, vitamin D deficiency (so my endo has me on 5,000 IU a day for 6 weeks then I'll go to 5,000 iu M W F. Vitamin B-12 so I've taken sublinguals or if my bloodwork came back really low, I would take B-12 injections (which I was able to do myself since I knew how to use syringes). I still have issues with food, but would love to lose 25 lbs so I can't wait for the Spring to start walking again.
So very nice to meet and hear your stories ;-)
Wendy in freezing South Jersey!
289/175/199 (do they even do this anymore..I'm so old school ;-)
funkyphillygirl ,
I am going to get the DS .I think that this is the best option for me bcause of my very severe diabetis ...DS is more possible at a 98% of diabetic remission instead of an 85% with the RNY and the sleeve will only reduce it...not completley .I'm so g;ad yours has worked out.
I am confused about how (hard) vitamins can absorb as they say RNY and DS do not allow for absortion of food .I would think it would do better in a powder form .Sure don't make sense to me ? I hve heard vitamins generaly don't absorb even w/o any WLS.
Thanx for your input
Gary
I deal with mine with diet. Mainly I try to avoid simple carbs or starchy carbs. Even fruits can cause low BS in me. Greek yogurt - if it is fat free or with any sugars - fruits added - I will get low BS. Only plain Greek yogurt with some fat and proteins my body can tolerate. I found out that adding fat to my diet really helped with low sugar issues. There is many people on OH on RNY board that deal with that. Some - like me choose a very strict diet - others - take meds. Post your question on RNY forum. You can also pm me... Hugs...
Hala. RNY 5/14/2008; Happy At Goal =HAG
"I can eat or do anything I want to - as long as I am willing to deal with the consequences"
"Failure is not falling down, It is not getting up once you fell... So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again...."
Good for you! I didn't realize you'd already had a consult and were on the path to surgery. I had RNY, so obviously, my experience and bias is for that surgery. There are not a lot of surgeons in the Philadelphia area that do DS either, although there are a few. I saw one and considered it, but ultimately opted for RNY. I already have osteopenia, so I did not want to risk the malabsorption of calcium that seemed a lot worse with DS vs. RNY. Also, the person that I knew who had DS had a lot of issues with vitamin deficiencies and really horrible and disruptive gas and gastric issues - not something I wanted either. After learning more about my options, I felt that RNY gave me the best combination of advantages. And, 16 months after having had it, I am very, very happy with the results.
What's your surgery date, Gary? And what have you chosen, at this point - the sleeve or RNY?
Good luck!!
funkyphillygirl
Thanx for your good response. I am now in my 4th month preop... 2 months to go! Just can not find a doc to do DS here in La area . The surgeons here are ALL pushing for the sleeve and one for the gastris BP. again as you said it is in THIER best interest
Gary: Usually Type 2 diabetic that has been in existence for more than about 10 years is difficult to resolve with the surgery. But, the bigger goal for me has been to BE HEALTHIER. And the surgery can definitely do that for you - it will decrease your medication and insulin needs as well and give you less strain on heart, blood pressure and cholesterol. BTW, I have been able to completely get off my BP and cholesterol meds after being on them for about 15 years. And my insulin needs are about 30-40% of what they were previously.
I think a weight loss surgery consult will help to answer the questions you have. A good surgeon will review your medical history and evaluate what surgery is best for you and what it can help you do. I saw 3 surgeons while investigating weight loss surgery, and felt it was ESSENTIAL that each explain to me what my options were, what they would recommend, WHY and what I could expect from it. I was always a little wary of a surgeon who asked me what surgery I wanted. I know a lot that do that and I'm sure it's because people come in with a set agenda of what they think they want. I had done my homework, but I am not a medical person and certainly NOT a surgeon, so I wanted to hear more about what they thought would work and why. The surgeon I selected was excellent and going through each, without his own agenda, and explaining clearly and in detail what he thought might work best for me and why. That made a big difference in my decision and my comfort level.
Both RNY and duodenal switch will change the way your body processes calories and metabolizes what you consume. They both have implications for diabetics. The sleeve might as well, but I have to be honest and say that I don't know much about it at all. The band does not really chance your digestive tract - it's only restrictive (you eat less) and not malabsorptive. RNY and DS are both restrictive and malabsorptive. Again, I am not knowledgeable about the sleeve.
What other questions do you have? Are you ready to seek a surgical consult yet or is it too soon to suggest that to you?
