[quote user="orange_mms"]
I was wondering when you're on the pump, what type of insulin is being delivered? Is it short acting only ? Is long acting being used at all (through the pump or injected)?
Sorry if this seems like a silly question. I am not familiar with the use of a pump. I searched this site before posting this topic, I did not find an answer. So I figured I'd ask those who are experienced in this process.
[/quote]
The answers you were given above are the most typical. Most pumpers (me included!) only use short acting insulin, the pump works by giving you tiny amounts of short acting (to take the place of your levemir shot) and a burst at meals (to take the place of your additional humalog shot). The truth is that sometimes, for some people, you actually mix insulins in the pump reservior.
some pumpers mix a little bit of long acting insulin in with the fast acting, in their pumps, the thinking is like this: if your pump only delivers short acting insulin, and you have some "problem" such as a ripped out site, an occlusion, your pump gets run over by a garbage truck, etc, or you simply "like" to disconnect your pump for reeeeeeely long intervals, you could have a problem with very high sugars and even DKA in 3 hours. 3 hours. Truth be told - pumpers are more likely to have problems with DKA than people who take levermir or lantus.
some folks are prone to occlusions and some like to disconnect for longer than an hour. For them, it's way better to either mix insulin in the pump reservior or take a separate shot of lantus or levemr in addition to the pump therapy.
just wanted to offer another point of view - hope this doesn't confuse things for you. I have had my pump on for 3 years and love it. I use Humalog or Novolog in mine and I was on shots for 29 years so I have a lot of experience with freestyle needles. I do not have any problems with the pump, or DKA, but I have read a lot about this therapy and the pros and cons.
cheers.