Nothing like as '2016' as it seemed

Parliament (or possibly Hogwarts?) - one of a number
of inexplicable invitations in 2016

When I was imagining writing this post, the inevitable looking back over the last 12 months, I thought it would start 'last December' but as is the way of things these days, I have missed that particuar deadline and now I have to start with the significantly more cumbersome 'in December 2015', or possibly 'a little over 12 months ago'. It's a good job you are not here for the quality of the writing - or the frequency of postings for that matter. Whatever the reason for your stumbling across these witterings I'd like to say a massive THANK YOU for reading, commenting and all the encouragement you offer though FaceTwit and all those other new-fangled Social Medias. Genuinely, sincerely - thank you.

2016 was, by many people's reckoning, a bit of a git of a year. There were some things that happened that many people would have preferred had not, choices were made that left some people feeling distinctly 'Huh?!' or occasionally 'Oh NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!' and death seemed to be stalking around picking off an extraordinarily large number of beautiful, creative and talented people to such an extent that it is really hard to remember more than a few of them without feeling slightly overwhelmed. Humanity's ability to be generally awful to each other seemed to be conspicuously in evidence and even the weather and the stability of the earth's crust itself appeared to want to get in on the act.

And yet, when I look back over things closer to home, I realise that we as a family had a pretty great year while all of that was going on. Our eldest left to study away from home, found some great housemates and is having a wonderfully creative time. Our yougest embarked on a new adventure, effectively the next stage of their life, and is exhibiting extraordinary maturity and creativity. And we added a new hairy member to our househood who ensures, as has been remarked upon, that at least once every single day, each of us breaks into a massive grin and/or hysterical laughter.

Early last December (except-that-technically-it-wasn't-because-December-finished-yesterday-so-I-missed-it-by-one-day-but-anyway-you-know-what-I-mean-because-December-2015-sounds-too-long-ago) I took up an invitation to speak at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. This was the first time I had been asked to speak to healthcare professionals and share my 'grass roots' experience of living with type 1 diabetes, and it was as rewarding as it was utterly terrifying. In January I was invited to talk about what it had been like contributing as a lay member of the Guideline Development Group for the updated NICE guidelines for type 1 diabetes in adults at Partha Kar's #talkT1 event which later gave rise to t1resources.uk. In March I received sponsorship to attend the Diabetes UK Professional Conference where I spoke about my experiene of using the Freestyle Libre glucose monitoring system and a few days later was invited by the wonderful May Ng's to speak at the Children and Young People's North West Network Education Day in Leigh. June saw me invited by Abbott to join bloggers from across Europe at DxStockholm for a hugely inspiring weekend. More invitations followed to present to parents or children with diabetes at the CYP East Midlands Network Day and to healthcare professionals at the Yorkshire and Humber CYP Diabetes Network. In the meantime a funding application was granted for a clinical trial of a new intervention to tackle problematic hypoglycaemia for which I have been asked to assist with patient involvement (much more on that later). Along with some really interesting and useful meetings as part of the Medtronic 'Bloggers and Advocates' group I was also invited to share my experiences of hypoglycaemia as part of their excellent Hypo Heroes campaign for World Diabetes Day 2016. There was also an entirely unexpected invite to a meal at the Houses of Parliament, but to be honest I have a suspicion I may have dreamed that one. I mean... what would I be doing at the Houses of Pariament?!

The growth and launch of T1resources.uk from an embyronic 'wouldn't this be a good thing' idea to actually seeing the site filling out and gaining traffic has been a particular joy of 2016 - and seems to be one that will continue to grow in value and presence during the next 12 months.

Diabetes-wise 2016 has not been without its struggles for me. While all those 'peaks' and moments of excitement were going on, sometimes it felt like I was living in a very deep and shadowy chasm, perhaps largely of my own making. But more recently (and particularly following my most recent Pump Clinic appointment where some of you wisely advised me to opt for 'painful honesty' with my team) I have felt more myself about my T1. While it is still intensely irritating at times, I feel considerably more on top of things than I have for a good long while. And improvements in BG levels? Well those too may come in time.

Looking forward it is hard to know quite what to expect from 2017.

I have made one small, but potentially quite significant decision though. For the last two years I have occasionally used Abbott's Freestyle Libre to either see me through particularly chaotic periods of blood glucose (Christmas, birthday, summer holiday... that sort of thing), or to act as an opportunity for a reset when things have drifted somewhat. All of the extra data make it slightly easier for me to separate wood from trees and to tweak basal profiles and/or meal and correction ratios.

For 2017 however, while I may still occasionally use the Libre I have decided divert some family funds and to finally invest in the transmitter and charger to allow me to occasionally use CGM with my MM640G. If I can manage to stretch sensor-life to 10 or 12 days then the ongoing sensor costs are not dissimilar to Libre and, of course, come with the added benefit of SmartGuard, which worked so well for me before. I will only know whether this level of occasional use will be of any benefit to me if I try it (research data shows that better outcomes come for those who can use for 70% of the time - which is sadly significantly outside our funding ability). The cost of the transmitter is an eye-watering £500 and it is only warrantied for 12 months' use. Nevertheless the system was so effective for me when I used it before that I am keen to see if I can replicate some of the same effect with an odd sensor every so often. And, of course, whether the CGM data will allow the same 'reset' opportunity that I currently gain from a fortnight of Libre wear every month or two. My hope is that the transmitter will continue to function beyond the 12 month warranty if I treat it gently and talk to it soothingly every so often.

Time, and subsequent blog posts here, will tell.

64 Days with the Minimed 640G - A year on

Someone at Medtronic expressed an interest in some of us who video-blogged as part in their '64 days with the MM640G' trial to post a follow-up after a year to say how we were getting on. Well I slightly missed the deadline, but such is life at the moment. I still have a post waiting in the wings that I've been wanting to write since March. Somewhat unexpectedly I have managed to get it put together this week - partly because the battery state on my pump was right for something I wanted to share.

I still really like the MM640G. It's a bit big, it's a bit clunky, and it's a bit of an ugly-duckling in the looks department, but it still works well for me. And if I were choosing this week from the current crop of available devices, I would opt for it again. So much of it does exactly what I want... rock solid dose reliability, great handling of temporary basal rates and basal patterns, handy home screen showing most of what I want instantly. And if I could afford the wizardy of sensors I know from experience that I would love it even more.

Unfortunately, what tends to happen with me, the longer I live with a piece of diabetes technology, is that I find more gripes and niggles with it. So fair warning, this is a bit nit-picky.

So here you go... some moaning about repeat button presses, slightly over-cautious menu-language, that darned screen unlock thing, the flippy-floppy belt clip and, perhaps most importantly the battery check that will reject a battery if it has anything less than absolutely full charge.

Enjoy!

Watch the video

Backwards, forwards and off at a tangent

Looking back
Well that's it 2015 - you've pretty much had your lot.

So this is the seemingly inevitable 'round up' type post and also a chance to *finally* get around to writing a post that I had wanted to publish in the weeks before Christmas concerning the latest tomfoolery that my diabetes has decided to subject me to.

In January this year I had my first glimpse of the MiniMed 640G at a Medtronic bloggers and advocates meeting. There was quite a lot more of this particular gizmo later in the year.

February saw me clocking up 25 years of living with type 1 diabetes. More by luck than judgement I still seem to have most body parts in relative working order and nothing to speak of has apparently shrivelled up and dropped off so far.

In March, was honoured to be invited to join a small group of bloggers and advocates at the Diabetes UK Professional Conference in London, spreading news of new research and information via Twitter and Facebook as the conference progressed.

One of the most dramatic changes I have made in my diabetes therapy in years occurred in April when Fruit Pastilles and I abruptly parted company.

Over the summer I had the opportunity of living with the MiniMed 640G with full-time sensor coverage for 9 or 10 weeks and posted my very first video blogs documenting my experience. It was the first time I trialled sensor-augmented pump therapy and the results - for me - were quite simply remarkable.

August saw the publication of new NICE guidelines for Type 1 Diabetes in Adults after years of work. It is something I am very proud to have been involved in as a member of the Guideline Development Group. It would be wonderful to think that the document might make a positive difference in some small way to at least one person living with type 1 in the UK.

In November, I chose to upgrade to the MM640G when my pump warranty ran out, though that decision is tinged with sadness as (not unexpectedly) my clinic were less than optimistic about my chances of securing NHS funding for sensor coverage any time soon.

December saw an invite to speak at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh at their St Andrew's Day Symposium. An amazing experience and I was humbled to be invited. Even more encouraging were the invites that I have subsequently received to speak elsewhere. Looks like 2016 could be really exciting. I'll let you know if and when any of them happen.

Looking forward
It will be interesting to see what else the New Year has in store. I would dearly love to be invited to DPC16, but will have to see whether Diabetes UK would like me to be there. I feel very lucky to continue to be part bloggers and advocates groups for both Medtronic and Abbott and look forward to seeing what snazzy new gadgets they have in store over the next 12 months.

I find myself wondering whether I will be able to self-fund sensors for my new pump for a small part of the year (something I never quite managed on the Veo). I have been using Libre sensors intermittently through 2015 and they have been incredibly helpful - but my experience of living with SmartGuard was really something else. It seemed to be the missing part of the puzzle for me. If the transmitter cost was lower, or transmitter life-expectancy was higher it would be a no-brainer. We shall see.

Expect the unexpected
It seems like my diabetes has decided to go off at a bit of a tangent recently. It will be interesting to see if my new 'surprises' continue to occur during 2016.

About two or three months ago I started noticing something rather odd. Since 2010 I have spent quite a lot of time trying to get to know my diabetes rather better. I had always thought we were reasonably well acquainted, but looking back there were many things that I simply did not realise were happening, or put down to 'diabetes randomness'. To be fair, there are still quite a few of these, but a lot less than there once were. When my basal is set right generlly my corrections and doses can be expected to behave (with an odd wobble here or there) when faced with a number of tried and tested meal scenarios. So when everything seems to be pottering along OK one day and then goes haywire with identical breakfast and lunch choices the following day my brows knit and I begin to wonder what's up.

And I have noticed some rather odd coincidences. Well... odd in some ways, but actually quite expected from others' point of view.

All the while over the years I have been relearning my diabetes and asking questions of others, I discovered a variety of 'things' which seemed pretty common experiences for people living with type 1 diabetes that simply did not seem to happen for me, even when I looked carefully for them. Things like exercise or alcohol having an blood-glucose-lowering effect the day after the event. There are a bunch of other things too. These were things I saw being discussed on forums and social media and was always able to say, "Oh that's interesting... I don't get that at all". Except now I do. At least some times.

The exercise and alcohol ones particularly stand out to me, because they involve every T1D's second-favourite game - the ole "What shall I do now?" bedtime conundrum. Which is double the fun if you seem to have spotted a pattern. But one that only applies some of the time - Ah Diabetes! You sly old minx.

So last night, for example, I went to bed at 8.6mmol/L with 1.3u of insulin on board which *should* have been dealing with carbs I had eaten mid-late-evening. Unsure if I had the count right I had another 5 grams or so to err on the side of caution. Except that we had been out at a family event earlier in the day and I'd had rather more booze than I would normally. Not silly amounts, but *possibly* worth factoring in when living in these new 'will it..? won't it..?' times. So I also set an 80% TBR to run for 8 hours. I was fortunate to be wearing a Libre sensor for the last of its fourteen days, so I had a chance for a quick peek at 2.45am whereupon I discovered than unlike earlier over the festive break I had *not* dipped at all post-alcohol - but had risen pretty steadily into the 10s. I added another 0.8u and cancelled the TBR waking at 7.5mmol/L.

So why had I taken precautions that pushed me into double figures? Why choose 80% for the TBR? Because over the last quarter of the year I have had multiple occasions when that has been exactly the right thing to do, not only overnight, but also through to lunchtime the next day. In fact this was the situation fairly reliably when I first decided to write this post (early Autumn). It's only in more recent weeks that the edges have begun to blur again, and I am now left with uncertainty rather than An Actual Plan.

And I've had occasions over recent months where post-exercise dips a day after the event have needed exactly the same careful handling. And others, more recently, where seemingly similar exertions have needed nothing of the sort.

Not helpful.

It seems as with many things in life, the best approach to living with with type 1 diabetes can be found within the hallowed pages of Douglas Adams' trilogy in five parts:

The nearest approach the Guide makes to this matter is on page seven-thousand-and-twenty-three, which includes the words "expect the unexpected”. This advice has annoyed many Hitch-Hikers in that it is ‘A’ - glib, and ‘B’ - a contradiction in terms. In fact, the very best advice it has to offer in these situations is to be found on the cover. Where it says, in those now notoriously large and famously friendly letters, “Don’t Panic”.

The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (part 10), Douglas Adams

Collecting third pancreas object (C-3PO)

On Monday this week I popped in to see the lovely LJ the DSN at my Pump Clinic to collect my new pump. We had a nice chat and ran through the set up procedure before I pottered back with a little smile on my face.

You may remember that I posted about collecting my first insulin pump on 1st November 2011. Mostly for my own amusement, I began referring to my little robot counterpart as Artoo almost immediately (R2-P2 - replacement to pancreas #2, with MDI having been replacement to pancreas #1). Insulin pumps generally have a warranty period of 4 years, and my hospital were happy to replace my old pump fairly soon after that period had passed.

I could have chosen pretty much any of the currently available insulin pumps I think, and I have been tempted by the Animas Vibe for some time, though of course, that pump is now getting rather long in the tooth. Animas are well down the road of developing their next pump, but their new offering is not supposed to launch until perhaps 2017. I'm not sure exactly what the new Animas pump will bring to the table, though some sort of insulin-adjusting CGM integration seems to be rumoured. For the Vibe though, despite the attractions of the Dexcom tie-in I was wary of some irritating details of the bolus wizard on the Vibe and was very mindful of the absence of SmartGuard and potential alarm fatigue should funds permit some CGM usage for me.

Medtronic have timelined their new 'hybrid closed loop' MM670G for a similar period, perhaps 2017-2018 (which apparently will have a souped-up version of SmartGuard that aims to counteract highs as well as lows). In the end though, given my very positive experience of the MM640G, I decided to opt for that one. After all, those tantalising shiny, new, possibilities may not actually launch until more than half way through my next pump contract.

Given the almost stifling saturation of hype surrounding the UK launch of the new Star Wars film in 7 days time, I have not been able to resist revisiting that old joke again and so 'threepio' has become my new droid companion. Apparently he has a protocol for dodging hypos as well as communicating with moisture vaporators, but unless I have an unexpected windfall of 'galactic credits', sadly that particular function will remain little more than a futuristic fairytale.

In other, and slightly related news. I have already changed the Threepio's setup so that the homescreen displays as if I were using sensors. Partly this is because I prefer the look of the graph on it (even if the graph has almost no information to display) because of the irritating enormity of the '-.-- we have no fingerstick BG information to show you' dashed line. But also because that way I can use the graph data to track down the timing of my most recent bolus. Either as a visual ready-reckoner with the blue dot beneath the otherwise empty graph, or by drilling in to the graph view and scrolling back to see the exact time. Gathering the information this way takes only five clicks from 'standby' whereas getting the same information in the normal way from the 'status bar' takes seven.

Little things and all that.

64 Days with the Medtronic 640G: Ep 9 Review - the best and worst of the MM640G

Well, this is it. The last of my posts covering my time with the Medtronic MiniMed 640G. Thank you so much for bearing with me over the last few months. Normal wittering will be resumed shortly. However, as seems to be the way of things with blockbuster franchises (HA!) I have split this last episode into two parts. Part (i) covers all the little niggles and irritations I had while using the MM640G, while part (ii) looks at the things I loved, and reviews my results including reductions (if any) in hypoglycaemia and an HbA1c I had done at the end of my time using the pump. HbA1c is the test which measures how much of the glucose in your blood stream has stuck to red blood cells. It is often used as a measure of your likelihood of developing the long term complications of diabetes.

For those who really can't bear wading through all those minutes of video I will summarise the results below. The video gives a lot more detail though, and features a fluffy bunny. What's not to like?!

When it comes to the things I really liked/disliked about the MM640G you will need to bear in mind that I am comparing to a MiniMed Veo. All of the really good stuff about pumps generally - precise basal patterns, advanced dual and square wave bolus options for tricky meals, ease of use, bolus calculator, temporary basal rates, precision of doses and correction factors, blah, blah, blah... are already assumed to be present and correct. Some of the things I loved about the MM640G are precisely because they fixed annoyances I found with the Veo. But more on that later. First:

The worst of the Medtronic MiniMed 640G

Those who have read any of my reviews before will know that I can get unreasonably irritated by the slightest things. It will come as no surprise then, that while I generally loved the MM640G both with and without sensors, there were a few things about it that drove me nuts.

1. Pump lock
   After a few minutes the pump automatically locks and most interactions require you to play an annoying 'press the right button' game. This is no good if you are in a hurry, and is not an option that can be turned off.
   
2. Change of orientation
   It's now 'portrait' not 'landscape'. As someone who wears an insulin pump on my belt this is a bit awkward.
   
3. Belt clip
   As I mentioned in the first of these videos, the new belt clip is hopelessly flippy-floppy and needs a much firmer spring. The inbuilt tool for opening battery cap is cool though.
   
4. No small versions
   Medtronic have now abandoned plans to produce a smaller version of the pump. All MM640Gs will now have the little sticky-up bit to accept the larger reservoirs. The smaller reservoirs can still be used, but at present, with approximately 35u/day usage, the 'how full is my reservoir' icon on my status bar is pretty much permanently red.
   
5. Sensor overtape irritation
   The glue used on the sensor overtapes (and also the little patch that holds the sensor down initially) caused a red rash to appear after a couple of days of wear. Initially it was only toward the end of a sensor but in the end it began pretty much at day 2. I used an alternative dressing, but even that was pretty itchy. Weird - because I don't usually react to adhesives at all.
   
6. Sensor swap delays
   From start to finish swapping a sensor takes around 3 hours to begin providing new continuous data. That's a looooooong time!
   
7. Occasional sensor lag
   Mostly I found the sensor accuracy was brilliant. But sometimes, particularly if I treated a low to try to fix a below target BG reading, the sensor was a little slow in responding (perhaps 30 minutes behind reality). Additionally calibrations by BG meter do not necessarily reach up to match sensor glucose and BG fingerstick value, but often end up with some odd half-way house. If the sensor glucose value had drifted a little there were even occasions where calibration triggered an 'alert before high' which was doubly annoying.
   
8. Sensor Glucose Review
   The one-day graphs which allow you to flick back through previous days' results show no indication of SmartGuard interactions or insulin doses. Makes them about 10% as useful as they could have been.
   
9. Home screen without sensors
   For no apparent reason, the icons in the status bar do not align neatly when using the MM640G without sensors. There's a gap where one of the sensor icons(!) would go, which makes it look untidy and poorly considered. The enormous dotted line 'we have no BG information to show you' panel where recent meter BG readings go (when not using sensors) also irritated me more than strictly necessary. Just doesn't feel like the visual look of the home screen for most UK users, who will be using the MM640G without sensors, was given enough finesse.
   

Watch the video

The grumbles, gripes, and irritations - everyone will have their own, I'm sure.

The best of the Medtronic MiniMed 640G

Whether you use the MM640G with sensors or not there is a LOT to like about it. There are all sorts of little, pleasing improvements in the interface and options that make a massive difference. Add the wizardry of SmartGuard into the mix and things are taken to another level - but even without there are lots of tasty treats for non-sensor users.

1. Setting basals and temp basals
   There are now up to five basal patterns on the MM640G, and brilliantly you can copy entire patterns from one 'slot' to another to experiment with and then switch back if you need to later. The patterns also come with helpful names to keep track of which are which: Work Day, Day Off, Sick Day, Pattern 1, Pattern 2. Which pattern is set is not marked on the home screen, but thankfully setting any of them does not cause the 'alert circle' to appear like it did on the Veo.
   
   Temp basals can now be set in 15 minute increments for more precision and alter up and down by 5% at a time making them much quicker and less fiddly to set.
   
2. No TBR 'chime'
   Setting a Temporary Basal Rate no longer causes the pump to issue a useless wittery alert tone every hour, which means you can ACTUALLY USE THEM OVERNIGHT! In even better news - the end of a TBR is now indicated by a single beep. Brilliant!
   
3. Different Alert Tones
   There are now a series of different alert tones to indicate different things. There were a few on the Veo, but so many overlapped with either 'pip-pip-pip' or 'naah-naah-naah' that I find it much easier to work out what is going on on the MM640G without having to check the pump for 'information' alerts and being alerted (ha!) to things that actually require action. The ability to increase volume has also significantly improved.
   
4. No lockout during bolus delivery
   It is possible on the MM640G to do rather more things during the time while a reasonable sized bolus is being delivered - for example you can set a TBR. The Veo made you wait until the bolus had finished before allowing you to do anything (other than stop the bolus!). This meant I could group my pump interactions together and then get on with life, rather than having to wait around tutting.
   
5. Screen visibility in sunlight
   Really, really good - especially compared to some other colour-screen diabetes gadgetry I have tried. Not perfect from every angle, but really easy to turn a little and see very clearly even in direct sunlight.
   
6. Remote boluses from BG meter
   Not a full remote control with bolus wizard, but a really useful standby when digging your pump out from within clothing is impractical or inconvenient.
   
7. Waterproof
   Now rated as IPX8 - up to 12 feet of water for up to 24 hours.
   
8. SmartGuard - overnight hypoglycaemia
   Unsurprising if you have watched my Overnight Hypoglycaemia post, but SmartGuard overnight for me was a real stand-out winner. No readings at all for 9 weeks below 3.5mmol/L overnight, and hardly any below 4.0mmol/L. Some nights almost no basal insulin required, and others requiring my more 'usual' 6-7 units at night. Looking at the results it's hardly surprising I had so many problems and so much Severe Hypoglycaemia during my years on Lantus!
   
9. SmartGuard - results overall
   When compared to averaged results from 10 weeks of Libre sensors (the only other 24 hour data I have) time in hypoglycaemia fell by 90% during my 9 weeks with the MiniMed 640G. At the same time my overall levels, as measured by HbA1c fell by 0.3%. And all this with less effort and very little 'alarm fatigue'.
   

Watch the video

Improvements to the pump (with and without sensors) and the all important results.

Conclusion

It has been a great privilege to experience the MM640G system, and for me the results were spectacularly good. The comparison with Libre data is an interesting one, particularly where hypoglycaemia is concerned. Times wearing a Libre sensor were previously my 'best ever' results-wise. The ability to spot hypos coming during the day and try to head them off (I generally scan a Libre sensor something like 30-40 times a day), plus the ability to spot low levels overnight and make hurried basal rate changes meant that I generally had fewer hypos on a Libre than I would normally. And yet when compared to these data, the MM640G system reduced my time spent in hypoglycaemia by 90%. To be clear, that means that for every 10 minutes I spent below 4.0mmol/L trying my very hardest with a Libre sensor, I would spend only one minute when using SmartGuard. That and my HbA1c dropped over the same period from 6.3% to 6.0%. 0.3% - it's not a huge margin, but those fractions are pretty tricky to shave off once you get down below 7.0 in my experience.

My only hint of melancholy about the whole experience is, of course, the eye-watering cost of full-time sensor coverage (approx £3,500 per year inc transmitter). It's not something we as a family can afford, and full time CGM on the NHS is reserved for those who really need it most - and rightly so.

It feels a little like being given a chance to live in a multi-million pound mansion and drive an Aston Martin for a few weeks to see how I like it. I may think it's brilliant - but the reality is that it's not really an option that is really open to me long-term.

I have a pump clinic coming up in a week or two and will see what they say about the results - particularly my unpredictable and occasionally lengthy periods spent below 4.0 overnight. These do nothing to help my efforts to keep my Imparired Awareness of Hypoglycaemia under control. I may ask about the possibility of part-time sensor coverage. Even a few months in a year would make a massive difference (as long as the transmitter continued to function, of course).

My Veo is nearing the end of its warranty period, so I am looking to the future. I have some thinking and some sums to do after this experience - depending on what my clinic say.

Final verdict (with sensors and SmartGuard): 5/5
Final verdict (without sensors): 4/5
Final verdict (considering self-funding sensors): 4/5*

* because of Dexcom's more 'stretchable' reputation when it comes to sensor life

Disclaimer: I was offered a trial of the Medtronic MiniMed 640G system for 64 Days with full sensor coverage so that I could share my opinion and experience good or bad. I was not paid to write this post, and if I had thought the pump was terrible I would have written that. I was encouraged (not required) to post video blogs about my experience, but Medtronic did not have any control over what I posted.

64 Days with the Medtronic 640G: Ep 8 Fine-Tuning SmartGuard

For all the times when SmartGuard has worked brilliantly for me (and there are - too many to count), there have also been a number of situations in which it seemed to make a bit of a mess of things. Overshooting and leaving my higher than I'd like... kicking in when a hefty carb load was just about to arrive and stopping basal for that 30 minute minimum (during which time I would be having a high glucose alert)... or cancelling various parts of dual and square wave boluses which I then may not spot until slightly too late.

I'm sure each user would have their own list - but these are my own #SmartGuardFails and some of the techniques I have tried to fine-tune the alerts and levels to work around them. It's interesting how irritating these odd occasions can be, and I suspect it is only because, well for me anyway, SmartGuard has worked so *brilliantly* for so much of the time that they really stand out.

If you have any MM640G SmartGuard tips and tricks of your own (or any other comments or questions), please leave a comment below.

64 Days with the Medtronic 640G: Ep 7 Overnight Hypoglycaemia

Those of you who can remember way back when this blog started (if you even exist, you have my undying affection for your extraordinary stickability) may recall that we were prompted to start writing a blog about my diabetes as a family after a particularly nasty overnight hypo. It was the beginning of me realising that I was *nothing* like as good at the whole 'pretending to be my own pancreas' lark as I had managed to convince myself that I was. I began to realise how much I didn't know, and that one event led me to connect with literally thousands of others wrestling their own diabetes into submission every day. My life, and particularly my diabetes management are very much the better for it.

Overnight hypos have been a bit of a recurring theme throughout my 25 years of living with type 1 diabetes. I am lucky in that I have never needed paramedic callouts, but there were many times along the way when Jane had to step in at breakfast time to 'bring me round' in the years before we started writing this blog. I look back at those early posts and am bewildered and ashamed that it took me quite so long to realise how much effect this was having on everybody else in the family. How unfair it was on them. At the time though, I guess I had convinced myself that my management was 'as good as could be expected'. I knew I was having 'A few too many highs... a few too many lows'. But doesn't everyone?

If you are the sort of person who approaches anywhere near 8 hours a night when you live with type 1 diabetes, you are spending fully a third of every day in the land of nod. That is an awful lot of time for things to go wrong - especially if your basal insulin dose is not adjusted correctly* or your requirements have moved since you last checked. You may be lucky enough to get clanging warning signs when you dip below 4.0mmol/L - enough to wake you up and sort yourself out. But you can't rely on them. And the more and longer the periods you spend below 4 during the night, the more of a hammering your hypo awareness will take and the less you will feel them. A classic vicious circle.

I am coming toward the end of my 64 days with the MiniMed 640G now (Medtronic have kindly allowed me to keep hold of their toy for a little while longer as there are a couple more posts I'd like to put together). Today seemed like a good opportunity to gather some of the snippets of video that I've been filming since the beginning and edit them into a 'SmartGuard vs Overnight Hypoglycaemia' post. Has Smartguard made any difference? Has my overnight hypoglycaemia reduced at all?

Watch the video below to find out what has been happening over the last 9 weeks. As always, I'd love to hear your comments or any questions, please leave them below or post on my Youtube channel.



*During the video, I mention how important I have found the concept of basal testing over the last few years, both on MDI (multiple daily injections) and also on a pump. Systematically testing and adjusting my basal insulin on an ongoing basis helps me to keep my meal doses and corrections working more or less as I expect them to (ha!). It was one of the most significant 'new concepts' I discovered when I first started comparing notes with other people with type 1 diabetes online. If you'd like to know more read this post by Gary Scheiner (Think Like a Pancreas) which explains the principle. It is written for pump users, but would be easy to adapt for once- or twice-daily basal insulin injection on MDI.

64 Days with the Medtronic 640G: Ep 6 Ordering supplies online

In some ways one of the nicest additions to my general 'managing diabetes malarky' over the past 12 months or so has not really been anything to do with managing blood glucose levels or complicated diabetes technology at all. It has been a very simple addition to my routine in that Medtronic, as of the middle of last year, became the first and only UK insulin pump company to set up an online 'e-shop' for re-ordering pump supplies. This means I can place an order for new infusion sets, reservoirs and other gubbins 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Best of all the process is nicely streamlined, so it only takes me a handful of 'clicks' to place an order, which is then usually delivered in approximately 3-5 working days. I never had a real problem with phoning the orderline and speaking to the (always very helpful and lovely) staff at the other end... But the e-shop is just completely effortless and means I can place an order whenever I want to.

I'm not the most organised of people, and can easily get distracted when intending to re-order my supplies, then forget all about it. n fact I try to re-order deliberately early jyst to make sure I don't get caught out. So it's a great help to me that I can go online and place an order whenever I think about it, rather than having to wait until a customer-care phoneline is open and try again.

There are other benefits for registering with Medtronic's e-shop too. Registered users get access to an online e-support newsletters 'MiniMed Care Connect', with hints and tips covering things like sick day rules, sport/exercise, back-to-school suggestions and generally getting the most of your insulin pump. There are also promotions and cost-savings available to registered users including a soon-to-launch 'loyalty scheme' which offers reductions in the cost of Enlite sensors for those who are self-funding. More on that as details emerge...

In the meantime, here's a quick video of the process:


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64 Days with the Medtronic 640G: Ep 5 Changing Infusion Set

I don't know... You wait weeks and there are no turgid video blog posts from me that you need to avoid, and then suddenly two come along within the space of a week.

For this latest episode as part of my 64 days with the MiniMed 640G, I thought I would run through the process of changing infusion set including a walkthrough of the MM640G pump screens. Don't be put off by the hefty 17 minute running time - it's a LOT quicker to do when you aren't waffling on and explaining things as you go.

For what they are worth, I've included some of the little hints and tips I've picked up over the last few years which seem to reduce the number of bubbles I get in the reservior/tubing (everyone's second favourite insulin pump nuisance). This isn't advice you understand, and check with your healthcare providers blah blah blah, but personally I seem to get very few problems with bubbles these days and if any of it gives you some ideas to experiment with for your own set changes then great (but on your own head be it).

The only thing I did not explain very clearly in the video is the importance of using room-temperature insulin. Bizzarely, oxygen is more soluble in colder liquids, so if you fill perfectly and bubble-free with insulin straight from the fridge you can find that you get bubbles emerging from the insulin inside the sealed reservior, after filling, as the insulin warms up. Not helpful.

Anyhow - here it is. Enjoy. And do leave any comments, questions or set-changing tips of your own for me below.

Thanks for watching!


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For an alternative video detailing a set change using Medtronic QuickSets check out this great post by Dave Sowerby.

64 Days with the Medtronic 640G: Ep 4 SmartGuard vs Mountain

We have just returned from a wonderful holiday among the Black Mountains, Brecon Beacons and Cambrian Mountains in the middle of Wales. The weather was as mixed as you might expect, but we did grab the opportunity of one of several gloriously sunny days to walk the popular path up Corn Du and Pen Y Fan which the walking guide proclaims to be 'the highest peaks in southern Britain' (presumably Snowdon counts as ooop North).

It seemed like a reasonable 'test case' for SmartGuard and exercise for me. Things were a little complicated by a fairly active morning with a fairly hefty Temporary Basal Rate which I had slightly overdone so as to be confident to drive, meaning that I approached lunchtime in pretty much double figures (180ish for US readers). Often I would choose to reduce my pre-exercise meal bolus a little, because I tend to get very sensitive to any active insulin once I start moving. I didn't want to do that this time though as I was fairly high to start with and in some dim corner of my mind there is something squirreled away about exercising at high levels being Not The Best Idea.

So there you go... the scene is set, the reality TV style 'manufactured peril' is in place (Solemn face to camera... 'But exercising at those levels, and with all that insulin on board - just what will happen')...

Let the drama unfold.

Oh, and as if that were not enough excitement, you may notice I am sporting an impromptu 'holiday beard' in this video. Feel free to express your opinion, hilarity or horror at this unexpected turn of events by voting #beardyes or #beardno in the comments.

Thanks, as ever, for watching.

Any questions or comments, please leave them below.


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64 Days with the Medtronic 640G: Ep 3 What is SmartGuard?

Here's another little update on my time with the Medtronic MiniMed 640G. This time it's a look at what SmartGuard is and how it works. When someone first tried to explain how SmartGuard worked to me I can remember it felt bewilderingly complicated, with all sorts of levels and numbers flying around. Actually once you have got your head around it, I have found it relatively simple - so I'm trying to explain it here with a little animated diagram that tries to work through an example of how and when Smartguard is activated, and what it does.

It should be remembered, of course, that for all it's magic, SmartGuard is not supposed to replace hypo-treatment entirely. Unfortunately for all the over-enthusiastic media hype about the 'Artificial Pancreas' when the MM640G launched, we are nothing like there yet. SmartGuard is a useful step in the right direction, but a full AP it ain't. For starters, there are many situations in which stopping your basal insulin will simply not act quickly enough, or have enough impact, to head off an impending low. And there are other situations where SmartGuard might be triggered for all the right reasons, but not actually have been needed and you end up higher than you'd like because of it.

I'll cover some of those situations in more detail in another blog - but for now, let's focus on those gentle (or not so gentle) drifts below 4.0 which SmartGuard effortlessly squashes without bothering you with any irritating alarms.

When it works well, it genuinely feels like you have a little 'diabetes helper' by your side, actively looking out for you. Not something I have ever felt about any other piece of diabetes technology.

If you have any questions or comments, please do leave them below. I'd love to hear what you think.


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64 Days with the Medtronic 640G: Ep 2 The first 28 days' results

I wasn't expecting to be posting this blog today (well it seems like it'll be tomorrow by the time it has uploaded, but it's still today as I'm typing this). I had a vague plan that I'd do an introductory blog, and then move on to explain what SmartGuard was and how it worked. But today marks 4 weeks since I have been living with the MiniMed 640G and having looked at the results so far to say I am impressed is an understatement.

Ever since diagnosis, if I'm honest, I have preferred to run on the low side rather than on the high side. Lows were quick to sort out and usually involved eating something sweet and tasty, while highs took much longer to come down and, while they did not make me feel particularly grim like they do for many people, they also carried with them the spectre of all those diabetes nasties waiting in the wings. Blindness, kidney failure and amputation vs fruit pastilles seemed an easy choice to make.

Of course running on the low side and 'preferring' hypos is not a brilliant plan. My hypo awareness began to take rather a dent and I spent many years with significant hypo unawareness and the severe hypos that go with it, especially overnight. Looking back I am ashamed that I did not realise the pressure and stress that this placed on my whole family and especially Jane.

Pretty much since we began writing this blog I began to try to reduce my incidence of hypoglycaemia and regain my warning signs, and generally wrestle my diabetes into behaving itself a little better. I have put quite a bit of work in and learned a lot. Thankfully I have not had an episode of Severe Hypoglycaemia for something like 3 or 4 years now - long enough ago that I can't remember anyway. But for all the success there have remained a stubborn few dips under 4 (which may or may not be hypos depending on your definition) that I have been unable to tame.

This video blog examines what effect SmartGuard has had to my results in these first 4 weeks.


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64 Days with the Medtronic 640G: Ep 1 Introduction. Comparing the MM640G with Paradigm Veo

Following on from my early preview of the MiniMed 640G insulin pump, I have been invited by the fine folks at Medtronic to spend 64 days with their new box of tricks, and to share my experiences through the slightly scary and unfamiliar medium of video blogging.

It's what all the cool kids are up to (apparently).

For this first installment I have tried to do a little compare and contrast between the Medtronic Veo and the new MiniMed 640G. Just a few things that have struck me during my first couple of weeks of use really. I'm not yet going to mention Smartguard and compare that feature to the Veo's Low Glucose Suspend, partly because I think that Smartguard deserves a vlog all of its own, but mostly because I have never used sensors with my Veo so have nothing to usefully compare.

I am hoping to post a video every week or so over the 64 day period, but I have quickly come to realise that this video blogging lark is nothing like as easy as everyone makes it look, so you may have to bear with me on timings. I'll announce any new episodes here and on Twitter, naturally, but if you are really keen I suppose you could always subscribe to what is now laughably described as my YouTube Channel.

In the meantime you can find some more, rather more coherent information on the MiniMed 640G here.

And please do check out the video blogs of other MM640G users too.

Leave any comments or questions here or on YouTube and I'll do my best to answer them.


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Medtronic MiniMed 640G 'SmartGuard' Pump - Preview

The Medtronic 640G launches Feb 2015

I was absolutely made up to receive an email a few weeks back that invited me to go along to the Medtronic UK 'Bloggers and Patient Advocate' meeting in sunny Watford today. It seems that Medtronic are keen to connect a little more with the diabetes online community in the UK, share a little of what they are up to and generally get some grass roots feedback. The group is a mix of MDI and pump users (Medtronic, Animas and Roche, with and without various CGM alternatives all present). It includes both people with diabetes and parents of children or young people with diabetes. It was lovely to meet up with a glittering array of familiar and less familiar faces, Annie (@understudypanc), Lesley (@INPUTdiabetes), Laura (@ninjabetic1 and #ourD), Lindsay (@LwSweetpea88), Sue (@desangsue), Dave (@SowerBee), Chris (@grumpy_pumper), Paul (@TheTeamBG and #GBdoc), Gavin (@Diathlete), Kris (@diabeticbanana), Kyle (of @mysugr), plus @JDRFUK youth ambassador George (and his mum!). We were joined by 6 folks from Medtronic who were very excited by some of their new toys that are just about to launch. I believe that this group has met several times before with more of a 'brain-picking' workshop feel, but today was much more of a full-on sales pitch with a sneak peek of the new MiniMed 640G insulin pump which launches in the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Australia on the 1st 2nd of February (regrettably it looks like FDA approval for the US could take years). We were lucky enough to get a short amount of hands-on time to play with the 640G and I just wanted to share a little of what I saw today. I won't be able to go into too much detail for a full-on review here I'm afraid, because there was LOT of information shared and while I tried to take some notes, all too quickly we had to hand the devices back in. Plus since the official website doesn't launch for another couple of weeks I've nothing to check against. I will try to get someone from Medtronic to glance over the post and set me straight if any of this is complete nonsense. I'll post (and add think about ignore mark) corrections as necessary :)

Those familiar with Medtronic's Veo may have come across the term 'Low Glucose Suspend', the facility where overnight the Veo (when used with Enlite CGM sensors) can automatically stop basal insulin supply if the pump detects a predetermined low glucose threshold has been passed. This has been shown to significantly reduce the severity and duration of overnight hypoglycaemia in clinical trials and was welomed (particularly by parents of T1 children) as a major step forward towards developing the 'artificial pancreas'.

The MiniMed 640G takes this approach to a whole new level with 'SmartGuard', an algorithm that begins to take effect significantly before you have hit your 'low' level, attempting to dodge some of those pesky hypos altogether. The sensors are Enlites again, but with a new (and apparently much improved) 'Guardian Link' transmitter to boost performance.

More on that later, but first a quick overview:

• Colour screen which apparently reads easily in sunlight
• Waterproof (yay!) including swimming
• Reservoirs available in either 180u and 300u
• Up to 5 different basal patterns with up to 48 rates per 24 hours each.
• Pairs with Contour Next Link USB (new 2.4 version)
• Limited bolus options via meter, full bolus wizard on pump
• Completely re-worked interface with many more 'user-friendly' options and updates
• More customisable alarms (and at louder volumes)
• Already licensed for use by children
• Size-wise it's very similar to the Veo, just a few millimeters taller, wider and deeper

SmartGuard
The thing Medtronic were clearly most excited about was obviously 'SmartGuard', so it's probably worth trying to note down what I can remember about how that works. SmartGuard builds significantly on the premise of Low Glucose Suspend by making the whole thing much more predictive. While Low Glucose Suspend only kicks in when you are already registering low, SmartGuard acts earlier trying to head off the low by temporarily stopping basal (in much the same way I started doing while wearing a Libre sensor - see 'new technique'). They had a snazzy graph in the presentation to explain how it works, which I've attempted to recreate here. On the pump you set a 'low' limit that you do not wish to fall below - anywhere between 2.8 and 5.0 in 0.2mmol/L increments. Above that the pump sets additional 1.1mmol/L and 3.9mmol/L guides. SmartGuard is triggered if sensor glucose values fall below that upper line (3.9 above your low limit) AND are falling sharply enough that you are predicted to fall below the 1.1 line within 30 minutes. All insulin is stopped for at least 30 minutes from that point (including basal and any partial dual or square waves still in progress). If your numbers stay down, the insulin stays off for a maximum of 2 hours. Basal delivery (only) automatically resumes once you have risen above the 1.1 line AND are predicted to remain there for the next 30 minutes. Users can, of course, cancel the SmartGuard intervention at any point (eg if they would prefer to treat the impending low with some tasty fast-acting carbs. Rather neatly you can also choose whether or not the 640G alarms or alerts at any of those points and even tailor what times of the day (or night) to switch SmartGuard on or off. Alternatively you can simply run the system as the current Low Glucose Suspend works.

It was claimed that in the 'Pilgrim' study, the same algorithm that powers SmartGuard was able to avoid 80% of potential hypoglycaemic events both day and night. If those results could be reproduced 'in the wild' it would be nothing short of groundbreaking. A handful of people have recently been able to use the 640G on a trial basis at Kings College Hospital and two of them (including @desangsue) shared their experiences. Responses from other hands-on users are also very encouraging and seem to suggest that many found SmartGuard alone was sufficient to cope with moderate exercise. After a short while to build trust, many were also happy to simply let SmartGuard do its thing silently and alarm-free, only realising when checking the pump later that they had been spared a low-level dip here or there by some automated basal jiggery-pokery. The only mandatory alarm that sounds would be if your sensor glucose fell below your 'low limit'. This is a good thing. But the customisability of those alarms, while preventative action is automatically taken without confirmation being required seems to go a long way to prevent CGM 'alarm fatigue'.

Fancy new meter
The 640G pairs with a Bayer meter that looks just like the existing Contour Next USB, but this souped-up '2.4' version has some extra cleverness under the hood. For starters you can use it to deliver a quick manual bolus of any number of units you choose without having to fish the 640G out of your pocket. You can also create up to 8 bolus presets (which can include predetermined square or dual-wave options and doses) on the 640G that can be fired from the meter. Frustratingly you cannot vary the doses of these presets from the meter itself at the point of delivery - which would make this much more useful for me - and neither can the meter act as a fully fledged bolus wizard as it does with Roche pumps. However *some* meter bolus options are certainly better than none, and I can see that these could be very useful for snacks and preset mini-corrections or standard preboluses. The new BG meter also acts as the USB conduit for uploading data to the Carelink software package which (mercifully) is also getting a complete overhaul very soon.

Sensors schmensors
That's all very well you may say, but I'm about as likely to get funding for full time sensors as I am to become the next Pope - is this all about SmartGuard, or is there anything here for non-CGMers?

It is true that Medtronic are putting a lot of emphasis on SmartGuard - they are keen to describe the 640G as a 'system' rather than just a pump. It seems they are trying to work with Healthcare Professionals and NICE, seeking to allow more people to access this sensor augmented, 'virtual pancreas' approach. Swift murmerings were made about price points and volume but no real detail given as to if (and how much) sensor cost may fall if there is a greater uptake.

However even without all that sci-fi automation there is much here to please regular pumpers.

A colour screen is pretty much a given these days, but the layout and icons here are well thought through and in themselves allow quick access to a detailed and drillable overview, similar to but richer than the 'back button' on old MiniMed pumps. Bolus and basal adjustments are available direct from the 'home' screen, and everything is navigated by the 4-way/OK controller plus two other buttons - one for 'menu', the other for 'back'. Pleasingly, pressing and holding the 'back' button takes you directly to the home screen however deeply you are embedded in within menu options, which is a nice touch.

A great deal of attention seems to have been paid to the available options to make the pump more customisable and personalisable for individual users. For many things (such as basal patterns) you can now choose named versions eg 'work day' or 'illness' that make them more self explanatory to use, alternatively you can still opt for the more usual numbered options. You also have the option of setting all sorts of presets, including temporary basal rates of predefined length/intensity (again with named alternatives). Whatever you choose to populate from the available options in setup screens get shown in the selection menus, but you don't have to wade through dozens of items that you never use if you don't want to set them up. So you might choose to set just two of eight available TBR presets one for 'moderate activity' and another for 'light activity', then when setting a TBR you can choose either of those or dial in a custom one. Overall it felt logical, intuitive and that several regular tasks would be faster to achieve. The added complexity might mean an additional button-press here or there for one or two things, but in the hour or so we had to play with the 640G most things I wanted to access within a few presses I could.

Battery life is anticipated to be around 2-4 weeks, depending on use. The 640G needs the slightly larger AA batteries (rather than the Veo's AAAs) to power the colour screen. In the top menu bar the battery (and other) icons re-colour to indicate their status. On the battery front, as well as the usual 'low battery' warnings at 25% and again (if I remember right) at 5% there is also an inbuilt 'get out of jail' rechargeable battery that will allow the pump to limp on for up to 8 hours if you find yourself stranded in a motorway traffic jam or somewhere with no shops over a Bank Holiday having paid no attention to the icons/alerts when you set off. I also unwittingly tested the "what happens if you need to change battery in the middle of things" situation and a trial TBR I had set running happily carried on after I took the battery out to have a look. Another neat trick is that the standard-issue belt clip can be swiftly detached and is moulded in such a way that it can be used instead of a coin to unscrew the battery cap. Just a nice bit of attention to detail which speaks highly of the amount of effort Medtronic have put into the design of things.

Infusion sets and reservoirs are exactly the same ones used in the Veo, but special mention must go to the 'Infusion set change' alarm which you can set as a reminder. This particularly caught the imagination of Paul B who said that as a feature, it was pretty much enough to win him over on its own.

My biggest disappointment on the day was to discover that those infernal (and entirely useless) TBR hourly chimes are still present on the MiniMed 640G and it doesn't look like you can turn them off either. After all the effort that has clearly gone into usability and user-experience... The mind boggles. [EDIT: This turns out not to be the case after all. See the end of my compare/contrast video blog for details.]

To be honest I'm going to have to stop there - it's suddenly got rather late and I had thought I was just jotting down some quick notes. It was a very interesting day and there were other snippets (such as the iPort) that will have to follow later.

In short, I will have had Artoo for 4 years in November this year, at which point the warranty runs out and my robot counterpart begins to live on borrowed time. While I'm not champing at the bit for a new pump, I had absently been wondering what I might look at next. I am still interested to find out more about Roche's Insight pump. Omnipods don't feel right for me, and until today I was fairly certain that the Animas Vibe was my front runner because of Dexcom integration (and longer sensor life if I ever take the plunge to self fund). I know that for many the lack of a fully functioning remote handset on the 640G will be a dealbreaker, but that really doesn't bother me much. Today has given me much to think about and Medtronic's new offering very clearly sets itself apart in the market by doing something that absolutely no other pump can do.

Video blogs now available

Update: I have been given the opportunity of trialling the MiniMed640G for 64 days and will be posting video diaries of my experiences. Watch the videos.

Disclosure. Medtronic generously paid my train fare and laid on a tasty lunch. I was not asked and have not been paid to write this post or publicise their products in any way, but thought you lot might be interested.