Our 11 year old daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes about 5 months ago. Do you know of any research which suggests that an insulin pump can extend the honeymoon? She is in good control, closely monitoring her carb intake and timing, and checks her blood sugars 4 to 6 times daily.

Anything that provides good control of blood sugars has the potential for extending the honeymoon period since it allows the damaged beta cells to “rest.” This is the theory behind the DPT-1 insulin experimental trial but using insulin many months or years before high sugars show up.

In actual clinical practice, the insulin pump is an excellent way to provide insulin close to the way the body used to provide insulin, but usually is not needed in the first few months or years of diabetes because insulin injections also do something very similar.

Most of us do not prescribe the insulin pump for this type of situation since it is significantly more work and more expense. It would be reasonable to talk to your pediatric endocrinologist and explore this with more details of the individual blood glucose levels, hemoglobin A1c being achieved, etc.

SB