Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by bonnie senner on February 14, 2009 at 8:19pm

this happens to me at least 4 times a month

Permalink Reply by Pete on June 21, 2011 at 10:59am

I am now going through the same experiences and am getting rather concerned. I have been on the pod for about 10 months now. It started with my right thigh. My sugars would be fine for a day and then get extremely high. I knew there was an issue when I would bolus in the middle of the night and wake up with an even higher sugar. Now, the same appears to be happening on my right thigh. I am good about rotating sites, that's why I'm upset about not using my thighs, they offer the largest area. My trainer has told me it could scar tissue, bad absorption. Has anyone stopped using a site for a while and then gone back to it? Did that help? I was using both arms, thighs and abdomen. My concern now is since I cannot use my thighs will the same happen to other areas, especially since now I will be using them more. What have tube pumpers done. All tube pumpers I have met only use their abdomen .. havent heard of aborption issues.

For those that use the upper buttocks, how is that for sleeping? Same with the back. I've considered those sites but I do find myself sleeping on my back quite a bit.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Pete from Wisconsin

Permalink Reply by cindy warnack on February 14, 2009 at 4:09pm

Jess,

I haven't been on website in a while...was thinking of you and wondering how you were doing....I have had the same problem..but not very often..I had just changed pod and blood sugar shot up ...no alarm...I think it was either bad pod or area
or site I usually use back of arm I had changed to my lower back ....I changed Pod and area and all is well....Cindy

Permalink Reply by bonnie senner on February 14, 2009 at 8:18pm

I have this problem at least 4 times per month site does not matter

Permalink Reply by Susan Anderson on February 14, 2009 at 9:19pm

Hi Bonnie -

It could be that the cannula is too deep in a muscle and unfortunately, the only way you can know this is that the absorption rate is really slow. We've had this happen and what I do is just change the site and then it works fine. If the pod were bad, you would receive no insulin and quickly register HIGH on the PDM. I always figure it's a muscle thing when we get readings in the 300s and can't seem to move from there with lots of boluses. That said, anything over 300 for us usually takes 1.5 to 2x as much insulin to bring him down.

Make sure that when you are inserting, that you are pinching up an ample amount of skin. This seems to help us tremendously. The last thing you want is to have to keep replacing pods every other day.

Hope this is helpful. Hang in there!!
Susan

Permalink Reply by kchannell on June 4, 2011 at 6:43pm

This happens to me all the time, I feel that 1 in 3 pods seems to not work and I get little to no absorption. It also seems totally random sometimes one site works and sometimes it doesnt, It's a major frustration and I'm not really sure what to do. I feel the syringe generally penetrates deeper and tends to work better for that reason. I think the cannula just doesnt go in far enough is part of the problem.

Permalink Reply by Susan Anderson on June 5, 2011 at 9:45pm

Hi there - I just saw your post - when you change your pod - give yourself an extra bolus - we do a full unitvif BG is over 200 and a 0.5 unit for nothing under 200 . This seems to work really well for Will. He's only 5 years old so you might need to adjust your bolus accordingly.

Also some people experience highs for site changes - it's their body reacting to the cannula and trying to reject it. You should always give a bolus when putting in a new pod - it clears the cannula of any bubbles. That said, make sure you really tap the syringe when you are filling up a new pod - any bubbles in the pod will make it so you don't get insulin.

I hope this helps!

Hang in there....

Permalink Reply by Katsz on June 5, 2011 at 8:53pm

My son has trouble when it hits a stretch mark on his belly... he used to be a "big" guy and then lost the weight and has left over scars.... when it goes in one....it takes a long time to start working.....then it kinda bursts though and we have to watch for a low. May have to stop using belly for this reason. His back of his arms are his fav. and they are way more absorby.
We always push .05 units after a pod change...to make sure it is fully primed...
I don't know why....but now that he has been podding more than a year.... things just seem to be going much more smoothly.....less problem pods... less occlusions... less alarms.. (knocking on wood) So maybe some of what was going on in the beginning was human error? Not sure. I can't even remember when we took off a pod for an alarm....now it is usually more like he got rough in the pool and one gets knocked off... but even those type of incidents are less often. I have read enough #bgnow and stuff here to know that other pumpers have the same stuff when they use their insets... so this isn't just an Omni issue. Trouble shoot it.. and see what works best for you. Is about the most advice I can give...and for some reason..... things get better in time.

Permalink Reply by Katsz on June 21, 2011 at 11:17am

On twitter.. I follow the #bgnow conversations all day long and I see many tubed pumpers changing because a site seems to not be working as well... I feel.. from what I see on twitter that his is a pump issue not just an omnipod issue... the only thing I do know that they have differently is that you can pick the size canula you like best.. Omnipod had to come up w/ a size that could be good for both kids and adults...thus it is a middle of the road size and might not be a "one size fits all" for some of those who use it. I have talked to my son's pump instructor about this and Omnipod is aware of this issue and is thinking about offering different sized canulas and you order the size that you want. Put.. you and I know that any changes like this have to go though miles and miles of red tape first. So for now....I just think of this as one of the many many variables that are a pain in the A$$ to deal with but you just have to do the best you can with.

Permalink Reply by Jen in CO on June 21, 2011 at 11:18am

My son (age 5) and I have been on the pods for about 7 months. For some reason, it does seem to get easier. However, one thing I've noticed is that I have to have different basals for different sites. I had to have a 20% increase overall for my lower back. Since it's one of my favorite spots, I created a new basal for it. For my son, when it's on his stomach, he needs more basal during the day, but not at night. For his lower back, he needs more for day and night. Now we are dealing with adjusting for summer - less basal for hours when he used to be asleep. Before I was creating these different basals, we would often run in the 200's (me) or 300's (him). First I do a temp basal if we start running high, and when I see the pattern, I create and name a new basal for that spot.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page