Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by barbraann on June 11, 2012 at 6:59am

I think it happens to me 99% of the time. Don't know why but it always seems to go way up after changing. I think some people will give an extra little bolus to compensate.

Permalink Reply by DEA on June 11, 2012 at 7:04am

A couple of things:

I have seen it, and my first thought is that the site I have chosen has a much worse absorption profile than the previous site. It might simply take longer for the insulin to be absorbed, and the BG level might be back down later than you expect. I think that's the best explanation.

I am also now a little bit skeptical about the Omnipod priming mechanism getting rid of all the air in the tubing. If there is air still in the tubing, the volume of insulin you are getting might not be what you think you are getting.

In addition, there is a little bit of time when you are changing pods when you are receiving no insulin. It's not a long time, but you "lose" the basal rate you would normally get in the process. I doubt it would make that much difference, but enough little things might add up.

Permalink Reply by Steve D on June 11, 2012 at 7:08am

I ALWAYS give a little extra bolus from my pod (the one about to be changed) as part of the change process....a new site takes a little time for the insulin to be absorbed. It becomes a habit...it is not a pod problem, it is a human condition that we cannot change....good luck and PEACE.

Permalink Reply by RobAW on June 11, 2012 at 10:35am

I have run across this many times as well, not so much recently though. A couple of things have worked for me. I increase my temporary basil by 20% for up to 3 hours after changing a pod. This seems to work most of the time. an hour or so later, I check my BG and if things look normal then I simply cancel the temp basil. If my BG is still going up, I give a little bolus and check again in a bit. Usually this works for me. Stangely, I've noticed that for the last couple of months I don't need to do this any more - everything seems to work as it should, perhaps I'm just getting used to the process, am not nervous about changing pods, or something. I have realized that I do need to pinch up the skin around the front of the pod when insertion takes place, and that has seemed to help as well.

I've also noticed that my stomach isn't as consistent as any of the other spots on my body, likely because I used that area quite a bit in the past.

Good luck Stress, but don't be stressed - I love this thing and it's really helped me a lot.

Permalink Reply by Scott Wilkins on June 11, 2012 at 11:10am

I've read about this problem, and was ready to adjust as needed. Strangely enough I've not seen it occur yet. I've only been on pods for about 6 weeks now, changing every 2 days. Not sure what's different about my regiment, or use of the pod. Or maybe I've just not been using them long enough to see this yet.

Permalink Reply by smileandnod on June 11, 2012 at 11:19am

It's weird, for me, that sometimes this happens and sometimes it doesn't. So I usually run a temp basal of 20-30% for the first couple of hours and watch my cgm very closely. If I trend down instead of up then I cancel the temp basal. If I go up despite the temp basal, I give correction bolus.

I don't give an extra bolus automatically because this doesn't always happen and I'd end up low (been there done that once).

I'm inclined to think for me that it's more of an absorption issue rather than anything pod related. After 25 years of injections, my abdomen is hit or miss. Even with new sites, sometimes I see a rise and other times not.

Permalink Reply by Stress on June 11, 2012 at 11:44am

I agree - it's not all the time but next change I'm going to try the temp basal increase of 20% and check BG level.

Permalink Reply by Jim on June 12, 2012 at 6:31am

I wonder if the body needs a little bit of insulin to build up under the skin in order for the capillaries to absorb it? Maybe a little positive pressure is needed at the insertion site to force insulin into the blood? A new insertion would require a little while to build up that sort of pressure. Just a thought.

Permalink Reply by Steve D on June 12, 2012 at 6:40am

A good hypotheesis, Jim?! I would like to be copied on your experiment results!

Permalink Reply by smileandnod on June 12, 2012 at 10:57am

That's a really good thought, Jim. Sometimes I do put a little pressure above the insertion site but I've never thought to try to correlate whether those are the pods where I don't have the issue with rising bg. A new experiment in the making! :)