Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ron Doyle on May 16, 2012 at 12:32pm

I've been on Omnipod for over 2 years and have never had but 1 or 2 bleeders. Usually they just have a little red spot, sometimes small ones and other times larger. Very rarely have I experienced any pain except sometimes for a minute or less right after I insert the cannula. Although, one thing I have learned, everyone is different.

Also, I find the upper arm to be painful and prefer stomach, back butt and upper legs.

Speaking of bumps, one time I had it on my upper arm and caught it on the door frame when I walked through a door a little too close. It tore the pod loose from the gauze it tapes to my arm but the cannula didn't budge. A dot of super glue between the pod and the gauze resolved that too.

Good luck and I am sure you will like it a lot after you get used to it.

Permalink Reply by Scott Wilkins on May 16, 2012 at 12:33pm

I'm still in my first week of being an Omnipod user. So far, I can say that it does matter where you wear it. At least to me. When I wore a demo unit on my arm, I had knocked it off by the end of that day running into things. And even the demo unit hurt my skin when I hit it hard enough. So I was sure that wearing it on my belly would be more easier. Now that I'm actually using one, I can say that my arm is much more comfortable. While I don't "bump" it as much on my belly as I might on my arm, it does get quite a bit more movement. I am a overweight, so there's lots of room for movement anyway. So YMMV on that statement. I was able to forget more about it on my arm that I have been on my middle section. In a few weeks, I hope to try it on an upper leg. My shoulder suffer from capsulation, so I doubt I'll ever try my back since I can reach back there anyway.

Permalink Reply by RobAW on May 16, 2012 at 12:36pm

Holy cow, thats gutsy. Not sure I'ld want someone to wack my pod. I can imagine that it likely hurt depending on the angle and force used. I've only been on the pod since Feb 29, and have bumped it against a door jam a few times but never hard enough to knock it off or to cause me any pain or bleeding, other than a pinch - then a few cuss words. I did pull on it a few times when it was on my upper butt getting into my car, but again, nothing significant. I've never had any bruising or bleeding yet.

Permalink Reply by mikep on May 16, 2012 at 12:36pm

Hey Re.

Good question. Every once in a while mine get sore but it's from the infusion site not from the pod itself. I had sore sites with my MM pump as well. Sometimes I bump, push, pull my pod and I don't have any soreness or pain from it. My kids also constantly sit and jump on my Pod and I don't have any issues.

Might have just been the site you used.

Good luck!!! I love my Omnipod.

Permalink Reply by ahe05a on May 16, 2012 at 12:49pm

I think it just depends. Sometimes my kids complain that they hurt, so we change it and it doesn't hurt any more. My daughter hates it on her tummy and my son hates it on his thigh. I think it just depends on the individual. We've had a couple of "bleeders" too; maybe 2 or 3 in 3 years between two kids.

Permalink Reply by EllasMom on May 16, 2012 at 3:56pm

My daughter wears the pod on her toosh - only place w/enough fat. The 1 time we tried her arm, her BGs soared into the 300's. After 2 corrections w/no response, I changed out the pod (1 am) and that bad boy bled like crazy, an indication that I hit muscle. So, no, that's not normal. Also, we put a 1 x 5" piece of Hypa-fix tape over the pod right where it goes from skinny to fat as well as tegaderm (we cut a hole using an old pod as a template so the tegaderm so the tegaderm reinforces the pod adhesive.) This has solved pretty much all our pod problems, and it now stays on through hours of swimming & playing. Another tip: if you're around static, spray the area of clothes that touch the pod w/ static guard. We lost numerous pods to static errors until we started doing this.

Permalink Reply by Jim on May 17, 2012 at 7:46am

I've been podding for a couple of years now. I'd estimate that 65% of the pods I put on have little noticable pain or discomfort. About 33% have some discomfort. About 2% are so uncomfortable that I end up changing them before they expire. With pods lasting three days, that's only about 2-3 pods per year that are so uncomfortable that I have to change them.

Permalink Reply by Re on May 17, 2012 at 10:48am

thanks! Its good to know. I've heard of (tube) users having similar problems as well.

Permalink Reply by MooseDroppings on May 17, 2012 at 1:55pm

I have only had one hurt since I started April 26, and that was about about 3 inches above my waist. I was so glad when it was time to change it! I had some bruising on my thigh once, but I am very happy with the pod and wishing I had started it long ago.

Permalink Reply by Linz on May 21, 2012 at 8:38am

Well I'm no expert on the Pod, I've only had it since february but here's what I've learned. You have to try it everywhere. Mine does hurt in certain areas of my body. I've tried it on both my calves and loved it there but one day i must have just put it in the wrong place on my calve because by the second day my whole leg was crampy and hurt more so right where the pod was, when i did remove the pod i had a huge bruise.

Basically what my doctor told me is that you can wear it wherever you want as long as it absorbs the insulin thats all that matter. You might notice that your legs absorb more then your belly and if thats the case you just increase or change your settings which you can ask your doctor more about.

my right leg tends to be more sensitive to the injections versus my right leg, which seemed silly but it's true. I've even worn the pod on my upper thigh and when i've tried close to the same spot i've gotten the raised red swollen site more then before even from just moving it an inch or less away from where i've had it in the past.

Make sure you rotate to thats important. I've never done the same area twice in a row. I move it from left leg to right leg to left side of belly to right side of belly etc...

Permalink Reply by Mike W on May 21, 2012 at 5:23pm

I've been using omnipod for over 3 years and rarely have severe pain at the insertion site. The times this has happened have been in more muscular areas where I might have hit some leaner tissue. The only other source for this type of discomfort has been when the pod is knocked and the cannula is slightly dislodged which can cause a sharp, continuing pain as the cannula is not well seated and moves around a bit. I take these minor annoyances in stride as the pod is such a fabulous tool and routinely works so well. Good luck with your regimen.