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Permalink Reply by Jean Leonard on June 4, 2010 at 6:25pm

I tried the coloplast wipes and still had a reaction. My newest attempt at a solution is through a holistic doctor. He's given me some supplements that are meant to help your skin protect itself against irritation, and a supplement that is an antihistime. I'll take them for 2 weeks and then try the pod again. Its a long shot, I think, but worth a try!

Permalink Reply by Tom Cat on June 11, 2010 at 8:16am

I've used the Omnipod system since fall 2005 - I've had two occasions when my skin has become "irritated" by the adhesive. The first time I wondered if it might be an allergic reaction but came to conclude that it was my dry skin getting pulled away with the adhesive leaving me with an almost rug burn like reaction. Both times the problem has popped up at the end of the winter when my skin is driest. It fades with the coming of warmer weather and humidity. Here is what I've done to try and manage it:

1) I thoroughly scrub the area I'm going to use for the next pod the day before I put it on (I wear them on the backs of my arms mostly - sometimes the back of my lower leg);
2) I take pure coco butter and rub it into the area after the scrub;
3) Next day I place the pod and wear it for three days;
4) to remove the pod I use PAM cooking spray - I have a Christmas tree farm and often have to remove sticky sap and Pam cuts through it so using it on the pads was an easy leap of logic. Spraying Pam on the pad is interesting - it takes a minute or two but the adhesive becomes very elastic...almost like rubber cement...once the Pam has penetrated I carefully curl off the pad trying not to pull or force it. Once its off I wash the whole thing with warm soapy water and the Pam and adhesive is gone.
5) I generally rub in more coco butter on the spot I just removed the pod to keep it moisturized.

This little protocol has really worked surprisingly well for me although there are still times when I rush and the skin gets angry. This is where rotating from arm to leg to arm to leg means I give any area at least 9 days to heal and rest.

Once warm weather arrives back I generally have no problems - this is a February to April problem for me.

Hope this is helpful for some folks - clearly it won't help those who react to all adhesives.

Tom Cat

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