Whats the easiest way to clear air bubbles from your tubing? I'm having big issues with them. Do you bolus them out or rewind and restart reservoir or start with a completely new set? What do you do? Any tips on preventing them? I'm very careful while filling reservoir and always tap w a pen. Do air bubbles tend to affect your blood sugar very much?
Thanks in advance! HAPPY THURSDAY!
I had this problem too, and I used to freak out. But it's so EASY:
Disconet your pump and go to fill canula. Plug in about 5 units. and then watch the insulin and air bubbles drip out.
Make sure you are disconnected. And make sure put it back to your usual "fill canula" setting.
Let me know that this works!
So do you rewind your reservoir or just bolus the bubbles out?
no, neither. I just go to resevoir & set. and then fill canula.
I use the prime/fill tubing option to get bubbles out.
Another tip is to wear your pump upside down, with the bottom of the cartridge facing up. This way, the bubbles will float to the "back" of the cartridge rather than floating up and getting in the tubing (if that makes sense!).
Also, which insulin are you using? I had a lot more problems with air bubbles when I was using Humalog compared to now that I'm using Apidra.
This is an ongoing irritant for me. There should be no bubbles. Period. The O rings in the cartridge should stop all air from infiltrating the cartridge, or the product is defective. (OK, OK. I know, but the world should be perfect. Right?)
Be sure to fill your cartridge with room temperature insulin. Also, when inputting air into the cartridge, put in little or none. The compression will draw bubble to the op and take them out when the tubing is filled.
And I use Andrea's method when I need to clear unwanted bubbles.
Having fought this problem for years, I have concluded that air bubbles will form because the "slightest" movement will essentially suspend air in the liquid (aka, really small bubbles).
After you have filled the cartridge and the liquid has settled down from being vigorously extracted from vial to cartridge, there is an air bubble.