I’ve been having trouble with my sites for a couple of weeks now (bruising, blood gushers, pain while inserting/sleeping/moving/removing) and I started thinking about different sets I could use.
I’m wondering if anybody here can give an “apples to apples” comparison of their different sets from personal experience. I’m not looking for a technical specs sheet as I can find that on their website, rather what is your experience with some of the different ones (especially with regards to comfort).
I’m using Quicksets 9mm because that’s what they started me off with and I didn’t want to switch until I had some experience with them. I don’t think I have enough fat for the 9mm so I’m thinking of going with the 6mm instead. I’ve also been wondering about the ones that insert at an angle versus straight in. With syringes I always opted for the long needle because the short ones caused the insulin to “bubble” just under my skin and it was painful so I’m hoping that’s not the case with the 6mm sets.
Though I’m interested in Dave’s crusade for the Sure-Ts, I’d also like any opinions on the other sets they offer 
I had the same issues early in January- the Quicksets hurt and I got no delivery signals all the time! It got so frustrating!
We met with the rep who said that because I didn’t have a lot of fat, I needed an angled insertion set. There are a few different types- the ones we tried were the Sure-Ts and the silhouettes.
The Sure-T is really easy and simple. It’s a needle, a very short needle, that goes in and stays in, not a cannula. There are two different sticky spots that go onto your body, one where you disconnect the tubing and then there is a few more inches of tubing that connects to the spot where the needle goes in (at a straight angle). The insertion is manual and almost too easy and painless! It’s tiny and kind of like a push pin, you just push it in. I didn’t feel anything for the entire three days. However, taking it out was a little different. It wasn’t bad at all. It wasn’t painful, but I did have a small gusher. I was trying it in a new area, so maybe that was the problem. It hasn’t happened again.
The silhouettes are not my favorite. They come in 13mm and 17mm, which are painfully long for me, because I use 6mm. They actually feel longer when you’re inserting them. It’s an angled insertion set and really similar to the quickset. You insert manually here also, just gliding straight under the skin. This one hurt terribly. Once it was in, it hurt for the next day and then on the third day, it hurt again. Removing it wasn’t any problem. Sleeping also wasn’t, unless it was hurting. This was the 13mm. Our medtronic rep took out the 17mm- eek!
My rep said that these were the sets for people with problems because they had less fat. There are other sets out there, but she didn’t bring them. The Sure-T’s are great! But I would definitely give the silhouettes a try, you never know what works. Give your rep a call and see what they think, too. Good luck
“The Sure-T is really easy and simple. It’s a needle, a very short needle,”
I think that’s the answer to a question I had about the Sure-Ts. When my quicksets hurt at insertion it’s the needle part that hurts almost always (lately) until I remove it. So my thinking was if the Sure-T leaves the needle in won’t it hurt all the time? It never occurred to me that the needle would be much smaller than my 9mm quicksets.
Also (and this goes for all sets, not just Sure-T) will I need a different reservoir for these or can I use the ones I have? I’m thinking of ordering samples of various sets after I see some more responses here, but I don’t want to get stuck with the wrong reservoir.
Thanks Sloane.
I started on the quick sets too, bur after a while same story - too little fat, painful insertions, errors. I went on to the Sils 13 mm on my own steam (here in SA the MM reps are a little less available) and haven’t looked back.
I don’t insert manually, that’s a little daunting for me, so I use the Sil-Serter. But I’ve used in my stomach, around my sides and back (more fat) and on the top of my butt insertion is hardly ever sore, and I’ve only once had a gusher in about 2/3 years of using.
For me the angle insertion is great because you really do get easier access to those hard to reach places (around my side), and it’s at less of an angle than the CGMS transmitter, which is 45degrees.
That’s my 2 cents!
I have used sils and quicksets. with the sils i find it hard to insert w/o hitting capilaries on the first few tries, and have actually had more success with the 6mm quicksets.
when i got my pump, my doctor had me get 2 boxes of both 13mm sils and 6mm quicksets, and next time i order i am definetly getting only the quicksets since i have gone thru 2 boxes w/o any problems
A 6mm does sound rather short… So it’s basically like pressing a drawing pin/thumb pin directly into your body?
I’ve heard so many good things about the sure-t’s, that I finally called them for a sample yesterday. I’ve been having a lot of bent canula’s lately, and I’m hoping the sure-t’s will be the cure.
I’ve only experienced a couple of bent cannulas with the quicksets so far and I think most of them were due to the inappropriate length. Please let me know what you think of the Sure-Ts after you try them out.
Thanks, and thanks to everyone else for their input.
I have used the Sils and now I use the Sure-T following Dave’s lead. I was quite angry with my doc and the MM rep for not even suggesting the Sure-T to me. It’s the best by far. And, no, it does not hurt the slightest - and it hardly leaves any marks (scars/bruises) when you remove it. Try it… or, to steal from Dr. Seuss
You do not like the needle, so you say
Try it, try it! And you may!
Try it! And you may, I say!
I have used QuickSets (6mm) and SureT’s. I tried the T’s out for about 3 months and really liked them. I liked that I wasn’t worried about kinked sets and that if I needed to change it while away from the house for any reason I could just move my current set to a different area, compliments of the needle. It was nice to not need an inserter. Insertion was painless and most of the time I didn’t feel the needle afterword, they were comfortable to wear.
Unfortunately for me, my body didn’t like the metal cannula & would start to reject it after about a day. The site would get tender and absorption would start to decrease. (This didn’t happen for the first few weeks of starting on them, but became pretty predictable after about a month or so.) I typically had to move the set after 1 1/2 - 2 days. If left in for the full 3 days, I would get a lump under the skin that took a week or so to fade and the area would be a little reddened. Sometimes itchy. I’ve since switched back to the 6mm QS and haven’t had any problems. They’re always comfortable unless I hit a capillary like I did last time.
And yes, you can use the same reservoirs with the T’s and QS. They both have the same attachment.
Orbit90 makes sets (yes, even for MM pumps, without needing special reservoirs) with a 5.5mm 31g needle… these are the smallest metal needle sets made right now.
They’ll send you a box for free to try too Just make sure you state you want the Orbit Micro’s in the comments when you request them.
Sarah,
Thank-you so much for the information on Orbit90. I’ve asked for the sample and anxious to give them a try. bob
ICU Medical (Orbit) does not have a set they can sell that is compatible with MM directly - at least in the U.S. They have one on their web site, but you can’t buy it (talk to Kirk Ramey @ 1-800-824-7890). However, you can make the Orbit and Orbit Micro work with Fifty 50 's (ADR medical’s) reservoir sold thru Fifty 50 or the Animas e-store. ICU Medical will send you a box, but you’ll have to buy the reservoirs mentioned. We are on the sample box and seriously considering switching, or at least giving the Orbit Micro an extended trial. So far, so good.
For some background, for Matthews first six months of use the Quickset’s would last for three days (A1C’s 6.1 and 6.1). Then it dropped to two days and randomly 1-2 days, all after the lot 8 recall (A1C’s 6.5 and 6.3 with more testing and higher standard deviation). Matthew is very lean and our site selection is limited. Unfortunately, I believe a contributing factor was that we “wore out” his sites, perhaps due to the catheter size, and went in search of alternatives. We tried the sure-Ts for awhile on his stomach and let his primary sites heal. The adhesion sucked on the sure-Ts, so we used Skin Tac with a cover of Opsite Flexi-Fit to hold it down - overkill, but it worked great.
Anyway, we’re keeping some sure-Ts on hand, but giving the Orbit Micro a shot. I think for those on a pump using a standard Luer (not MM) this wouldn’t be as big an issue (trying something out of the box and away from the proprietary connection - OMG!). But in the end you have to experiment and find out what works for you…or in our case, for a five year old who wants to get, or at least feel, better.
i’m having infusion set issues also- thanks for the info!