Cannula keep coming out!

Hi everyone.

New to the forum.

So I received my new pump this week. Gone from accuchek insight to a t-slim and therefore on the autosoft 90 cannulas.

I’m having an issue with the staying in. My others, my pump could literally hang from my body and the cannula be fine.

These come out so much easier ans the adhesive seems very flimsy. I’m wondering if anyone has any tips to keeping this particular cannula in place or knows of any topper stickers that can go over adhesive to add Extra protection (whilst still being able to unclip the pump to allow for showering)

Many thanks

Vic
T1D 92’

Have you tried any skin prep? I use it when I put my sensor on. It stays the whole 10 days and won’t interfere with disconnecting your tubing. Just be careful not to get it in the needle area. If I remember correctly you only have the cannula in for 3 days.

Man, I have a hard time getting mine off after 3 days. This is a new one for me. At least with the infusion sets, sensors are a whole different story. I drop my pump all the time and it just dangles from the infusion set (with bonus screaming, because that hurts! Lol), without actually yanking it off.

Could you walk us through your procedure for applying them? Maybe we can spot something off.

I assume you’re already applying to clean, dry skin… Free of any oils, bath products, and/or lotions. Do you rub your fingers around the white tape several times after inserting it? This warms up the adhesive and helps it stick, and the added pressure really fixes it there.

If you really do need a little help, Skin-Tac seems to be there preferred adhesive around here. I loved it on my sensors, until I became allergic to it. Can’t use it anymore. Skin Prep is another option. It’s basically a glorified alcohol wipe. It has just a tiny bit of extra sticking power. I don’t like that one on my sensors because I think it gets gummy and falls off worse when it does give out. It makes it harder to use over-patches. It might just work out well for the short-term infusion set wear, though. Too much sticking power can be a bad thing, as you can damage your skin trying to remove them.

Your infusion sets are also guaranteed by Tandem to last 3 days. You can call in and get replacements for the ones that fell off. In my experience they’ll, just send you a whole box and ask that you apply the extras towards future set failures.

2 Likes

I use GifGrips

Of course I get cowboy stickers!!!

All I use is IV-Skin Prep and no problems from the adhesive letting go. On occasions, I will do something that causes the cannula to loosen up.

I make sure my skin is freshly washed where I’m putting in the infusion kit, with soap, rinsed, dried vigorously, and as per instructions I rub the fabric which seems to”activate” the adhesive. Actually I have difficulty removing the set when it’s time to change.
One other tip: I can get away with four days in a pinch but five days reveals something gross at the infusion site so I don’t do that any more!!

I haven’t seen this point made before. I always thought that it was simply the pressure applied to the adhesive alone that made it perform, but it makes sense that the heat generated would help the adhesive fabric to stick. I do this with both my infusion sets and sensors. I try to change infusion sets every 72 hours and the adhesive holds well; I probably could go 5-6 days if I chose to and work out most days.

I use a different infusion set (Medtronic Silhouette) than the original poster but most sets are made by Denmark’s Unomedical company and manufactured in Mexico.

I use Skin-Tac on my sensor adhesive fabric and paint it over the top of the applied sensor fabric. Like others have already mentioned, I take care to wash with soap and hot water, dry thoroughly and rough up the skin some when drying.

If none of those practices work for you, you could make a “safety loop” with the tubing about an inch or two away from the infusion site and separately apply some tape over the loop. It will take the strain off of the site itself.

G6 overpatches are free

https://dexcom.custhelp.com/app/OverPatchOrderForm

You might also be having a cannula insertion issue. You might want to try steel sets.