So on another thread recently a few of you were saying that you completely filled your insulin reservoir and then used it till it ran out, but still changed infusion sites every three days.
I would love to start doing that with my daughter, I think it would mean much less waste… just wondering if you reuse the same tubing? Or do you use the new tubing each time you change the infusion set?
I use one set of tubing per cartridge and only change it when I change cartridges (the infusion sets I use comes with one set of tubing per infusion set). I save some of the tubign I don’t use in a ZipLoc bag, just in case I ever need it.
Good question! I just asked Caleb. He uses new tubing when he changes the site, but said he never thought about using the old tubing and saving that priming!
Not only do you save insulin in tubing, but you can change/fill new reservoir exactly when you need it, not when you happen to be changing infusion set.
When my reservoir is getting low, I can fill a new one, and grab one of the excess tubing, and take them with me. That way I can replace the reservoir later in the day when I have come closer to empty. It is a very quick swap, and can do at home or on the go easily.
However, there are also times when i change my quick set and fill reservoir at the same time. But still do them as separate steps.
Now, if I could find some good use for all that extra tubing. Any ideas ?
One time used it instead of string to tie up some stuff.
I love this. Since I’m retired I don’t have the time demands of a job but sometimes I do have something going on and having a pre-loaded cartridge and new tubing is smart. I hadn’t thought about doing it in advance and bringing with me.
When I change the cartridge, I also change the tubing. Since my cartridge lasts about 9-10 days I do waste a few infusion tubing parts. What I like about this routine is that it shortens the more frequent site changes to avoid spending time filling the cartridge and attending to the bubble circus!
Avoiding refilling my 43" infusion set tubing saves me about 20 units of insulin each time.
I do a lot of “bad things” here… First, yes, frequently, I change the site and not the cartridge or tubing (just did so tonight, in fact, though I may be doing it again, due to a possibly poor insertion…). I rarely, if ever, change the tubing without either refilling or changing the cartridge (I know, refilling might be a bad idea, though I’ve seen no adverse indication thus far).
Finally, one more ‘bad thing’ I do (blame it on the Asante Snap being my first pump), I somewhat overfill the cartridge when I fill it – so that there are 15-20u more than it’s 200u capacity – that allows me to emulate Snap’s “auto-prime” feature – when I screw down the cap and ‘load cartridge’ I get a small amount of insulin to come out the end of the tubing, so that when I “Prime” it, I only prime 1U!). Works well for me, but only because I fill my cartridges from pens - by pushing the insulin into the cartridge with the pen mechanism (otherwise, I could pull the plunger too far and lose all the insulin!). I do not ‘prime’ through the set, but rather insert the set first, then disconnect and prime the tubing. After re-connecting the tubing again, I prime the cannula – again, this mirrors how I changes sets/sites with the Asante pump.
I know, bad habits, but they’ve been working well for me, and make life a little bit easier. Isn’t that a good thing?
Sometimes if my cartridge is running low in the morning but is not quite low enough that I want to change it, I fill a new cartridge and put the capped cartridge and tubing set in a ZipLoc bag so that I can quickly change it at work later in the day.
I’ve done this, too, but more by accident than on purpose. I use penfills to fill my pump cartridges, but I do draw the insulin up rather than having the penfill in an actual pen.
I change infusion site and tubing every 3 days, usually, and I reuse the resevoir a few times. I can withdraw the insulin in the old tubing and then I prime the new one by hand, and top up the resevoir before connecting it all and using the pump’s prime feature.
I change my infusion site every three days and connect the ‘old’ tubing to the new infusion site. I change the reservoir and tubing whenever my reservoir is empty. Some endos and CDEs think you should change everything at the same time, but that generates a lot of waste and it works perfectly fine (for me) if you don’t.
Wow, had no idea so many people did this! We are going to try to completely fill the reservoir and see how long that lasts. And I like doing the insulin and infusion set changes on different days anyway, so much quicker!
I also like the idea of bringing a pre filled reservoir along when we are running low and going out, great tip as well. This thread was full of good ideas! 
I agree - this is a great one. Wish I had this tip sooner - it would have been wonderful with Caleb’s recent traveling!!
When I started on the pump, I was taught when filling cartridges, to empty the whole vial. So I fill (not full) 4 cartridges at a time. My cartridges hold 315 units. I Keep them in the refrigerator until I need them. I only change the tubing when I start a new cartridge, not every set change. I’ve been doing it this way for 17 years with no problems. I used to fill 3 cartridges at a time and they lasted longer but wasn’t sure if that was pushing it. I could get 10-11 days out of a full cartridge. Would like to come up with an idea for all the extra tubing.
I tried doing this at one point, but it seemed to me that the insulin didn’t work as well. I may try it again now that I’m using Fiasp and see if things are more stable. It was definitely a great time-saver.
I use the mio infusion set. Since it’s basically a one piece deal, I change the tubing and site at the same time. Have pulled out a couple, so then I end up wasting the tubing. Guess I needed to check into different infusion sets for my 630, ti see if they would work better.
I’m on a Tandem pump. I re-use tubing. One cartridge of insulin and one tubing lasts me through 2x infusion sets. This makes infusion set changes quicker and waste less insulin.
How do you reuse tubing without wasting insulin? The tslim pump forces you to prime every time it refills the cartridge. I suck out the insulin from the old cartridge using syringe, but i don’t know how to do it with the 11 units inside the tubing.
I’ve moved over to using Loop and an old Medtronic 522 now but here’s what i did with Tandem:
I would fill the reservoir with the maximum insulin it would hold, actually just slightly more than it’s listed for. This would be enough insulin to last me for 6 days. I would change infusion sets every 3 days however. The pump will let you just do an infusion set change without refilling a cartridge.
Did you still click the “Change cartridge” and “fill tubing” the first and second items on the list? Or do you just skip the first 2 and just click the “fill cannula”? I don’t get how the pump would let you skip them when you changed the infusion set second time when the cartridge still have around 150 units. And how did you get the 12 units from the tube when you decided to replace the tube?
I just did a cannula fill. And I retained the original tubing so the cannula fill was the only thing needed
Have you ever tried to refill the installed empty cartridge without clicking anything but “fill cannula”? I am trying to refill an installed empty cartridge without priming. If so, i am wondering how the pump determine the amount of units newly filled.