from the pod? does anyone do that if they have alot left inside??
Kenny-
I only draw back insulin if I have a bad pod. I actually leave the insulin in the pod if I’ve worn it for 3 days.
I think that’s the best strategy; insulin breaks down over time as it is exposed to high temperature; the longer it is exposed to heat the more it breaks down. Therefore, after three days in the pod right next to your body (which is giving off a lot of heat), I would not trust that insulin for re-use. Plus if you continuously re-use insulin from used pods, some of that insulin will be very old after a couple of pod changes.
Kenny, do you know that you do not have to fill the pod with a full 200 units every time? I have figured out that my normal 3-day usage is about 125 units so I only fill my pods a little more than that; I usually have less than 10 units left when it is time to change.
I know =] I only feel my pod up to like 150, but I ment that if I had a bad pod like if I put a pod on and it failed that day, would it be okay to take the insulin out?
My CDE’s recommendation, which I follow, is to pull the insulin out of a pod if it fails in less than a day. Otherwise throw out the insulin.
If I have a pod failure the same day I put it on…I draw the insulin out.
If you watch your meter when you turn it on it will show how much insulin is left in it. Only put in enought to make your 3 days! It will let you know if you run out!Takes a little skill but it won’t take long to be an expert!
Okay… when I went to get my pods started… the Diabetic Educator told me to put a full 200 units in the pods. I was like… “I’ve counted, and I don’t think I’ll even use 100”. So… she pulled out her calculator and told me that I’ll probably use 140… so, to be safe, I should just put in 200 to begin with. Well, I looked in my history… and even on weekends where I got to McDonalds… I use only about 60-70 units in 3 days. So… today, for the first time, I decided to only put in 100 units. I haven’t mentioned this to my Endo or Diabetic Educator. Does this sound okay?!? I’m pretty sure I don’t need 200! It’s a waste of more than 100 units!
I only put 100 units in…and I haven’t had any problems! I was told the same when I started…put more in. YIKES…that’s a lot of insulin for me too!
Emily,
It is up to you, absolutely. The educators are trained to be very careful and conservative, to “err on the side of caution.” Now that you know your history, I think it is expected to adjust some of the things they set you up with. This one is easy, too, because the worst that can happen is that the pod runs empty before the 3 days is over and you have to change it early. No big deal; not life-threatening.
I would definitely talk to the endo about it when you next see him/her; he/she will also likely want to adjust some of the other settings like IC Ratio, Correction Factor, Insulin Active Time, etc.
Eric
I only do this if my pod fails during priming. Usually by mid-day2 to the end of day 3, I can tell my insulin is going bad. So I usually just fill it with my 3 day requirement plus 20 units just in case.