Ok, i'm a little anxious hearing about these "gushers" from infusion sets. From what I gather, the important thing is to put it in fatty tissue to avoid muscle?? Can gushers occur for any other reason? And is the gusher immediately after insertion or is it when you change your site? I just want to know what to expect and how to treat it.
I'm not 100% sure if it's fatty tissue or that there's blood vessels in some fatty tissues. I've had them both on insertion and on removal. To treat them, I usually use paper towels and lie on the floor until it stops bleeding as it can run pretty freely. I haven't had one for a while. *knock on wood*
WOW!!!! just sounds kinda scary to me. I imagine you then have to move your insertion site quite a bit away from the area because of bruising?
The really gushy ones tended to be on removal. I've left ones that were more "oozers" than "gusher" in and they seem to work ok. I don't give up on sites very easily!
They happen when you hit a blood vessel. It looks like a lot of blood when they happen but it’s not like you’re going to bleed to death or anything. Just apply pressure and wait. As long as you don’t have a bleeding disorder, you’ll be fine. I’ve only had a couple. You do get a nice bruise, though!
Gushers are exciting. I get on average 2-4 a year. If I was more prepared I would have a paper towel or two available when removing infusion sites. It really is not that big of a deal. I just hold a paper towel or two on the removed site for a few minutes until it clots. Then you can remove it and view your growing bruise!
I cannot find any rhyme or reson to gushers, sort of like hitting scar tissue. I don’t think I have ever noticed changes in insulin absorption either when I hit a gusher? I just chalk it up to one of those things that pumpers have to deal with.
I have only had one gusher and it was from a CGM insert, which is much longer than a pump one. I have never had an pump insert "leak" blood, but have had CGMs do that. I used to get some pretty spectacular bruises from the CGM sites. I have been pumping for ten years.
Of course, I have a LOT of really good, fatty, tissue.....