I just started on the 15th and have noticed that my sugars run high whenever the pod is on my leg. I really like it on my leg and don't want to give it up as a site. If anyone else has observed high sugars when on certain areas, are there ways to overcome it, like with a temp basal program and altering your insulin to carb ratio for those days?
I have noticed that when i put a pod in the more muscular parts of my legs. If I put them on the inside area of my thighs they seem to be pretty normal BG readings. But on the outside I don’t think the insulin reacts with the muscle the same way it does with the fattier tissue.
I just don’t put them in those areas but I would guess you could figure out another basal rate to use?
You could do a temp basal when you place it on your leg, or even have a separate basal program just for leg placement. Also, you could try pinching the area up a little bit when you’re putting the pod on (or don’t pinch up if that’s what you’ve been doing) to see if getting the cannula in a different spot helps give you better absorption. My daughter definitely varies a little bit from site to site, but she tends to get better numbers on the leg than from other sites. Of course, at this time of the year, those high numbers could just be from food 
Thanks for the input.
David, does it stay high the entire time you use that site or does it come down at times?
only time it comes down is when I take a mealtime bolus and it doesn’t come down much even with corrections. sugar goes up much more after meals when wearing on my leg. that, along with my 1 (potential 2) failures in 2 weeks is making me a not so happy OmniPod camper at the moment. guess I just have to accept it as I don’t think I’m trying a tubed pump.
I am new to the Omnipod (January 4th) and I currently have the Omnipod on my leg. I pinched the skin up but my sugars have been in the high 200’s!!! Leg placement really does affect the blood sugars? I like to use my leg but not if my sugars are so high.
I thought that maybe the cannula came out and that was the reason but the look thru area is all fogged up and I can’t see a thing. What tips can anyone give to know if a cannula comes out? When I use the bolus the BG does come down. I am due to change the pod tomorrow afternoon. What do you do in this case? Change pods? Wait it out and continue to use the bolus to correct? I hate to waste this insulin but I want to be at an acceptable range.
Thanks for any help.
Kathleen
Kathleen, if we’ve recently changed a pod and just aren’t sure if it’s working right, my daughter does a correction dose with a shot. If the shot brings her numbers down in 2 hours or so, we change the pod. FYI, if the cannula was out completely, you’d probably be in the 300s or 400s. If your absorption rate really is different on your leg, you don’t necessarily need to give up on using your legs, but you may need to do a temp basal (or have a separate leg basal program) when you put the pod on your leg. But, it may just be this one pod – the cannula may just be in a place that’s not giving good absorption. Good luck!
Thanks Serena,
I checked at 11am and my BG was 294. I checked just now (1.5 hours later) and it is 250. It says that I still have 2.95 units of insulin on board. Does this sound about right? Thanks for your help.
Sounds like it’s working at least somewhat. This is where the pod gets very frustrating. Because if you add insulin now, you’ll probably go low later. We’ve found that it’s not a good idea to do a correction more than every two hours. If my daughter is still high after two hours, then we’ll do a second correction. It’s also possible that your correction factor isn’t quite right since you’re so new to the pod. For my daughter, what you have on board now would likely bring her down from 250 to 70 after 2 hours. So, for right now, I wouldn’t do shot, but if in an hour or so, you’re still high, try the shot. If you come down quickly, it’s likely a site issue. FYI, this all gets way easier with time =D
If the cannula is out, you’d probably have visible insulin collecting at the site and you’d see it sloshing around against the window. The window wouldn’t be foggy. I actually had a cannula kink underneath the skin once. There was no occlusion alarm, so the insulin just leaked out from somewhere else in the pod and collected behind the window. I only noticed because my BGs kept climbing climbing and climbing no matter how much I bolused.
I went through the same thing and this was on my 1st pod change at home! I couldn’t tell if I was running high (mid 300s) because I need to do a .5 bolus with my pod changes or was it from being on my leg. turns out I need to do a .5 u correction with my pod changes and even with that I still run sugars in the 200s when it’s on my leg. Guess I’ll have to come up with an alternate program for the leg.
There have been a few discussions on highs after a pod change. In my case I do notice they are slightly elevated after changing to the abdomen but really elevated when changing to my leg. I’ve been using a +35% basel for about 5-6 hours after a change. After the 5 or so hours it usually starts to act normally.
So you are saying that just doing a temp basal for 5-6 hrs after a change to your leg will bring (and keep) your sugars into a good range for the 3 days that the pod is on your leg?