I am getting really frustrated with highs while wearing the omnipod. I increase my basal 25% for 4 hours after a change and give another 1 unit bolus as well at change. I do my pod change after dinner and before a bedtime snack. I always (no matter where I wear it) get buzzed that I am high by my cgm and have to correct in the middle of the night (after another correction I already made at bedtime 2 hours after the snack)and sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.
Last night I put it on my arm and went high in the night and corrected and woke at 115 which I thought was good. BUT, after breakfast went high and have stayed high even with corrections. This happens more often than not and sometimes it takes a whole day to finally work. Have had a rep come over to my house which is when I started the increase in temp basal after change , but still not working!!! I end up injecting to correct and I come right down. Can anyone PLEASE help me figure this out! It has been over a year. I am wondering if the smaller pods will help at all??? I am slender,but if children can wear it everywhere on them I should be able too?? Sorry for the rambling..just really would like them to work properly, thinking I may go back to injections for a break :(
Just had the same scenario....very frustrating. It is confusing for me that it doesn't always happen......maybe a site issue? Or maybe a pod lot issue? Perhaps changing in the AM when we will be more active?
I run into the same issues. Sometimes I can't get it down for anything! In fact I also take a shot with a pen or even double the suggested bolus to get it down! I blame bad obsorption sights. I can't figure it out, it actually seems like it's "stuck" in high mode and I have to kick it hard to finally get it to move. After the kick it will start to work fine sometimes, sometimes not. There are times it never comes down easily until I change out the pod. Then there are times I can't keep it up and have to cut boluses way back. Sorry I don't have an answer but you'r difinately not alone. I also have the issue with the highs at changes and I think there are alot out there. I usually take a bit extra just before I change.
I find anywhere except my stomach seems to run high more times that not.
If the cannula is facing up, the bubble in the insulin reservoir will be at the opposite end of where the cannula is fed and you will get insulin from the bottom side of the reservoir.
If the cannula is facing down (and there is air in the reservoir), when the pump pushes insulin through the cannula you will get air until the bubble is depleted.
Bedtime snack? I've not done a bedtime snack since starting on the Omnipod. Just not needed any more. I believe that a serious talk with a dietician about your daily food needs might shed some light on these issues. You might also have some unknown food issues, like with gluten or similar. Keep track very tightly of what you eat, how much and when. That'll help your doc and a dietician if you can find a good one.
I find that happens to me more often than not, and I am so happy to find that I am not the only one this is happening too. I thought I was going crazy. I honestly have no answers for you, but hopefully when we get the new pods this will change.
I eat really healthy and have a snack at 8pm because I eat dinner at 5pm with the kiddos. My endo actually wants me to have a snack at night as well to avoid lows I used to get from my exercise. I am very athletic and keep track of my calories and have found most dietitians just recommend the standard "45-60 grams of carbs at a meal" etc and have not been very helpful. I get checked for gluten intolerance every year as well. I would love if there was a dietitian that could design the perfect plan just for me and my life and my blood sugar:)
I find this happens more with heavily used sites. I also always change before a big meal, which seems to help too. However, this is for a three year old whose biggest bolus is .5 units, so it can be a bigger problem for us.
hi megan we struggled with this for a long time, let me tell you what jacob does for the most part that works for him he changes it about 2 hours before dinner where you change between dinner and snack shouldnt be a big deal either i try to set it up if possible two hours after a snack or meal and two hours before something else. so the temp basal thing did not work for him. he does 1.5-4 u of insulin based on his bs to 'prime' with no food. he always has a bedtime snack as long as it is covered i think having this extra insulin actually helps him stay steady over night he usually has something with some fat or protein. we were ready to throw in the towel before we started doing the post pod change bolus, oh yeah he also does a .5 pre pod change bolus. i hope things get better, we have had a few frustrations here lately makes you miss the simplicity of mdi only human error not machine! hang in there, amy
Aside from being sick, I think my unexplained highs occur most frequently when I get in the habit of skipping exercise. Personally, I can usually chase away an unexplained high by getting my heart rate up for a while - like ten minutes of quickly walking up & down steps - sometimes with the additional help of a small bolus.
I used to have a similar problem. Sometimes continuous highs, sometimes delayed response or even no response. This happened especially when site was on the stomach. Whenever it happened and highs lasted 4 hours inspite of corrections I would change pods. At one point I was returning 5 of ten pods each months. Omnipod tested each return and reported no defects.
I finally traced the problem to pod placement. It may be different for other body types ( I'm 6', 165 lbs ) but I found that placement over any major muscle group, stomach or fatty area works badly. positioning with cannula up, or areas that have been heavily used before also works badly. High inner and outer thigh with cannula facing down has worked perfectly for 9 months. I have also never had a defective pod since changing to this regimin.
erik, speaking of gravity, do you think lying down while bolusing would make you more prone to an occlusion?? this happened i think twice to jacob in the morning i had him do his bolus in bed pod on his stomach while i made the pancakes, ( yes he can handle pancakes for breakfast with a good prebolus, i put oatmeal and peanut butter in them, so good!) i know spoiled boy but the mood was quickly changed by beeeeeep.. any thoughts? amy
Thanks for the replies...Jacob's mom how do you decide how much extra bolus to give? Maybe I am just a bit to wimpy with a 1 unit and should try 2 or 3?
Gary I have been using thigh with same problems.....
Hi Megan. I am on the monopod, along with my 7 year old son. I have found that different sites run at different basal rates. I will oftentimes just use temp basals for specific sites to get them to behave. I have also found that different sites need different starts. That is, some need 1 unit post change bonus, and some need .5. I keep records and also keep track of the rotation schedule. Sigh, diabetes always keeps us on our toes!
say his bs is 100 or under even if he is low we would still do 1.5 if he is low we add in a tiny bit of apple juice if he is higher we use more this is of course all guess work but it seems to work out i guess the 1.5 is to prime and anything over that is to correct. oh and the 0.5 pre probably covers the 10 minutes or so it takes to do the pod change ( i found this 'formula' from someone here on tu, bless them!) since 1 is clearly not cutting it for you and you seem to have a significant problem be brave and try 2-2.5 if your bs is normal. jacob weights 108 lbs now. i also encourage lots of water or dare i say diet coke after a pod change although he is getting to the point where he hates seeing me come at him with a glass of anything! oh the challenges, sometimes if feels like charming a snake! best wishes, it sounds like your lifestyle is supporting your diabetes, but your pump is tripping up your best efforts, such a pain, jacob shoveled snow yesterday for like 2.5 hours we did a temp basal reduction and less insulin for lunch he came home great at 140ish then stayed high 200s to 300 up until bedtime, i think he had a partial occulsion d/t the effort of shoveling, pod on his stomach! we changed him out and he started coming down before bed but it wasnt a good night sleep for me because he refuses to let me test his bs at night, he woke up at like 100 so i worried for nothing! just venting sorry i am sure you can relate. keep at it there are good and bad days for all of us. lets hope for a better stretch for both of us! amy
I'm new to the 'pod and this happened to me last night with pod #4. I changed my pod at the same time as you - after dinner but before a night snack (maybe 7:30). At about 11:30 I woke up for a bathroom break and checked BS - it was 17. I also noticed the front window of the pod has a lot of condensation. I gave a few unit bolus and waited about 10 minutes (I really wanted to go back to sleep). I checked again and I was almost 18. I figured the cannula didn't insert properly so changed the pod - this time making sure to stretch the skin out better. At 5:00 AM I was down to 14. Not great but at least I knew I was getting insulin. Also the window was mostly clear so I figured I was good and so far so good.
I did notice when I removed the pod there was a spot of blood so the cannula must have been inside. My trainer said he had another user than often had the cannula stick into the skin but not go deeper. I figure maybe that's what happened to me.
I don't really have a problem with highs at pod changes. I usally do a bolus before removing the pod if possible and then another when the new pod is on.
It is amazing that as much as we all share in common with this sometimes exasperating disease, we do not always share the exact same problems and solutions. I have read many great situations and solutions here. If you do not have a good Endo team, I would suggest you find one. I changed Endo Drs recently and have not looked back. I also belong to a local support group that is just full of great ideas. I also have highs when I change pods so I usually do a temp basal for 1.5 hrs, 10%. Good luck
I have had occlusions, but not often. It would make sense that if you are lying down on the pod that the pressure on the end of the cannula could block insulin flow enough to trigger the alarm, but I wouldn't think that just being horizontal would cause a problem.
