I have been using the Minimed pump for almost four years now, but in the past couple months, I have been having a lot of trouble with the infusion sets.
I’m allergic to the sof-set tape, and don’t really like the angle of the silhouette, which leaves only the QuickSet. Every time I try to insert with the inserter thingy, the cannula ends up bent, or not fully inserted. Sometimes I can’t tell that it wasn’t inserted correctly for up to a whole day, when my blood sugars finally go crazy.
I’m also rather thin, and am quickly running out of infusion sites. After avoiding recently used areas and surgery scars, there’s not much left!
So basically, I’ve given up and gone back to Lantus and Novolog. But, I miss the control I had with the pump (back when it worked).
Anybody else have these problems? Any suggestions???
I love the quick sets and have only had two bent cannulas in four years of pumping.
I start off with IV Prep, the IV 3000 and then the quickset, and bling, I am good to go. The IV 3000 really helps with the quickset as it adheres better to it and it keeps the cannula from moving around once inserted.
I started out using Quick-Sets but after a few months I had constant bent cannulas and no delivery alarms. I finally switched to the Silhouettes, which terrified me at first. I have had very few problems with them and I’ve been using them for the last 1 1/2 years.
I agree with the person who suggested trying the Sure-T’s. They have a metal cannula that goes straight in like a Quick-Set, but the needle is tiny. It can’t kink. They’re made for kids and usually work well for thin adults. The only thing I don’t like is that they have two adhesive pads. One for the cannula, which is extremely flat, and another for the hub. The hub & cannula are connected with a short length of tubing, and you attach your pump tubing to the hub. It’s the same adhesive as the Quick-Sets & Silhouettes.
I think you should give the sure t a try. Too bad they don’t make them with longer tubing…hopefully one day they will. I have suggested it to my rep. We find, on Westin, that he heals much faster with these. Also, no bent canula. We love them! For years we dealt with set problems, thinking it was normal to change a set 95% of the time due to failure! Imagine! Now it is the opposite. Plus, they are super easy to put in, no inserter, no needle to remove, no additional priming. Just fill it, pop it and go!
Thanks everyone for the suggestions…I gotta admit though that I am rather nervous about the prospect of a metal cannula. But it might be worth a try.
As far as the using the stomach thing goes, I have a bunch of surgery scars in that area that I need to avoid, so that pretty much just leaves the “love handles.” Sigh…
I have been pumping since Spring 2007 and could use the Quick-set inserters for some time, then I too, had the bent canulas with no delivery. So MM suggested I try the Sils. Which I did but that inserter was scary at first. The Quick set inserter was easy on the eyes and didn’t hurt. You have to get used to the Sil Inserter. I call it my crack gun! Anyway, they had told me since I was on the thinner side that I may have to go to the Sure T’s if the Sils didn’t work. Then I was reading your post at the ease of their use and now I’m thinking of calling and getting a few samples. But question, do you manually insert? Or can you set it up with the Quick Set Inserter? Appreciate your help!
Be careful…the second time I used my thigh as an infusion site, it got infected and my leg swelled up like you wouldn’t believe and I had to take a regimen of antibiotics…I’m sticking to the abdomen after that…
There is no inserter for the Sure-Ts, but they’re a breeze to insert manually. The metal needle is very short, much shorter than the insulin syringes & pen needles I used on MDI. There are little plastic “wings” that you hold and then you just slap it into your skin. Since it’s metal it won’t bend so you’re pretty much guaranteed to get it in on the first try. It is just as simple as giving an injection.
I recently switched to using the cleo sets (made by Smith Medical (Deltec) I believe) and I love it. I know you can use it with the Cozmo and the Animas, but I don’t know enough about other pumps to know which ones it works with. It’s a type of quick-set but I’ve never had problems with bent cannulas.
We used the silhouette’s with the same problems your speaking of. Kinked site after kinked site. To only being on the pump for 9 weeks and not know if we miscalculated the carbs, lazy day, bubbles in the line, a kinked site I finally gave up. We switched to the Sure T’s and they’re wonderful. The needle is shorter than the syringes we used on my 6 year when we were on MDI. You insert it and your done. You don’t remove the needle. Put it in and your done. The only draw back in my opinion is you wear two sites, one where the needle goes in and one is a safety site, so if your tubing gets yanked the safety site takes the pulling not the needle. Make sure when you do a site change you take the needle straight out, else OUCH!
Have you considered using other sets on the market?
With a Minimed pump and the Thinset reservoir, you can then use any of the leur-lock infusion sets. This opens up a whole new world of infusion sets you can try.
The Thinset reservior fits into the Minimed pump and comes in the 522 or 722 size. I keep a few on hand at all times to be able to use some of the other pump company’s reservoirs. I enjoy the Cleo90 and the Inset - different tapes and maybe different options …
A co-worker of mine thought he was allergic to the tape from the infusion sets, but in actuality he was allergice to the IVPrep he has told to use. He now uses bedadine (sp?) and is no longer having the site irritation issues…
I wear mine for 4-5 days as well. I HATE putting in new ones, so I procrastinate as long as I can. Doesn’t seem to be changing my levels, so no biggie.
I will revive an old discussion here! I just started on a Minimed pump last week and I’m trying to figure out what infusion set to use.
I was using Silhouette/Comfort infusion sets with my Cozmo pump for 4 years and inserting manually. In order to have more options of where to put my site, the pump rep suggested that I try the quick sets. I liked the first one (which was 6mm), but then I tried a 9mm Quick Set in my thigh and finally changed after crazy sugars to see that the end of the cannula was bent. Perhaps I should stick with 6mm, though I only have 9mm left for now.
I am curious about the Sure-T and was surprised to see so many positive comments about it!! I was wondering if you can feel the difference that the needle is metal. Does is hurt when you move??? The thought kind of scares me, but I think that I will ask for a sample!
