I am having problems with my site not working after a set change. I usually get it in a blood vessel. I use a 90 degree 6mm cannula. I have to change it about 4x before I start getting insulin. This is really stressing me out. I have tried the tsure sets but they were no good. Can anyone give me suggestions? I
Have you tired Mio Advanced ? I think those are the best on the market these days.
Your question is like saying to a car mechanic “My car is leaking when I try to add fluid and not running right, what should I do?”
That isn’t enough information to get a meaningful answer. Rather than suggestions, here are some questions that may lead you to a solution.
Did you inject insulin before you started using a pump, and for how long?
How much guidance and training did you receive from a diabetes educator when you started with a pump? How much support and followup did they provide during and after the first week of use?
Have you told your doctor that you are having problems and asked them for their help? When did you speak with them last?
How large an area are you using for infusion sites and where in your body?
Have you tried longer 90 cannulas and angled ones or just blindly used whatever was provided? Just like medications one kind is not right for every person for every site.
If you actually got a cannula into a blood vessel, you wouldn’t have a problem getting enough insulin, you’d be getting it too quickly.
What do you consider “getting in a blood vessel”? Are you assuming that is what is happening when a site doesn’t seem to work and the cause if your problem?
Do you frequently get a stream of blood flowing out visibly around an infusion site with the cannula inserted, and subsequent bruising?
If not it’s not something to worry about. It’s nearly impossible to penetrate the skin without rupturing small capillary because they feed the skin and the fat beneath it. It’s normal to see a very small drop of capillary blood after a cannula is removed. I do every tie. If it keeps bleeding after you’ve pressed it firmly with your clean fingertip for a minute and it then keeps bleeding to saturate a bandaid pad, you may have a bleeding disorder that needs medical attention.
Before inserting a cannula, do you “pinch an inch” at the site? Can you?
I was gonna say, pinching the fat usually leaves the veins behind, but someone already suggested that.
But also skin above a vein is more sensitive than where there isn’t one. So I touch the skin w the needle before inserting it.
You will begin to feel where the veins are.
Also steer clear of your navel area, there are tons of veins there.
Yes, I was using those before I recently reordered more supplies. I ordered 90degree mios. 6mm cannula. They are cheaper and when the site doesnt work I can reinsert them. What I do is I will put them back on the needle and add some skintac so it sticks. Everyone is saying that I should have low bloodsugar when in blood but it doesnt work that way for me. I am on a small amount of basal insulin so I will change in the morning early and my numbers will look good. So when lunch comes I bolus and wait 5-10min and eat. I get a high within the first hour on the same food I had the day before with the same bolus. I can usually tell by how wuickly my numbers are changing. I am on the guardian3 sensor. I eat alot of the same things. The nurse a my clinic told me that the insulin gets diluted when it is in blood. I will pull the site and there will be blood in the cannula but not enough where I can visually see it while the infusionset is attached to me. I have been on a pump for 14 years and I have been to my educator before about this happening. The pump isnt something new to me. Maybe the automatic springloaded mios are too wicked. Idk. I don’t want to stop pumping so I will try to work through this but if it continues I will make another appt.
I have been using 90 degree mios. They instruct to just put the set to your skin and press the 2 dimples to insert. It is hard to pinch the fat with those insets. I wonder if that would make my site changes work better. I will probably order the mio advance insets next time.
You can still pinch up when you use them. It just won’t lay flat until you let go.
I will try that. At this point I am willing to try almost anything. Fingers crossed🤞
I only had to change it once after I did my site change at 735 this morning. By 9am I had control. Maybe pinching the fat is what made the difference. We’ll see.
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So today was site change day. I t worked the first time I did it. I filled the cannula with a little extra insulin as my blood sugar usually rises after site change and it is difficult to tell if it is working. I went a little low after that. So pinching the fat seems to help. I also put the infusionset in the freezer for about 5min to avoid any kinking. My educator told me about that trick.
This is the second successful site in a row!!! I have been putting my set in the freezer for about 5min(advice from my diabetes educator) and pinching on the skin upon insertion. This time I did .725 fill cannula. So I only got .625 as it takes .100 to fill. Thankyou so much for your help and I hope it continues that my site change will be successful. I even got 100% on target in the last 24hours.
My last 4 site changes have been successful since pinching the skin before inserting my infusionset. My blood sugars have been great! The summary on my pump says that on the last 2 weeks I have been on target for 91% of the time.
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Sounds pretty good!
Thankyou for your help.