I am wondering if anyone else does this. I am thinking of prefilling an Insulin Reservoir one by one so I always have one in the fridge that is ready to go. I am wondering, is this a good idea or a bad idea to do so?
The pumping companies will tell you that’s it’s a bad idea. However, many people do it and have no problems. So I would say “Give it a try.”
I've done it if I have like 7U left in the tank, I'll go to work and just do the swap when it runs out but I don't see an advantage to having it ready. Filling the reservoir is the easy part of changes.
I've never done that. It takes a minute to fill a res...and my insulin is not in the fridge so I'd not keep a pre-filled in there. May I ask why you want to have one ready to go, Chadd?
You know, I hate filling reservoirs more than anything--except the CGM sensor insert. I fill 5-10 at a time. In winter they sit in my meds cabinet. In summer I move them to the fridge. If I forget to take a reservoir out, I warm it up under my arm or well in my bra. Fifteen minutes, room temp, rap it on the counter and change the set. Been doing it for a year or so. No noticeable problems.
BIG family thing this weekend, so change my pump set out and inserted a new sensor for activation in the morning. The things we need to consider....
My Consultant told me not to do this as the plastic bleeds from the reservoir into the insulin. We were told that we should not use a reservoir for more than six days and to change them even if not empty.
Yes we do this sometimes. Especially if I go away with my kids for a few days (my husband's job is filling the reservoirs since hes so good at it). One time I remember I messed up two of the reservoirs while trying to take it off of the insulin bottle because I didn't twist it a certain way. From that point on I don't take any chances I have him prefll them and had no problems.
I also don't like filling reservoirs either and for a while I pre-filled several at a time. Then I read someplace on this forum that it wasn't good for insulin to sit inside the reservoir for an extended period of time.
Yes, I have been told this as well. Insulin is stable in glass. So, I suppose if you have a glass reservoir filling it in advance wouldn't cause anything to leach into the insulin.
I have pre-filled reservoirs for vacations and during a week that I know I will be be very busy. It takes a bit of the tediousness out of changing the set, and puts me on automatic pilot. If I get the insertion spot with the Quick set insertion javelin just right, I can do a set change in less than four minutes with a prefilled reservoir.
I do not prefill more than 6-7 days worth of resevoirs. Have seen no degradation in insulin effectiveness. I keep them in the fridge or when traveling, a frozen frio or in a cooler..