Itching and marks at infusion site - Orbit Micros

My daughter is using Orbit Micros, and she loves them. Loves the ease of insertion, loves that the cannulas are steel so they never kink, love that there's not a lot of packaging. What she does not love is that she itches like crazy after she pulls off the site, and sometimes she starts itching before. What I don't love is that I can count where she's had her last 4 insertions (at least). Shouldn't those marks go away more quickly?

We didn't have these problems when we used Insets from Animas, although we had other problems, and that's why we switched. Anyone have any advice or input? Thanks.

I don’t have any itchiness from the Orbit Micros but I do get it from the Dexcom adhesive. I also get the little holes from the needle. I am fairly new to pumping (end of June) so I don’t have any idea how long they should last. I counted and have 3 that I can see. I will be curious what others say about that. I am on my last Orbit Micro and have to switch back to Contact Detach when I do a site change this afternoon – I am dreading that because they left bigger holes plus bruising.

I started using the Orbit Micros after quite a string of ridiculous problems with Insets, too. They are wonderful. However, I have noticed the marks sticking around for what seems like a long time. I can’t be sure if they are visible longer than the ones from when I used Insets, but I can see more spots than I would like. No other sites (including Orbit’s Teflon ones) have worked for me, so I’m sticking with the Micros.

I am quite sensitive, but haven’t had much of a problem with itching with these. I change the site every 2-3 days, and do often notice itching towards the third day. This seems to be more right at the insertion site than under the adhesive for me. Sometimes I’ve noticed a tiny bit of blood surrounding the steel cannula once I remove it on these occasions, so I attribute it to leaving the site in too long causing irritation.

So, my only suggestion is to perhaps change sites more frequently? This might help both with the itching and with the marks being left behind. They are less noticeable the less time they’ve been in, for me.

I don’t use the infusion sets your daughter does but I think that occurs sometimes with all infusion sets. By the way I use MM’s Silhouettes.

I actually had less issues with the micros than with any other set, but have you tried the contact detatch sets? That’s what I’m currently using, and I haven’t had any tape issues with them… I don’t even need to use extra tape with them “most” of the time. I just prefer the orbits because of the finer needle, the 360˚ rotating hub, and the tubing is available longer :slight_smile: HOWEVER, past the sample sets the company sent me, I’ve not been able to get ANY information from the company about where I can actually order these… it was frustrating, so I just gave up. Clearly they did not want my money.

If you haven’t use the contact detatch sets, I’d recommend trying them… they have none of the issues that the insets have.

The only marks left on me after 2-3 days of wear are the two circles of adhesive “goo” from the tape (which is easily removed in the shower) and one tiny mark from the needle that goes away completely after a day or two.

I have major sensitivity to some adhesives, and I experienced this with Quicksets. I had to try a few barriers until I found one that worked for me, which is the Tegaderm patch. Now place a Tegaderm patch on my skin first, and then insert the Quickset on top of it, and I haven’t had any itching or reaction for years.

Ruth

By tape issues I meant “not sticking” :slight_smile: I am allergic to tegaderm, so that wouldn’t really do me much good!

Yeeouch, I guess not re the tegaderm!

Didn’t realize you were having problems with the sites sticking, and I don’t have any good ideas. There’s a lot of stuff out there (mastic, etc.), but I’m guessing you might have allergies to other adhesives, too? You could call MM and ask them to send you some samples of tapes and other types of adhesives, and then try them one at a time. They did that for me when I was having the reaction to the back of the quickset, and that’s how I found that tegaderm worked for me. The IV3000 worked for me too, but they changed the composition of the adhesive about 3-4 years ago, and now it doesn’t stick!

Ruth

Ruth, great idea! Thanks for sharing.

Sarah - I had terrible problems with nothing sticking when using IVPrep when I first started pumping. If I dropped my pump it just pulled completely out. I switched to Skin Tac used by some swimmers and athletes and have had no further problems. The adhesive is really strong and I’m sensitive but don’t have much trouble with itching - only on the sites above my waist occasionally. Don’t know why. Anyway, the Skin Tac is easily removed from hands and site with alcohol swab. It really holds strongly and solved all my problems with any kind of infusion set.

My daughter had adhesive sensitivities (inset 30) so we used a a barrier patch (IV3000 Frame Delivery) and no more problems… With the Orbit system I know the adhesive is sweat/heat responsive so it sticks better in those situations so it may be that is what is causing the itchiness. Also, after every site change we slather on lotion (Vitamin based) and it works wonders on her skin… I can always tell when she hasn’t been using lotion :slight_smile: