Hi everyone, it’s been a long time since I’ve been on these boards. My 13 yr.old son who started on the Omni Pod in Jan. had to go off of it on May because of the intense itching he had while wearing it, we tried every skin prep and anything else you can think of nothing worked. I got him to try it again in August, still the same, he could only wear it for one day before the itching got too bad and he couldn’t take it. A couple of weeks ago the Pharmacist I work with( I am a pharmacy technician) read an article in one of the journals about the nasal spray Flonase(Fluticasone is the generic name) working on people who are allergic to the adhesive on Fentanyl patches. He said, can’t hurt you should try it…It’s a prescription so I called the Endo to see if we could try it…it works!!! We spray it on the area where he’s going to put on the pod, let it dry, put a tegaderm on top of that, then the pod…NO ITCHING!! He has gotten his full 3 days without itching. I can’t tell you how happy this has made me, his numbers without the pod are not good and he needs to be on it. We literally tried everything…if you have itching with your pod to the point of not being able to wear it any longer you must try this! Let me know if you have any questions…sorry this got to be so long.
Awesome! I will try it. I have Flonase already because that is what I use for allergies. Thanks for the tip! I will let you know after my pod change tomorrow night.
Lisa
That is fantastic. I have been using the Omnipod for 5 months odd now, time flies. But the problem has been the movement of the pod during sleep or the day when flying. I am really pleased that you have found Fluticasone that is used over here quite a bit for the allergy groups. I would have never thought over using the spray topically. Well done. How is your boy doing on the Pod now ?
He’s doing great now! Still the occasional occlusion, he’s still real lean so we have site issues but to get past this itching is huge for us!
I hope it works for you!
Wow, very interesting! Thanks for passing along the tip! Do you think Nasonex would have the same active ingredient?
I would guess no, but you could google both and see what the active ingredient is. It’s nice too since the Fluticasone is a generic it only cost me $8.00 for my co-pay! I don’t even want to think about how much I have spent on skin preps and the like trying to find something that would help him.
I’m so happy for you, just wondering wear he wears his pods, i also have a 13 yr old son using the omnipod for about 6 months with pretty good success his two occlusions have been on his leg no issue with belly we can’t seem to find any other sites that his likes but it works for now, good for you for trouble shooting, it must have been a tough stretch dealing with the itching problem, i can only imagine. hope things are smoother sailing for a while!
This is VERY interesting, I have been thinking about this, and of course you couldn’t use a topical steroid ointment because the pod would not stay on, flonase is very minimally systemically distributed, and it should dry and not cause problems with pod adhesion. My daughter has allergies out the wazoo and Asthma, so we’ve got all this stuff at home.
Will keep it in mind and ask at our next endo appt.
Did it stick ok with the tegaderm right on the dried flonase then?
Other questions I have are the other allergy meds, allegra and singulair, we use singulair for asthma, eczema and seasonal allergies, so it could potentially help with contact dermatitis from adhesive.
Great to hear it!!
Natalie
yep, and it has even less systemic absorption
We don’t have a whole lot of sites, he uses his lower back right above the underwear and the top of his butt. He seems to get an occlusion whenever we try his arm. Where on the leg does your son wear his? He’s very athletic and they get knocked off for us too, just lost one last night during a football game. It’s tough when they are so lean!
Yes, we let it dry completely and the tegaderm has no trouble sticking. Without the flonase the tegaderm itches him as well. He has tried claritin and zyrtec orally for the itching but neither of them worked. This has been the only thing that has help him! Don’t be surprised if your Endo has not heard of using this, ours had not but was kind enough to let us try it anyway since she was aware we had tried everything else and he was no longer on the pod because of the itching. Good luck!
Wow… My son is lucky to not have itching at all. I was afaid he would because he does from bandaids… and medical tape but not from the pods. I am allergic to medical tape… found out this after my first C-section… OMG! I even blistered. I will remember this for me if I ever need it. So glad that you and your son found a way to make it work for him. That is Awesome!
Jacob tried the top thigh area maybe not the best spot for your guy if he is really lean, he liked it for a bit so he could be incognito in his bathing suit ( god forbid someone see his pod, i understand it is a tough age…) i have tried to convince his to try low back but he is resistant, arm also peaks out of the t shirt… but i’ve heard canulla pointing toward the shoulder works better hang in there you are not alone! we have had issues with highs after pod changes but seem to have worked this out let me know if you need any pointers.
Nice. It is so much better for BG control to be able to wear a pump/pod. Which Tegaderm product do you use? There are multiple listed on their website.
My daughter itches because her pod gets pushed around while sleeping, lifting school backpack etc. That probably moves her canula a little and then she starts itching at the insertion point after a day or two of pod wear.