I’m in my early 40s and have had T1D for about 3 years, and haven’t had too many issues so far. But for the last week or two my body has had a hard time keeping the same site for longer than a day. I rotate between areas (legs, trunk, etc.) regularly. I’m on the Medtronic 670G and use Novolog.
I know for sure I am hitting a capillary/vein sometimes b/c that’s a more painful insertion and usually bleeds when removed, but it’s odd to me that it seems to be happening every other time these days.
I’m wondering if there’s some kind of allergy at play or if I got a bad batch of Mio Advances, or if others have experienced this? I started having this problem with the Mio sets after about 2 years of use but Mio Advance sets have been great until now. I’m having a hard time staying under 200 and even manual injections are giving me big raised bruises.
Consistent insulin infusion site absorption can be a real challenge, no matter the duration of your diabetes.
Your suspicion about your infusion sets is well founded and you should follow up with experimenting with alternate infusion sets. Allergies to the cannula material can also play a role here.
I’ve used insulin pumps for about 35 years and I’ve enjoyed more consistent insulin absorption for the last five or so. What I do with every infusion site insertion is to look at the skin and avoid any places that show evidence, like a reddish color, of injury. More importantly, I feel every prospective site by pushing down slightly. I am looking for a site that returns little feeling. If it feels like pushing on a bruise, I move on.
I’ve even read that some people touch the introducer needle to the skin surface for this tactile feedback. I credit my palpation of any site I’m considering with my ability to enjoy consistent blood sugar control.
Your observation about painful sites often mean bloody ones has been my experience, too. I’ve read that nerve bundles often follow blood vessels. I think my pre-insertion palpations help me avoid this consequence most of the time.
You might want to consider trying some never-used real estate. We often settle on our favorite spots and that can lead to over-use fairly quickly. Consider trying some virgin territory.
I use the Medtronic MiniMed Quick Set infusion sets. Several months ago I encountered insulin flow blockages on 15 out of 20 sets. Medtronic replaced them all including the 10 unused sets that came with the three box order. I also switched to 9 mm cannulas.
