Just wondering if anyone else's pump doesn't work well when the amount of insulin in the cartridge gets below a certain point (for me, 25 units)?
BG starts shooting up within a couple hours of the cartridge getting low. Besides the high BG, it seems like a lot of wasted insulin.
Tried to search for this topic and couldn't find anything...so I don't know if it's just my pump or if it's something that can get "worn out" on any pump.
I appreciate any comments anyone has.
I should add I use the Animas Ping; I never saw this when I had a Medtronic.
1 - If I have been very active and my TDD is lower than normal, it is not unusual for the insulin in my cartridge to last for 10+ days. The result is the insulin loses some of its effectiveness and my BG starts running higher.
2 - I also sometimes find air bubbles have all accumulated in the end of the cartridge, so when I am down to the last few units, the pump thinks I have insulin, but all I have are the bubbles.
This varies from cartridge to cartridge, since no matter how diligent I am at removing bubbles at the start, some additional ones magically "show up" days later. I know the reality is when I load the new cartridge, some quantity of really tiny air bubbles are in the insulin. Days later, they go from tiny to bigger ...
Ditto. No problems with low cartridge. I once got my 10 unit warning then promptly forgot about it and went out to lunch. When I went to bolus I only had one unit - fortunately I'd ordered a salad!
my son uses the omnipod and we often see this, his problem lately is he is using so much insulin he runs out before 3 days, ( with omnipod you need to change out every three days no mater what) but we do see this trend and try to have him change it out before it gets to the point of him alarming for low reservoir level .....so many variables the good news for him is he is wearing his first new generation omnipod today and left the house with about 30 units we will see soon how he did, of course many other variables to consider but he is happy with the smaller pod so far! best wishes, amy
I don't think I have that issue but sometimes near the end of a cartridge I do see a slight rise in BGs. I never thought about a change in pump dynamics due to a low cartridge being the reason.
I usually attribute a slight rise in BGs on the third or fourth day as a degradation of the kinetics of the site tissue. I had big problems last year with that when using the Omnipod and the Ping/Inset 30 infusion set combo. In frustration, I changed a whole bunch of things at once and my site problems went away. I didn't learn anything conclusively but I felt better just the same.
Hi Terry - Can you elaborate on the "Omnipod and the Ping/Inset 30 infusion set combo". My understanding is that the pods have their own built in inserter.
Mine works ok down to the single digits. Once I ran out @ work but "primed" like .2U and some came out so I just went with it as it seemed to still be doing something.
Typically 3-4 days, but it also happens when I've changed it after 1 or 2 days. Not sure when it started because when it would happen at 3-4 days I told myself the insulin's been in here too long or it's a site problem, etc.
Yeah, I thought about scar tissue too after 3-4 days, or insulin effectiveness. But when I noticed it after 1-2 days on several occasions, I realized it's probably some other issue...
The only problems I have like that are equipment related, not mechanical. I think the resivours can degrade after 3 days. Infrequently I have noted insulin underneath the rubber stopper that the pump pushes to deliver the insulin. This of course leads to incorrect smaller dosing. Sometimes I even take the resivour out and sniff the back of it as a quick check when I have an unexpected high.
