Hi, Can anyone help - just started animas 20/20 pump this week after long time on shots. First few days pretty good and was thinking i had made right decision to change over. I have had a couple of occasions lately that my b/g has gone very high and tried repeatedly giving myself massive boluses to correct. It kept increasing. Had to give by shot and even then took while to drop. Checked set which looked fine with no obvious leakage although canula was little bent. On the 6mm unomedical inset 2 set. Starting to think its maybe problem with me rather than pump but any poss explanation. I have stressful and demanding job but always unsure affect stress really has on b/g levels? The reason why i was put on pump was unpredictable highs and lows with hypo unawareness, thought pump would help. After sticking around mid 20s mmol today i took my old lantus to try to stabilize and unplugged pump, so back on shots temparily, life seems pretty tough today, any help/advice gratefully received. Chris
Hi Chris!
I have just switched pumps and infusion sets and I have been dealing with the same thing for two weeks now!
Ask for ALL possible infusion sets (hopefully they will give samples of all) and try them out figuring what works for you. A bent cannula makes a big difference in my experience.
I liked the Comfort (other name: Silhouette) infusion sets and never experienced a bent cannula with them. These are ones that go in on a 30-45 degree angle. I found these to be better than the 90 degree ones when I started on the pump.
But other people have said the exact opposite. So you have to experiment to see what is best for you!
It could also depend on where you put the infusion set on your body. Where did you have it when you had the good numbers?
Hi Kristin, Thanks for quick response. I try to use new sites and today used top of bottom for set. My animas rep is reccomending i use only what he is suggesting. Can the animas pump use any set? I will look into new set as you mention, any ideas who makes the comfort. Many thanks, Chris
sounds like you probably need to have basal testing and have them adjusted.
Animas uses the 'Luer Lock" insulin cartridges which means that you can use any infusion set, except those made for Minimed pumps.
Here is the link to the Comfort infusion sets. I don’t know what is available in UK, but you SHOULD have an option. I don’t think that the pump rep can tell you which infusion set to use!
I know that many people prefer Inset to Comfort-- so you should try all of them out!
Also, there is an insulin pumpers website for the UK. Perhaps you can ask people there about which infusion sets are available. They have a list of infusion sets here.
Thanks Kristin, i will look into.
FYI Kristin and Chris, but I wear an Animas pump and use Minimed infusion sets. My insurance pays a higher rate for the minimed supplies since they have an in-state contact, plus I use to wear a MM pump and liked the infusion sets, so I just continued with them. You might want to give them a try.
Also, since you are so new to the pump, I am guessing your basal rates will need quite a bit of playing around with to find what works for you. Don’t give up yet.
Kristin, what pump are you wearing now?
I have been on the Minimed 722 for 3 weeks now and have noticed that my BG has been higher than it should be. I have been back to my trainer 3 times in 3 weeks (scheduled) so that any patterns can be analyzed. Each time they have tweaked my basals and it gets a little better all the time. She said that it is far better to get the basals right than to bolus to correct.
Good luck
How were you able to use the Minimed ones? Did you use a different insulin cartridge?
I’m on Minimed 722 now. Trying out the Quickset infusion set I was using the 9mm and had a bunch of bent cannulas. I’m about to put in my first 6mm one today. I hope that these will be better.
I like the Comfort/Silhouette infusion set, but I need to try putting my infusion set in different places (because of scar tissue). So I thought the quickset might give more options. We’ll see.
I use the Animas Reservoir, and the Minimed infusion sets. I use the 9 mm Softset QR on my hips, and the 9mm Quickset on my tummy. Although now that I am wearing the Dex, I use it for my tummy, so pretty much stay with the Softset.
Stress will make my sugar skyrocket! As far as I know you can’t calcuate that on any kind of test! I have just learned to just adjust you intake on the amount of stress! Of course your health care proff. will tell you ,you will do better & live longer if you eleminate the stress!!! GOOD LUCK!
Hi Bill, Thanks for advice, i have also noticed sugars go crazy when stressed. I guess starting pump there are so many influences to getting sugars right it seems almost impossible to judge. Whats your thoughts on pump v shots as this whole exp is making me think whats best delivery option. Chris
Hi Dave! I checked and unfortunately Sure-T’s are not available where I am living (Hungary), but I have requested that Medtronic start carrying them and they said they will try! Thanks for your suggestion!