It’s one am and we just finished our fourth pod change in three days. Regardless of where I place it, it does not seem to be delivering insulin. I correct and correct unsuccessfully. Yet I manually give a shot and he drops faster than 3mgdl minute. Called omnipod and they suggest absorption issues, but shouldn’t site changes resolve this?
Anyone had similar issues or any suggestions?
May be coincidental but seems to happen overnight more than any other time of day. He is 3, very little body fat. Belly was working best, but stopped tonight.
When you call Insulet be sure and request a replacement pod for each and every one that isn’t working properly. I quit using the OmniPod for the very reason you’ve stated in your post. What do the cannula’s look like when you remove them from his body? Are they in any way crooked or slightly bent? Could it be that with you little guy being so active the pod and cannula are dislodged slightly? I don’t have small children anymore, but I do know that they are quite active. I hope you are able to find a solution to your problem. Your avatar is a very cute picture
When I was looking to go back on the pump this past year, my endo said that the one pump she refused to work with was the Omnipod, for this exact reason. I ended up with the Minimed Revel and have been quite happy with it. Can you consider trying a different pump? Maybe Animas or Minimed would let you do a trial to see if their pumps work better?
Insulet agreed to replace all pods and to send a return label so they can inspect the ones I have had issues with. The cannulas appear fine, not bent or crooked. The activity would be a concern, but it seems to be happening during night time site changes. And we have actually removed one while he is sleeping, place another and had the same issue before he woke up.
I did a little test after removing the pod last night… I did not deactivate it and bolused .9 units. I then measured out the same amount (as close as possible) in a syringe and compared the amounts from each. The pump amount was 1/2 the syringe amount.
I am using Apridra, now I am doing online research and see several people reporting the same issues (possibly from the insulin crystalizing in the pump).
I filled the pump with the same vial of insulin and placed this one on his rear end. Well see what happens, but I went ahead and put a call into his endo.
His original endo was completely opposed to using Omnipod (and pumping with children), so we switched docs. Nate is very active and loves the dirt and swimming, so I did not want anything with tubes. I also did not want him to have a device he wears on him as he already has a Dexcom CGM and pushes buttons on it.
I really want Omnipod to work out! We have had success half the time, which is enough to make me want to keep trying, but also enough to wonder how much this is going to cost me in the long run!!!
I am not familar with the Omnipod, but is there a reason you are changing sites at night? With my CGM and my MM Revel, I try to do the changing in the morning. That way problems are not occurring at night and I have time to fix any without staying up all night.
A week ago, I had to change the CGM and the pump on a Sunday. I ended up going through three infusion sets. My BG was raising fast and I was treating, but nothing was happening. I finally moved the site to one I had never used-almost on the waistline-and it leveled out and was fine. Decided it was just a bad spot. Had a few tears over that one, but if it had happened overnight, OMG, I would have completely freaked.
I am not familar with the Omnipod, but is there a reason you are changing sites at night? With my CGM and my MM Revel, I try to do the changing in the morning. That way problems are not occurring at night and I have time to fix any without staying up all night.
A week ago, I had to change the CGM and the pump on a Sunday. I ended up going through three infusion sets. My BG was raising fast and I was treating, but nothing was happening. I finally moved the site to one I had never used-almost on the waistline-and it leveled out and was fine. Decided it was just a bad spot. Had a few tears over that one, but if it had happened overnight, OMG, I would have completely freaked.
TM… Maybe it is the Apidra. I use Humolog and have not had those problems, but I am an old body vs your son’s precious young one.
Another thought…When you change the pod, is the old site inflamed at all? Occassionally, I have higher numbers and I assume, absorption issues, when I have bumped the pod and the site becomes irritated. I would think that to be a common situation with a toddler.
Good luck to you. I can’t imagine how hard it must be caring for a young child with Diabetes. It sounds like you are doing a great job.
The reason I end up changing at night is because that is when I start noticing the climb in BG levels. That being said, I questioned he may possibly have higher basal needs now at night, however, bolusing with the pump does nothing. He is so sensitive to insulin, a 1/2 unit will bring him down 200 +/- mgdl- and does if I give a manual injection when suspecting pump issues.
I tried using Hemalog in his pump yesterday to rule out a problem with the insulin itself (was on Apidra), and so far so good… changed at 1pm yesterday and placed it on his belly (which has yielded the best results so far).
Omnipod is sending me a new lot of pods to replace the ones I have. So many variables!!!
You may be right about the Apidra. I put Hemalog in the pump yesterday at 1pm, so far so good. I also spoke with our pump trainer yesterday and she suggested that possibly the cannula is not in far enough for whatever reason, but because he is on such a low dose, I most likely would not notice swelling or the smell of insulin, which makes sense since his basal rate never goes higher than .10 at night (which is when the problem seems to occur)…
Having a toddler keeps any parent on their toes… he does so great with everything, I am really blessed to have such a little trooper. I know things will get easier as he grows, but there is never a dull moment in his diabetes!!!
