my 15 year lid son just started using the ping about one week ago. We had to switch to this from the omni pod becuase our new insurance would not cover it. he hates the ping so far. We are using the inset 30 and he hates how you have to manually pull the needle out and complains that it hurts when the insulin is being delivered. Has anyone else had this problem and if so do you have any suggestions?
I dont use the Ping, I have the 2020 but I think this will still apply. If I ever have to take more than 5 units at a time I split it into 2 boluses. If I take 2 or 3 at a time I have no problem. I just have to remember that if I split it to take the other half.
Hi Tiffany,
On the advanced setup screen 2, you can set the insulin delivery rate to “slow”. Before I got my Ping, I read several comments about the Ping’s rapid delivery causing discomfort. I set my pump to “slow”, and I’ve never felt the deilvery regardless of the quantity.
Of course, everyone is different, so your mileage may vary.
I use the inset.
I get that sometimes too. If it’s just a unit it usually doesn’t happen, but anything over a unit, I will typically set a combo bolus for and extend it to 10 minute delivery. It’s one of the things that I miss most about my previous pump, a cozmo, that I set delivery for to 3 minutes, and never experienced a burn or sting.
I do have my pump set for “slow” delivery, but to me, it still stings. The only down side? More button pushes on a pump that already needs a lot of button pushes! I use combo’s almost exclusively, but I also have delayed gastric emptying, so it works for me. My girls (both animas pumpers), almost never use a combo unless they are taking a whole lot f insilin. Seems to bother the 11 year old the most, but she hardly ever remembers the combo, maybe it will work for your son, not sure. . .
That happens to me. For the first 6 months or so bolusing didn’t bother me at all. Now, it burns/stings a lot if I have to bolus over 3 units, even though I use the ‘slow’ delivery. What really helps me is I use the Combo Bolus. It takes about 10-15 minutes (I think) for it to deliver the whole bolus, but I never have any discomfort when using it. I have to use it all the time now.
I just checked out the combo-bolus options. You can set Normal:Extend ratio to 0%:100% and then select a duration of 0.1 hours. The effect will be delivering the bolus over a 6 minute period.
I’ve been experimenting with using the combo bolus over 0.5 hours without realizing that you can step that down to 0.1 hour. That should solve the stinging problem.
Maybe Animas should program all these “slower bolus setup” keystrokes into just one or two. It sounds like an improvement that they should make in the next generation pump.
Hi Tiffany! I am so sorry your son is having such difficulty! You can try the following tricks that I use to ensure “painless” insulin delivery.
*Make sure that you are not inserting the infusion sets at too great or too little an angle, this can cause burning or painful infusion…The OmniPod did it all for you so you didn’t have to be concerned with depth and angle. With the inset 30’s he may be angling them too much thus hitting muscle, or not angling them enough and hitting the top layers of skin.
*Do not think about pulling out the needle…sometimes I psych myself into thinking it will feel worse than it does…so go ahead and just ease it out gently!
*The OmniPod delivers 1 unit of insulin over 40 seconds…the Ping delivers 1 unit of insulin over 1 second…keep that in mind also.
*I am switching to Animas after trying out an Animas for 6 months…it took some getting used to so don’t be discouraged.
*Also realize this…with the Ping you can place your infusion set many more places without having that pod be in the way!
I hope any of this can help you.
PS: You may want to try the Inset 90’s. I am a very lean person and the Inset 30’s sometimes have the burn while delivering issue…I use the 6mm Inset 90 and the problem dissolves…you can also try Cleo 90’s, Sof-Set’s, Quick Sets, Silhouettes. Any set with a luer lock you can use with your pump…you don’t have to use Animas’ sets exclusively. Contact MiniMed and ask them for some samples of their luer lock sets and also contact unomedical as well.
sometimes that happens to me, I have found if you sit instead of stand, it makes it that much easier to bolus. I try not to stand when I change out. good luck.
I had this happen to me quite a bit when I first got my ping. I find that it only happened on certain sites on my stomach. For me, some spots seem to be more sensitive then others. I don’t know if that is what your son is experiencing, but possibly.
Also, have him reduce to the slower speed. It may help.
Best of luck 
I agree with Dave.You can change the delivery so it is slower.I had that problem too.
I had some discomfort using the Inset(9) during insulin delivery. The Inset infusion set is what was delivered with my Ping. I was given a Contact Detach (6) after complaining and my pain is gone. I find the Contact Detach very comfortable to wear. You might ask for some samples to try.
I had that happen for the first time today and I am pretty sure its because I didnt get the tube as deeply in as it was before and should ideally be, That was confirmed as a good possibility by my doc when I called her!
I had burning and severe itching with the inset 30s. The inset 90 still stings a little but only when bolusing and nothing compared to the 30s.
Okay Tiffany, Since reading this I started using the slow over 6-12 min or the combo over an hour more often and it’s been completely pain free. Has your son tried it yet?
They really need to include more adjustable insulin delivery speeds in the next pump. The ping can deliver small basal increments of 0.025, so it should be fairly easy to have an option to deliver bolus doses at 0.1 unit every 3 seconds or 0.3 units every 1 second or whatever you want it to be.
This can sort of be done with the combo bolus feature, but that just means more button presses. However, if you had a large combo bolus of say 16 units at 60:40 normal:extended over 4 hours, you’re going to get the first 9.6 units at 1 entire unit every 3 seconds on the “slow” delivery setting. So you can’t use the combo bolus “trick” when you’re doing a large extended combo bolus in the first place, unless you pull out a calculator and figure out what 60% of your bolus is going to be and deliver that as a 100% extended bolus for 0.1 hours (6 minutes) and then after that is done, do another 100% extended bolus for the left over 40% for 4 hours.
I had this the other day and my Canulla was broken when I took it out. I hadn’t placed it in correctly and had it on a greater angle then it was suppose to be. I am just a new user of the pump. For taking out the needle are you pulling back on the white release thing?
Hey Marsha - just noticed you are now on the pump. Are you using the Ping (remote) or just the Animas 2020 like I use? Cool if you’ve got the Ping.
Tiffany - I have found that I have issues with teflon cannula’s and recently called up Animas to see if I could get some samples of their steel cannula infusion sets (Contact Detact). They sent me a WHOLE box for no charge. I think you can get them in 6mm / 9 mm depth (I am plump so I use the 9 mm). They are 90 degree (straight in) - and I am loving them. Have already ordered 2 more boxes. No irritation at the site like I used to with the teflon. I don’t even know I have an infusion set in and when I remove it 3-4 days later, I have to make sure I’m 1" away from the site as it’s hard to see where it was. Oh, and I hated the Inset 30 - they stung alot - and I gave up on using them.
Also, on your pump, you can slow down the rate of insulin. I always have it at slow, go into your set up on your pump, and when you come to Bolus - you will see delivery rate - set it to SLOW. Your son should notice a BIG difference. I know I did when I switched over, as it burned before that when I was infusing. It also depends on how large a bolus he is taking I expect. I don’t usually bolus more then 4 units, and I tend to also spread out the amount over an hour or two, depending on what I’m eating (very fatty foods I do a Combo bolus). I just noticed Jason wrote to you about it now after I posted it - he puts it in a better way then I do (I’m a terrible teacher ).
For me, it depends on the site. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it doesnt. Sometimes it hurts the first couple boluses after a site change and sometimes it goes away. I use the straight up and down insets - i’m not sure what they’re called. I can imagine after using omnipod that pulling the needle out would be difficult. It could be the cannula is not getting deep enough into his skin. I know sometimes the pain on mine is because the set has been pulled out a bit.
This was happening to me and still does from time to time. I find that it is certain spots on my stomach that hurt and others don’t. I think it’s really about experimenting with trial and error.
Good luck