It is probably not possible but do you think one could de-active a pod after 3 days and then restart it. I don’t think it would try to reinsert the cannula but it is just a thought. Kinda like restarting a Dexcom sensor.
Also are there people out there extracting the left over insulin and re-using it in your new pod. Sometime I have 30 units left over and hate to waste perfectly good insulin.
I am guessing you have not heard the change now alarm lol. Yes there are ppl on here that extract insulin. I don’t but there are ppl that do.
I'm curious as to why you would want to restart a Pod... Makes sense with a Dexcom sensor; those things are expensive and with a simple restart (minus the pain-in-the-ass two hour wait and wonky readings for the first few hours) we can get 10 to 14 days out of one sensor. But a Pod? How would you reinsert the cannula? Even if you could, and you somehow managed to get your PDM to recognize the old Pod as new, this would likely be an infection waiting to happen. Regarding extracting insulin, we've done it when a Pod is up to 24 hours old (e.g. when a site failure occurs) but I don't think I'd be comfortable extracting insulin that's been inside a Pod longer than this. Once again, I'd worry about infection and whether the insulin would be contaminated after being handled so much. Do you fill your Pods with more insulin than you anticipate using in three days? I fill my daughter's Pods with the minimum (80 units) because she goes through 75 units at most over three days,
I was mostly just curious. I wouldn’t do,it myself but I was wondering if anyone has tried it. I’ve heard of people changing batteries in their dexcom transmitter a few other weird things so I was curious. I agree if the pod was fairly new I would try to extract the insulin but nothing more than 24 hrs. I put in only 100 units of insulin.
I've extracted the insulin quite a few times to load up another pod but never after 24 hours wearing it. Unfortunately the pods cannot be restarted... once it's primed and the catheter is inserted, that's it. I think it's the same as using the same needle twice, too much room for infection. I never had a dexcom so I don't know anything about that.
The pod is on the body, which makes it warmer than room temperature, therefore, wouldn't it be a concern? I'm a newcomer to insulin dependent diabetes. The instructions state that pens, (I'm unsure about vials) can be left at room temp for 28 days. With pumps and pods, I assume that the insulin would degrade because of the higher body temperature. Would that be correct? Is it really true that insulin goes bad after 28 days or is it yet another way in which big pharma generates more profit from us?
As others have said, you won't be able to get the cannula in a second time. During the installation, after you hit "Start," the cannula is inserted under the skin inside a thin, sharp needle, which then gets pulled back into the body of the pod, leaving the cannula under the skin. That only works once.
I've come to the conclusion that there are few hard and fast rules regarding the degradation of insulin. For one, it varies by the particular type of insulin you use. I've heard quite a few times that Apidra is especially prone to degradation due to heat exposure. I think you have a point when you say that insulin degrades faster once it's in a Pod or pump because it is directly against your body (in the case of Pods) or at the very least kept close to your body (in the case of tubed pumps.) I've also heard (and experienced myself) the fact that insulin can remain potent much longer than 28 days once you take it out of the fridge as long as the ambient temperature is not too high. The biggest problem lies in the fact that you don't always know exactly where you insulin's been, at what temperature, and for how long before you get it. I've heard of more than one account where people have gotten bottles/vials of "bad" insulin from usually reputable sources (e.g. your trusted, dependable, big-name pharmacy), one after another, because during transport from the source to the pharmacy, the insulin ended up sitting in a delivery vehicle for a little too long at a temperature that was a little too high.
We cannot know the insulin transit condition, that's absolutely true.
Reasonable questions that bring up a few points worth considering:
- Gold standard is that infusion sites shouldn't be used for longer than three days due to risk of tissue damage (and subsequent absorption issues) and infection.
- Different insulins have different temperature tolerances, with the fastest (i.e. Apidra etc.) enjoying their speedy action - in part - due to fewer preservatives. Therefore reasonable to assume they're even less tolerant of temperature variations.
- Insulin does not like plastic. Insulin vials are glass because it's largely inert and therefore doesn't contribute to denaturing of enzymes/hormones etc.
I'll often extract insulin from a pod if it fails at activation/startup, but once in use for more than a couple of hours I discard both pod and insulin. Life with T1 is challenging enough so I try and avoid more complication or points of failure than needed.
I don't think the pod ever shuts off after the insulin fill turns it on. I guess power usage is reduced and the motor life extended by an insulin delivery suspend, but the pod is still prepared to accept commands from the PDM so it is still active. I can't imagine Insulet would want to enable time extension for delivery suspend simply because it would enormously complicate their testing for a feature that most people wouldn't use.
John Bowler