I'm an Omnipod user, for a bit over a year now. I've read here many times about tubed pump users having poor absorption at a site, pulling the set, and putting in a new one somewhere else.
While I haven't experienced this with a pod, I don't see any reason why it would be different, so I assume this happens to pod users as well sometimes.
Anyway, my question is this: I don't understand the dynamics of a poor absorbing site. People usually "detect" it by rising BG when it shouldn't be. What I don't understand is, what has happened to the insulin? If its not dripping out of the site, it's being absorbed by the body. Where else would it be going?
So, is the dynamic that the inslin is just absorbing slower than "usual"? Doesn't this then imply that there will be other effects downstream, like a longer duration of action, causing unanticipated lows?
Insulin doesn't just disappear. I can't think of any metabolic path for it to enter subcutaneously -- even with poorly absorbing local tissues -- and somehow "bypass" the rest of the body having no effect.
So, what happens? When you have a poor site, with rising BG, change the site and then carry on with pump-drivin IOB calculations only to find yourself battling a low 3 or 4 hours later? Is a bad site almost a guarantee for a roller-coaster day?