You do realize don’t you that you can move a contact detach to another location on your body even if it’s just an inch away if you need to. Move it and cover it with an IV 3000 or similar transparent dressing. It’s a trivial thing to do
Another reason to love them. No kinks and if you pull it out, no problem just push it back in and add a little tape!
I have been told I could do that, but I have yet to try it. It just seems kinda weird after years of soft cannula sets… though I know logically it is a stainless steel needle so obviously is reinsertable lol.
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just clean a spot where you want to reinsert, pop it in, cover it with clear dressing and it’s just like you inserted a fresh set. In the MANY years I’ve been using steel sets (I use Sure-T’s; same as Contact Detach except for the connector), I’ve had maybe 3 that got occluded. Quite a rarity, unlike my awful experience with Quick Sets. I nearly stopped pumping due to the many problems I had with QS’s. And MM didn’t even think to mention Sure-T’s as a solution to my issues with QS’s. Were it not for the good folks online, I’d have been left in the dark forever about Sure-T’s.
No matter which site I pick my insulin (Humilin U-500) won’t work for 18 to 24 hrs after which (250’s and up) it comes down to normal and therefore I keep the same site for 4 day giving me 3 days controlled and one day uncontrolled. With the 5x stronger (1/5 dosage) I won’t have pooling but because of the one day highs I do get lows later on when my increased basal and bolus catch up. Hey as always it is a crap-shoot.
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Well it certainly did work just fine to move the site. I could tell that the one I put in on Monday was starting to fail this morning, so I moved it and put another tegaderm over it. I will likely still put in a new one tonight since it will be 2 days, but at least I will get through the day. Definitely much better peace of mind with the steel sets!
sounds like you might have to rethink using an insulin pump, displayname. What does your health care team say about this failure after such a short time of insertion? I only had intermittent failures of insulin absorption on a pump when I used those darn cannula sets, but I know u already are using steel needles, so there isn’t much left, in practical terms, to fix your issue, that I can foresee, other than going on long acting and short acting injections. Ugh! You definitely have my sympathies.
Sometimes when I see my numbers mysteriously climb during or after the second day, I will start doing injections for boluses but continue to use the pump for basal, which appears to absorb just fine in those small amounts. It means I don’t have the nuisance or higher costs of having to change the site early or waste insulin (I’m on the Omnipod). This assumes the problem is simply reduced absorption, not any kind of reaction to the set or cannula itself. It may or may not work for you.
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It’s my understanding that omnipod only has cannula sets. Right there that could be problematic for some people with regards to proper insulin infusion. It sure was a heck of a problem for me and I almost stopped pumping with my MiniMed pump because nobody told me about the existence of SureT sets which are the only types of sets that I can trust to work over the course of 3 days without oclusion or tunneling. Correct me if I’m wrong about the type of sets built into Omni pods please
Correct. I have had the “3 day deterioration” with the Omnipods, but with some finagling by my endo, she got me approved to change them every 2 days. I would prefer stainless, but I also prefer no tubes 
One day there may be a good overall solution for us, but then insurance probably won’t cover it…
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I have had very similar problems with absorption and I also have a Tandem X2 pump. For me this problem became so severe that for the past 2 weeks I have retreated to MDI with a pen. Could the problem be with the pump? Perhaps it does not have the power to push the insulin through a minor clot at the end of the infusion set and into the tissue? Very seldom does the occlusion alarm sound. I have never seen a listing of the pumping power of different insulin pumps. Just a thought-proposal.
If it can’t push insulin through the infusion set, eventually any pump would sound an occlusion alarm. There may be some differences in how soon different pumps would alarm.
When you noticed a problem, did you identify it as happening after a certain number of days?
Eddie2, I think the issue is more about occlusions occurring in cannula sets vs steel needle sets, than it is about the sensitivity of each brand of pump, throwing an occlusion alarm. An occlusion alarm should be happening when there is far more back pressure in the line, than what normal infusion into subq tissue creates. Look for the problem to be the interface between body and set; not at the pump, IMO.
I’ve even had 2 or maybe 3 Sure-T’s give me O alarms over the years, but nothing like the ridicolous frequency of O’s that I got from Quick Sets and other cannula sets.
I have experienced this after day two and have also noticed scar tissue forming. I’ve had the pump for 16 years now so scar tissue is just something I have to live with though. Humalog works better for me. Novolog goes bad quicker but they work the same so you could try it. The thing with Novolog is you have to refrigerate it. I can keep humalog out room temp and it is still good for me.
I think most have covered everything fairly well. Just one more thought: LIpohypertrophy, here is a link to a little information about it: https://www.freeddm.com/further-reading/
I have to concur with a few of the comments here. I’ve tried both Novolog and Humolog without seeing much difference.
What has made the difference for me with making my sites last the whole three days duration is doing a combo-bolus, wave bolus, dual bolus, whichever term you go by. I do 25% of the insulin up front and then the rest is delivered over a period of about 8-9 minutes.
Once I started doing combo-boluses, the only big deciding factor for sites going bad was usually their location. Sites in areas that move more, like my arm, tend to be more likely to go bad sooner.
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If whatever you switch to doesn’t solve the problem, get your doctor to prescribe changing infusion sets every single day. It’ll cost more buying 9 boxes, but that way you can order enough to last changing every 36 hours or so. That’s what I have to do.
Through extensive experimentation and testing, I found that my subcutaneous tissue and fluid just simply HATE insulin of any sort and as quickly as 24 hours to somewhere around 48 hours just absorb the insulin super slowly. So, whenever I notice my sg and bg going up for no logical reason, I change out the infusion set and site. Stinks to be me.
I’m surprised that you’ve chosen to continue using a pump, Jane_Vaugh. I had similar problems and switched to MDI. Does MDI also cause problems for you?
With MDI, I have to predict my exercise and activity level before giving myself long-acting insulin. When I tried both Lantus and Levemir, I had to split the dose because at best they only lasted 12 hours. I’ve tried Tresiba, and it does last but any long acting insulin isn’t really “flat”, it does have peaks and valleys. Also, I HATE having to inject for every single correction and carb that I ingest. With MDI, I’m injecting 4 to 6 times a day. Also, insulin pens don’t do half units, so the boluses and corrections aren’t really precise. Finally, tons of people are literally grossed out watching a diabetic inject, and I hate using a filthy restroom to bolus for a meal out.
My endo triedt to talk me into going back to MDI but I would only consider it if I could use Tresiba once a day and if Afrezza worked for me. Then the “peanut gallery” might not be so horrified when I use my insulin inhaler in public.
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Did you notice any correlation between the slower absorption and the size of boluses? Since I’ve been limiting my bolus size to 5 units, and delivering any remainder as a 30-minute extended bolus, I have much more normal BG numbers by the third day, and no surface leaks or backups with my pod.