Good afternoon! I know this one has been discussed before but I haven't seen a discussion relevant to the new pods. I've been on the omnipod for about two months now (MDI's before). Last week, my skin started a serious allergic reaction to the adhesive (I use skin-tac to help the pods stick and use unisolve to remove).
My omnipod CDE is sending me coloplast to use. My endo's office said if that doesn't work, we can try to replace the pods more frequently and if that doesn't help then I may need to discontinue use of the pods.
My dexcom is also causing me a reaction but not as strongly as my pod sites. Currently, my entire stomach is broke out in a rash (distinctly worse under where my pod and cgm were).
Has anyone had this situation? Any tips? At this point, I'm running out of placement areas as both arms and my stomach are irritated/red/have bumps and are itchy. Hydrocortisone cream is not helping either.
I've been on omnipod for 1.5 years without any rashes at all. Now, I've used about 12 of the new pods and the last 3 of them have resulted in some mild rashes that last 3 to 5 days. I occasionally use skin tac but that doesn't seem to have any correlation as to when I see the rashes. I'm just going to wait it out to see if the rashes stop or if it really is something with the pod adhesive causing it.
April, I had a similar problem and thought it was the adhesive, but finally realized that I was allergic to the Skin Tac!! I stopped using the adhesive and actually found that I didn't really need the adhesive and to top it off, I no longer had the extreme itching and very red and uncomfortable skin under the patch area. You might try going without the skin-tac to see what happens.
Gail
One reason I really wanted to get off MDI was from 3- 5 injections a day and at each site a nickel sized red, itchy spot that lasted for at least 2 weeks (let me know where NOT to inject at least). I tried the Iport, an adhesive patch that allows you to inject into the port and change every 3 days and it raised the same annoying itchy spot, but at least it was in 1 spot. Couldn't do that as no insurance coverage. I have tried hydrocortisone cream as well as calendula cream and still get that itchy spot: my skin doesn't like abuse. If anyone has a magic ointment let me know. The only benefit is that I can always till where to go to avoid hitting the same spot.
I had a similar reaction - as over time I started to get the reaction from using Skin Tac. My Insulet rep suggested trying Cavillon or Hollister wipes as alternatives. I started using Hollister regularly and have had none of these reactions since. It's probably different for everyone's body chemistry but it might be worth trying some of these other wipes. I also now avoid the unisolve removal wipes, and find that the pod comes off pretty cleanly without it and the Hollister wipe residue comes off in the shower without much work. Worth a bit of trial and error, I think. Good luck!
Thank you very much Gail! I didn't use skin tac in the beginning but I had issues with the pod moving during exercise. However, I'll take that over this rash! I'll definitely try it without the skin-tac and see if that helps. Thanks so much for your response!
I use coconut oil on my site's after I change pods. I've never really had a rash per se, but I did get a pretty nasty little infection from a site once. Not sure why and by the time I saw it, I couldn't track down the correlating pod. That's when I started using coconut oil. You could also try a dab of jojoba oil, premixed with some tea tree oil. As always, when trying something new like that, run a test patch, especially if you seem to be allergic to other materials. It could theoretically be something you are eating that results in a reaction with the adhesive. Your skin is your largest organ and everything you eat affects it in one way or another.
Something else I have learned lately--I have a recently diagnosed thyroid disease called Hashimoto's and so I have to avoid gluten. A lot of people who have Hashi's discovered that their skin issues resolved once they cut gluten out of their diet. I obviously don't know what your diet looks like, but it might benefit you to do some elimination experimentation! IE: avoid gluten for a couple weeks and see if it affects you one way or another when you pick it back up again.
Just some thoughts off the top of my head!
Just a note re: Gluten Free. I switched to a GF way of eating a month or so prior to starting on the Pod and found that I could lose weight for almost the first time in my life. Point One: just 'eating' GF doesn't do the trick... you must avoid Gluten in all things to get the benefits. Use Tamari, not soy sauce and look out for prepared meals w/gravy, oriental seasoning, even shampoo etc. GF can really help in so many ways, even if there are no clinical reasons to do so. Try it, it can't hurt.
After my last few trials, I believe my rash issue is with the skin tac as well. Are the cavillon or hollister wipes just a protective barrier, or do they provide some extra adhesion as well? I don't have an issue with the omnipod adhesive itself, I was just using the skin tac for its extra adhesive capability.
Have you tried Sarna cream? Available at any pharmacy - over the counter. Or, if you need something stronger, talk to your Dr. about Clobetasol Propionate Ointment. .05%. it is Rx strength - but may clear it up quickly. Good luck
Another option is to use tegaderm as a barrier, and put the pod on top of that. The adhesive on tegaderm is generally tolerated well.
As for skintac, I've noticed irritation with it and pods as well. Interesting thing is, I don't have any problem with skintac and the Dexcom G4 sensor adhesive (than goodness, that thing's on there for up to two weeks!)
So my theory is there is some sort of interaction between the two causing the irritation.
I use Cavilon no sting barrier as the second layer starting with alcohol as the first. Put a piece of Keniso tape to hold things tight. Never use any type of solvent to remove as it seems to make a mess. Just fold a flap on install to remove later. Seems to work for me. Pictures on my home site. Check it out. Best of luck, but luck doesn't seem to matter. Take care Michael.
