I’ve used an insulin pump for 26 years now. One of the biggest drawbacks of long term use is that some sites get stale and lose the ability to provide consistent insulin absorption. Late last year when shopping for a replacement pump, I talked with a sales manager for Animas. He’s also a T1 and gave me some very helpful suggestions.
I told him that I was interested in trying out some new infusion sets since I was getting inconsistent results with the inset 30 sets that I’ve used for several years. He sent me several different sets for me to try out before I placed a set order for a 90 day supply.
He also made one other suggestion that has made a big difference in the level of control that I maintain. He said that he uses a loofah sponge on his abdomen when he showers. He told me that you don’t have to rub very hard or for very long. I took his advice. I lightly scrub my stomach sites with a loofah sponge, just enough to turn my skin slightly red from increased capillary blood flow.
After a few weeks the results have been impressive. I’ve been getting three days of good quality consistent absorption from every site that I’ve used for the last two months. Prior to that, I often had third day site absorption problems. I’m amazed that something so simple has made such a big difference!
I know that this is just an n=1 experiment and your experience may differ but it’s been very helpful to me. I’m curious how many others know about this and if anybody else has had a similar experience.