I’m new here. I would really appreciate some feedback if poss. I have just switched from the Animas vibe which I loved to the omnipod. I thought i would try it on my arm upper left at the back and it doesn’t hurt whilst delivering a bolus but it feels a little irritated. I’m not sure if this is because i haven’t injected in my arm for ten years (I have been type one for 35 years) and on a pump for ten.
I exercise alot hence the reason for the choice of the omnipod. I just want to see if anyone else initially had issues putting their pumps on their arms and if there is anything I can do?
Yes, I use back of the upper arms for my pods. Sometimes I will replace the pod and put it on for example, the other arm, but I will still have the same sensation as if it is still attached to the other arm! Not exactly irritating but noticeable.
One thing to be extra careful with though is the potential for an infection. If it continues to feel irritating you might want to replace the pod, and put it elsewhere. I say this because when I first started on OmniPod, I had placed it on my arm, and for the full 3 days it fell irritating. When I removed it, the skin underneath was swollen and infected. I still have a scar from that. So better to remove it, if you have a continued irritation.
I frequently get sore from wearing my Omnipod if it’s not placed exactly right. The problem is I still haven’t figured out what “exactly right“ is. Sometimes I place it in a spot where the insulin gets pumped directly into my vein and it stings like heck. I wear it in different spots, my upper arm my abdomen and sometimes to give those places a rest, my lower back. That is the area that I have the most trouble with because if it is not in exactly the right place I feel it when I sit, when I lay down, when I drive and I have a constant pinching feeling. The thing to get used to with the Omnipod, and my endocrinologist told me was normal, are those little bumps that you get when you remove the pump after three days. I have never experienced an infection though.
Thankyou. I’m about a week in now and so far the arms are calming down a bit. I mark like crazy after taking them off though but maybe because I have been pumping so long in my tummy they simply arent used to it. The lower back kind of gives me the heebie jeebies I think I would be too aware of it. It simply wont stay stuck onto my tummy when I exercise it unstuck every time so I may have to give up on that area. Also after ten years it probably needs a break anyway. Thanks for the insight just going to persevere and see what works over time.
I’ve experienced “pump bumps” (started out as little and then some grew much larger) and don’t think they are normal. Your body is producing inflammation to deal with the pump site. At the time I was using Novolog insulin. When I switched away from Novolog, the pump bumps disappeared. It’s possible that its your insulin causing these bumps.
Over the years I have found that painful infusion sites are highly correlated with getting too close to blood vessels. I suppose the nerves are there to protect our circulatory system. Sometimes insertion pain quickly goes away and it’s not an issue. Other times, when insertion pain is high, I immediately change out the site.
