I switched from using autosoft 90’s to Tsure metal infusionsets. My issue with them is I seem to hit more veins with this set than the autosoft 90s. It is just more cost effective with these sets. How do others avoid hitting veins? I use my abdomen alot. Thanks.
Sure-T is the name of the sets you are referring to. You can edit your post if you wish.
I use my abdomen exclusively and rarely hit a bleeder so I have no advice for avoiding that issue. We can’t just look at our skin and divine where the problem will occur, unfortunately. When I’ve had an issue with blood, it is generally that upon removal of the set, I get a gusher. Other times, the issue is that blood will travel up the tubing a little bit. These issues don’t occur more than a handful of times in a year, for me.
Just what is the exact nature of your complaint regarding hitting a capillary? Pain? Gusher upon set-removal? Blood leaking around set? Blood flowing up tubing?
I hope you don’t mind that I edited your post title to enable later searches on this topic to include your post. Good question.
No, that’s fine, thanks.
I get high bloodsugars out of the ordinary, or I’ll correct and it doesn’t go down. I usually base it on after correcting 3 times and it doesn’t go down. The site will sometimes be painful to the touch. When I bolus it will sting. In my experiences it has stung only when it is in or near a vein. I am thin so maybe that has something to do with it.
I suggest moving a set if it hurts too much. Moving a Sure-T is trivial.
If you feel absorption is poor, that’s another good reason to move a set, but sometimes it isn’t a “bad” spot, but rather just a result of the unpredictability that most of us diabetics face some days.
One thing I do is to use my fingertip/fingernail or even the tip of the sure-t tip itself to lightly press on where you want to insert the set. If I get any painful feedback, I move on.
This doesn’t always work for me but my guess is that nerves often route along blood vessels. I also use good light and a mirror to exclude any patches that look injured at all, like a previous infusion site that has not fully healed.
Of course you can press harder with fingertips than the insertion tip but you can get some interesting feedback that way.
AutoSoft 90 are Tandem brand infusion sets. So, technically, the Tandem brand of the metal sets is TruSteel (as I’m guessing the OP is using a Tandem pump). Sure-T is the Medtronic brand of the same infusion sets. Contact Detach is the default brand of these same sets from
Unomedical (which are then re-branded as either TruSteel or Sure-T).
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I know all that. I thought she had a Medtronic pump.