Hi I am writing to see if anyone has used the i-port to give insulin as i just saw it online and would like to know if you like or if it’s good or bad please let me know as i am looking into to it thanks
Hadn’t heard of it before so I went and had a look. Basically it’s just the canula-and-patch part of a pump infusion set. Instead of a tube connecting to a pump, it presumably has some kind of re-penetrable membrane that lets you insert a needle and deliver insulin through the canula. As with a pump, you have to relocate the site every couple-three days because the tissue around the canula starts to get inflamed and become less absorptive.
As a pump user I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work just as well–or not–as the infusion sets we use. The “or not” meaning, well, nothing’s perfect. As with injecting there are “good” spots and not-so-good ones. Mostly I don’t even feel the initial insertion other than the thwack of the spring mechanism; but about one in ten, yeeeeow. Which is usually a sign that you’ve hit a blood vessel or something and need to remove it and try another location. And you can bonk the infuser or yank it out accidentally when dressing/undressing etc., though that may be a lot less of an issue with these since there’s no clip or tubing to snag or yank.
Basically it seems like a clever idea. Somebody looked at the pump system and said, hey, we can give people on MDI one of the advantages of using a pump–you only have to jab a needle through your skin every few days instead of multiple times a day–even if they don’t want or can’t afford using the pump itself. Personally I got over the fear of needles pretty quickly after being dx’d, but I know a lot of people never do–comes up regularly in discussions on TUD. If that was a problem for me I’d definitely want to give this system a try. There’s nothing especially difficult or risky about it that I can see.
I tried one a few years ago because I got some free samples.
Honestly, I just didn’t see the point of it, really, but I rarely get any pain from my injections. I’m honestly not that sure that they’re a great idea for T2s such as myself who would be injecting large amounts of insulin, anyway. I just didn’t feel right injecting that much insulin into the same spot 9 times (or more, given snack coverage as well!) over the course of 3 days.
It looks like there’s a new inserter now at least. When I first tried it back in 2008 or so there was no mechanical inserter, you literally just slapped the thing onto yourself, which to me hurt more than a shot!
Originally the paperwork said NOT to use both basal and bolus insulin through the same i-Port. Now Medtronic is saying you can use the same iPort for both, but that you should separate the shots by at least 60 minutes and do rapid-acting insulin first. Personally I wouldn’t want to put those two shots in the same spot, so I’d still end up with at least one injection a day.
I did also find that the cannula left a raised red bump that persisted for a few days after removing the i-port. That may have been from injecting insulin into the same spot repeatedly, or it could have been due to the original, more traumatic “slap it on” way of shoving it through the skin.
We used it when my son was first diagnosed. Used 2 of them and both times had issues with insulin pooling up and soaring blood sugars. It would be nice if they gave you a free sample to try out.
You can get a free 2-pack sample: i-Port™ Advance Injection Port | Medtronic
I got mine from my Endocrinologist’s office directly, at the time.
ok thank you