Hi there, I posted a similiar thread in the omnipod group but figured it wouldn't hurt to post here.
Okay so for starts i'm pretty muscularly lean/ I seem to mostly hold my fat around my midsection/lovehandles.
I began using an omnipod back in November, and before than I had just been on injections my entire diabetic career (6 years).
My problem is that i seem to be able to just wear the pump around my midsection where theres fat. I've tried wearing it on my butt a few times but every time i did there was some sort of problem whether it be occlusions, leaking pump, or bad absorption.
My other options are my arms, thighs, and calfs. My Thighs and calfs are way to lean (and hairy)- I could never pinch enough skin to inject there- I can't imagine a canula in those places.
And lastly are the arms, which like the thighs/calf are pretty lean and muscular. I used to do my injections in the top back of my tricep kind of by the top of my arm pit. However I still am not sure how it would be to have the plastic cannula stuck in there especially when I exercise- It seems like it would be uncomfortable and get in the way or bend.
Has anyone had similar expierences? I'm not sure if I should look back into MDI or what.
My blood sugars have been worse on the pump so far but i've still be adjusting to it. I need to get them down though. I've been averaging like 190
Oh i forgot to mention, the pod is giving me a rash around my stomach which is why i'm looking for new sites.
I'm no fatty either. I use an Animas Ping with an angled inset that seems to work pretty well. Where were you sticking the Omnipod into your butt? There's a small zone between where I sit and where my belt line is that I can put a site into. I wonder what's causing your rash?
Good luck with your search for a better way to deliver insulin!
I am very lean and muscular, too, and work out a lot. My favorite spots to wear it is on the backs of my arms and love handles. I have been on it since November as well and my numbers are great :) Just try it on your arm...you don't know until you try ;) Seems like you my need to adjust some basal rates if you averaging 190, IMO. Also, just FYI I have not trouble lifting weights with it on my arm and I actually prefer it there for sprints and running..Hope that helps a little??
Are you able to work your tris with it in your arms? And yeah something needs to be changed with my insulin- problem is I spike very high after i eat and we're having trouble fixing that,
I have the same problem as a bodybuilder. Although I don't have an Omnipod I have been using a Minimed 722 with a canula for some time. My best profusion is in the upper abdomen, but sometimes use the lower area. Arms and legs don't work for me as I hit muscle. For some reason the butt seems to profuse poorly, too.
Keep trying til you discover the best areas. The pump is great for working out as it can be disconnected or a temporary basel entered.
Hate to say this, but you may want to consider a tubed pump. The infusion sets with tubed pumps vary in that you can get angled or 90-degree sets. I know a lot of people who are thin say that the angled ones work better. As far as I know, no such option is available with the Omnipod.
I work out a lot and also have a sensitivity to SkinTac and the adhesive; I break out in nice little rashes, especially during the warmer months. One thing that has helped is putting optsite Flexifix (available on Amazon) at the location of my site BEFORE adding SkinTac or the infusion set itself. The Opsite stuff becomes a barrier between me and the adhesive and...voila! No more rashes!!
Either way, you definitely need to rotate as much as you can.
I use my entire tummy area, love handles, lower back, and side butt. I am very careful to rotate between these areas. I am not skinny, but average weight and fairly muscular, so my thighs don't work well. When I have used my thighs, the canula seems to hit muscle or something and hurts when I try to workout (I actually ripped a site out while at the gym a couple of weeks ago because of this, as it hurt every time I flexed my muscle). Also, when I've put sites in more muscular areas, the insulin seems to absorb FAR more rapidly (a little too rapidly). So, this discounts my arms and legs).
If you're able to get the rash under control and rotate between your side butt, stomach, and lower back, you should have enough rotation to keep scar tissue from developing.
Are you also using a CGM? I can't use a CGM because I just don't have enough real estate!
I have the same placement issues as you (always get occlusions on my butt, causes lots of itchiness on my stomach, have what I perceive to be little fat on legs or arms). My favorite places to put it are the love-handle area and the backs of my arms. I have no problem working out my triceps w/ it on, and I've never actually felt it while working out (it also is the most out-of-the-way place for just about all types of workouts). I would love to use my thigh but all of my pants are rather tight and I would prefer to have a big white thing on my arm rather than have a huge bulge coming out of my pants (not to mention the issues of ripping it out when I hit the restroom).
I say you give the backs of your arms a try. The only issue I've had with that area is that sometimes I will hit it on a doorjamb, and if I hit hard enough, it kills the pod. Boo.
Exactly my problem. I am very thin and when I get excited to move from belly to thighs or butt, I invariably get bruised and painful sites. Re lovehandles, do you mean on your sides or on your belly? What do you do about waistbands? I wear Levis and avoid the waistband figuring it will mess with my site. This leave less real estate on my belly to use. Anybody else have waistband issues?
My "love handles" are right above my hipbone towards my back. The rise of your pants may be a problem for rubbing. Maybe try a mid-rise. But, it is my favorite spot (along with the backs of my arms) with great results : )
Thanks, Megan, for that good suggestion. I haven't gone around to my back at that level. I do wear mid-rise. I'm freaked out about the back of my arm. I have a minimed 523. Where in the world do you thread the tubing?
I’m glad to know I’m not alone. I want to know where the olympian/super athletes put their sites.I started drinking weight gain shakes so I can gain extra real estate while I start exercising more. The tubed pumps will give you more site options.I don’t wear CGM because of limited sites,too, but I wish I could wear it more so maybe I’d believe in it’s utility for me if only I had places to wear them. I also feel sites are painful pretty often and the tissue isn’t healing fully like it did when I was younger.Glad I’m not alone! Good luck in trying some of the great ideas others have listed!
The Omnipod trainer really helped me out with this issue when I asked her about site rotations. She said to make sure the actual insertion sites are an inch to an inch and 1/2 apart and to give each site 30 days to heal. I mapped out the traditional spots on my abs and handles area and found more than enough sites in those areas alone just by wearing the pod in the orientations that Insulet recommends.
After that, I got a little more creative when I saw that I had no spots on my arms or legs, at all, that I could use without the pod occluding. The problem with having lean arms and legs, for me, is that insertions close to the muscles caused the cannula to bend with movements. So, I just found areas where the cannula could insert between muscle groups. That meant going "off the menu" and rotating the pod in ways that Insulet does not recommend.
I do have the same issue as MBP, in that those spots close to the muscle absorb a lot faster. For some reason, I tend to get pod change highs in those areas more often. I had to adjust the basal for those spots and do a bunch of other adjustments, but they work well enough to take the pressure off of all the traditional sites I use.
I am fairly lean/muscular. I actually LOVE using the back of my arms for my pods. It doesn't look like there would be enough adipose tissue back there for canula insertion (and indeed if I point the pod towards my elbow and get too far down the arm by my elbow, I will have occlusion issues), but for the most part it works really really well. I also use my flanks/love handle areas and like that location a lot. I run/cycle/swim regularly (I do tris and race cycling events) and these locations work pretty well. The legs/thighs/calves haven't panned out very well. I tried several times but I seem to be too lean/muscular in my legs to do that. When I was on a tubed pump I would use quickset infusion sets for the top of my butt (just below pant line) and that worked really well for both comfort (actually the most comfortable spot I had!) and for absorption. The current pods are a little too bulky for me to wear them in that location though (I apparently wear my jeans and dress pants for work too tight ;)
Regarding the rash, what are you using to prep your skin before applying the pods? Does the rash occur every time? Any other details you can think of that would lend some insight into the cause of the rash?
Oh - when I used a Minimed, I had completely different sites that I used. The Omnipod has no tubing, so it opened up new spots for me. But then it also has taken away other spots because of the bulk of the pump. I don't even know how you would finagle the tubing of a Minimed onto the back of your arm.
As for love handle area - all of my pants are low-riders so I really don't have any waistband issues.
Ihave the same problemI have to wear my pump on my mid sectionhave tried the butt no obsortion,arms and thigh hurt and couldnt tolerate it . My problems setin this past year after 8 years of wearing. I have to say I will always wear a pump . I was on 3 insulins and like 8 injections and had 15 er trips in 5 months. Got the pump had a rocky adjusment but w/ a new endo my A1Cs came down . It has given me freedom and better results.I wish they could make a permanent (3 to 6 months portal. &5% of my highs are bad sites.
hey. i didn't read all of what people had to say about this, but I have been on the pump for about 2 years now and have tried a few sites. I also really only wear it around my midsection, though I like it on my lower back, not on my stomach. I wear it on the back of my arm in the summer. It tends to sweat off when I run that time of year and the upper back arm sweats less so it stays on well. I also use a self adhesive wrap (only when i run and have it on my arm) to keep it in place, in case it does come off (though it never has)
do you use any sort of prep pad before you put it on? this could help your rash. i don't like regular iv prep pads, as they don't seem to work. i HIGHLY recommend smith&nephew Skin Prep pads. they really rock. do not get the "no sting" kind...they do not rock. i use them every time i put a new pod on, and they keep it on my skin a full three days, through showers and runs and all other mess.
i will say each time i have moved from pumping on my back to my arms, i have a week or two of adjustment where i have to re-learn my body and where i get occlusions and where i don't. it frustrates the crap out of me, but ultimately (once i find the right placements) it is worth it. i really love the pod, and it has changed everything about how i live as a diabetic. including drinking! haha
let me know if you have any pod placement questions! I have spent a lot of time on the phone with insulet and my dietitian and they offered a lot of advice!
Just wanted to throw out...blood glucose levels tend to run higher when someone transitions to an insulin pump. All has to do with figuring out the exact settings and learning the tricks and tips on how best to use/wear the pump.
I had, what I openly called, two months of hell. This involved lots of out-of-control blood glucose levels, waking up at 3 am for two months (and, thus, no good night's sleep), et cetera. But once it was all done, it was so much worth it.
That said, whilst at Joslin's DO IT program, we were in what one participant called jail. Every thing we did, every thing we ate - all had to be recorded. We felt watched at all time. So no late night dinner with fries and pies and tons of fatty food! But what I wrote down really helped the Joslin staff tell me how to fine tune my pump settings.
In other words, sometimes we need to go through inconvenient or uncomfortable periods to get better control.
I don't have any answers for you, just wanted to let you know you are not alone. My 14 year old son is very tall and thin. He can only put his site on his upper arms and upper butt. We need to find new ground to put his sites but he is just too thin for the belly according to his doctor. She thinks maybe we could try the upper thigh for one maybe two sites but he is not going for that at all. I wish you the best of luck.
