I’ve been using the MiniMed Mio infusion sets for the past 7 years and they have been so great. At first, i was able to use them a little in abdomen area not as much because I am covered in stretch marks from my 3 beautiful children. But now I’m getting more and more bent cannulas. I’ve ceased using my abdomen long ago, and have moved on to my legs and butt. But even still it’s just getting harder and harder to find places where I don’t have either poor absorption or a bent cannula. I’m trying a sample of the Sure-T’s 6mm needle cannula. I’d love to hear what other people think about them. Are they comfortable? I have had more pain as well inserting my MIo’s so while they are supposed to be soft and pain free that is not always the case. Ugh. Diabetes.
I really like the silhouette ones. They are longer and go in on an angle instead of straight on. You can see that they are in better than the ones that go straight in. I got pain from the stainless sets whenever I would move around.
I started them because I was pretty lean at the time and I would hit muscle with the straight on ones.
Now Have a little more body fat but I still like the angled ones. I switched to tandem but they have similar sets.
Medtronic might give you a few samples to try.
I put them in manually but they have those spring loaded things too if you like that.
I haven’t had a bent cannula in years.
I tried the needle cannula sets during one of my searches for a better solution when my blood glucose rose due to poor absorption. I found them easy and pain-free to insert but then at times, when I rolled over in bed or otherwise pushed on the site, a sharp pain quickly grabbed my attention. It didn’t happen with every set but often enough to motivate me to try another infusion set.
I’ve read many reports here, however, of people who experienced great success with the steel sets, so be aware that this is a personal thing best judged by trying them yourself – as you are doing. A nice feature of the steel sets is the ability to move it to another location if it’s uncomfortable or not performing well.
Like @Timothy, I now use the angled Silhouette infusion sets. I’ve used them for almost four years now and bent cannulas have been rare. I do use the spring loaded inserter tool. I bought it since I wanted to use it to reach sites toward my back. I think manual insertion would work well, too.
Good luck with your experimentation. It’s good to mix things up from time to time.
Try the advanced MIO and look at you legs. I had good fortune with this newer Mio infusion set.
I agree with everyone that trying different infusion sets is a good idea. I have gotten samples from my pump rep. You can probably try your doctor also for samples. Sometimes a simple change in infusion sets is all it takes. Good luck!