Hi everyone, I started the Omnipod Friday and so far so good. Today was the first day for me to change the pod and everything went quite smoothly and easier than I thought. I was able to pull 100 units out of the old pod. Is it safe to put that extra insulin back in the insulin vial? I did use the new syringe that I filled the new pod to take the insulin from the old pod. Thank You.
May not be the best idea if you wore the pod for 3 days. The pod is very close to the skin and can get close to body temperature.
Heat degrades insulin.
Novolog is apparently approved for up to 6 days in a pump reservoir:
http://press.novonordisk-us.com/index.php?s=43&item=210, as opposed to 30 days
in a vial.
Some people notice that Apidra is more sensitive to heat and doesn't last for 3 days.
In fact the prescribing information for Apidra says it must be changed every 2 days in the pump reservoir.
http://products.sanofi.us/apidra/apidra.pdf
If you are not using much insulin, better not to fill it all the way up.
If a Pod fails on filling , some people pull the insulin out and use it to fill a new pod. I haven't done this.
I personally would be hesitant to put insulin that has been close to to body temperature for 3 days back in a vial.
I have done this when a pod has alarmed out during or close to changing time. Pulling the insulin out of the old pod is not an easy thing to do though. I have trouble getting it out without lots of bubbles. I would only put it back into the vial and not promptly into a new pod because of all the air bubbles. If you have that many units left after 3 days - maybe not fill the pods completely with the whole 200 units initially? I am glad the pods are working well for you! I love mine. Best of luck!
Oh, good grief! maybe my BG is low - I am hitting all sorts of computer keys that I didn't mean to - sorry didn't mean to post again....Anyway good luck with the pods and I am off to find my blood meter! :)
Thanks everyone for the input. It was my first pod and we( myself and trainer) decided to fill it up the first time because i didnt know how much carb intake I was going to use. I use Humalog and am on the Omni. It was only thirty minutes after my 3 day alarm pod change. I think i will discard that batch of leftover insulin this time. Once again thanks everyone.
You can look up how much insulin you use each day. I did that and cut back to putting 150 units in when I change my pods. (still have >50U left most of the time.)
Hi Buffy, I did the same thing my first couple of pods. I wasn't sure what my total daily insulin use was going to end up or how consistent it would be so I put way too much insulin in. But after a few pods, you'll have a better feel for how much insulin to put in the pods.
I put slightly more than the minimum in mine now and still have some left at the end of 3 days. In case you're not sure how to check, you can look under "my records" and then "insulin delivery" and see what you are using each day.
Great question! Never thought about it!