Do any of you (possibly some of the parents) use the minimum amount of insulin in your pod?
I have been doing the Atkins diet, low fat meats, lots of veggies and next to no carbs. So I dont need much insulin for a 3 day period. 80 units is probably more than I need. So I switched back to my animas pump but I really miss my pod.
I had one pod that failed several weeks ago and the customer service rep told me it might have been because I had so little insulin that was being put in it ( I had put 80 units in). So because of that I switched back to my animas but I really want to switch back again.
So I was just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this (probably not many).
We use about 15-20 units a day for my son, and we only put in slightly over the 80 line. We almost never fill all the way up to 100, and we haven’t had many issues.
Yes. Caleb uses less than the minimum within the three days. When he started pumping he was using less than 2 units for a TDD, so it was WAY less than the minimum. I don’t have it in front of me, but I am thinking the minimum fill line marked on the syringe is about 100 units. Caleb’s insulin needs have grown over the last three years and these past few days have been the most he’s ever needed, getting close to 25 units per day. His PDM showed 16 units remaining when we changed it, so that adds up to less than the 100 units, so maybe I’m wrong.
Anyhoo…I always fill to a smidge above the minimum fill line and haven’t ever had a problem.
I might not have filled the syringe to quite 80 when I had the problem before. I thought I had filled it to 80 but maybe it just looked like it .I think that was the point the customer service rep was making, if you think you have filled it to the minimum and you turn out to be wrong the pod has a problem. Maybe I will try filling the pod with 100 and then extracting the rest at the end. I’ve tried that once or twice before and it didnt seem to go that well but maybe because I’ve had no practice at it. I know I am going to get this right, it might just ake some more practice.
But thank you everyone for your help it means a lot.
I see. We did have one Pod that failed while priming and I think I cut it too close to the fill line. I make sure the flat part of the plunger is just below the fill line (which I now know is 80 units so I’m all caught up with everyone else :)).
Lorraine, I think that was my problem and what the cust serv rep was trying to tell me. I guess if your just short of 80 it wont prime correctly. Today I am going back to my omnipod and I will have to make sure that I’m not even short 1 unit I hate when the pods fail. Omni replaces them if that happens but I hate being wasteful. But from now on if I am going to fill with only 80 units I make sure there really are 80.
I have been putting in around 75-80 units in each pod and have never had a problem yet with priming. I use on avg. about 20 units a day and will usually have about 15 left over. I’ve gotten use to where I put the syringe fill just under the fill line and do it about same each time and I did this over time slowly taking it down with out any problems and now keep it the same. It has been working for me unless I get some higher carb meals like this weekend. Was in Chicago and had some deep dish pizza, Chicago hot dogs and I ran my unit down to where it said “Low” on the screen, never seen that before so not sure how much I had left but it made it to the morning and my numbers were still good.
I too fill the Pod to just ABOVE the 80 mark. You really do run the risk of ruining a perfectly good $30.00 Pod if you try to cut it too short. The one time that I did, I had priming problems, so I always make sure I am just above the 80 mark. Wasting 10 units of insulin is a lot less expensive than wasting an entire Pod.
Be cautious with taking insulin out of the Pod if you have worn it for three days. I would not trust that after being on your 90+ degree body for that long that it would be safe or fully potent to use in another Pod. Health comes before a few dollars of wasted insulin.
Congratulations, though, on working on weight management. Doing so is sometimes very hard when you have to deal with diabetes.
I agree with Sherry Ann about being careful about extracting insulin after it’s been in a pod attached for three days. I extract if a pod fails to prime, or if I have a pod failure during the first (approx) 24 hours. I use more insulin per day, so I put about 150 units when I start a pod. I will let a pod continue into the 8 hour grace period to use more insulin, unless I am having bad numbers. Then I change right away under the assumption that either 1) the insulin is losing potency or 2) I am having absorbtion problems.
I have been on a pump for the last 10 years. I started out on a Disetronic pump and then went on an Animas pump until I ffound out about the Cut The Cord program.
My other pumps had a 200 unit cartridgei. I would always fill the cartridge and put it in the pump. I would change the site out every 3 days but the cartridge would stay in place. I wouldnt change it until it ran out. I usually used 25 units per day. So a casrtridge lasted a lot more than 3 days and I never had a problem.
So I just dont think there is a problem with removing insulin from a sterile enviroment with a sterile syringe and putting it into a new sterile enviroment.
I know some may have a problem with that but thats always worked for me…
Hi,
My two year daughter is on the Omnipod and we use the minimum amount of units to fill the pod so it will work. We were told by the reps/doctor/trainer to make sure the pointed tip of the fill needle points to at least 85 units as that is the minimum requirements for the pod to work correctly. It seems to work fine for her and the pods have not messed up so I am assuming it is going ok!
I hate when the pods fail. Omni replaces them if that happens but I hate being wasteful. But from now on if I am going to fill with only 80 units I make sure there really are 80.