When you finally accept your site failed

@machiya I first went with CGM and saw what it took to get good time in range. It’s hard! Harder than getting a better A1C, because for that all you need is to spend a bunch of time low, to average out your high’s. I had CGM (Dexcom) for nine months before getting on the pump (Tandem with C-IQ).

Pump made the TIR much, much easier. And I’m still working on settings to fine tune variable basal rates, insulin to carb ratios that vary through the day, and correction factors.

At the cost of site failures (which I haven’t had to deal with, yet, fortunately) and being tethered to a machine 24/7. Which is an irritant, very true; and an adjustment.

At this point, I wouldn’t go back to MDI. I was injecting 8 x a day or more, trying to avoid big swings in BG. That is also a PITA!

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For me, a pump was the difference between surviving with my diabetes and thriving despite it. I can’t say it’s more or less work than MDI, it’s just different work. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, though, least of all returning to MDI.

The ability to micromanage without long-term insulin in my system and the pain/inconvenience of constant injections means I can readily adapt to anything my day brings and I never have to question if it’s “worth it” to give a correction… Which I was way too often guilty of on MDI. Plus, since I recently tripped 40 and weight is suddenly a new concern, it’s really nice to not have to treat lows with calories, but rather just withhold insulin and wait for the low to come up all in its own.

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When I pumped this was chronic sometimes daily. I teach yoga and after each class I would slowly start to see my numbers creeping up then next meal bomb - 200 - 225. Deep stretching was pulling the cannula out of place. I use Trebisa and it stopped happening. My doctor almost mocked me for insisting it was that. I changed to injection and totally perfect.

I am so glad to see this topic since it makes me feel less alone! Every once in a while when I change my daughter’s inset, somehow something isn’t right, her BG goes high, and I end up having to bolus with her injectable insulin and change out the inset. Really distressing. We use the Tandem TruSteel.

I spoke to our Tandem rep today and, after talking me down from the ledge, she made a really helpful suggestion. She said some people leave the “old” inset in and then go ahead and put in the new one. That way, if the new one turns out to be problematic, one can always revert to the old one and bolus with that. Meanwhile, one needs to do a new site/new inset change and test it with the next meal.

At this point I’m a nervous wreck after each inset change…worrying whether it’ll be ok or not. I try not to let my daughter know that because if I’m stressed she could pick up on that which in turn could cause her BG to rise!
Sigh

I find that the Steele sets will run into muscle and clog. If she is thin, she might be having this issue. I use the plastic cannula that I insert on an angle, almost parallel to the skin and it’s pretty consistent. For me, I get inflammation at the site, that’s when it stops absorbing, but the type of set won’t help that

Aaarrrgh it happened to me. When using the autoinjector, the tubing got caught in the little gap in the cover so it lifted out partially when I took the cover off. “It’ll be fine”. Nope: hour after hour, sugar went up despite increasingly irritated blousing. I replace the set and could clearly see where the catheter was kinked on the old one.
It’ll happen to you.

I used MDI (6 or 7) for over 35 years, gave me very good control. Switched to a pump 1.5 years ago. Until a week ago it went great and improved my BG. Using the pump I changed tubing every 4 days, probably could have gone longer, never any problem, or blockage, or unexpected results. (I’m using a Tandem pump with C-IQ, it keeps my BG at 90%-95% time in range. About a week ago I noticed after 1 or 2 days, my bolus would quit working about half way through my large meal of the day (supper). Waiting for it to start working again did not work. Pulling the needle out and inserting in a new spot generally ‘fixed’ it. And now it is happening every time I change the tubing. So I am now using new sites I have never used before (lower butt), so I can rule out scar tissue as the problem. So far the problem is seeming to persist. Not sure what the problem is, but I am very tempted to return to MDI (in the last week I have used a pen twice when BG was going high and my pumped insulin was doing nothing - the pen worked well both times). Not sure what is going on - it is not the pump - but I may return to MDI if I cannot find a solution. I am in a small town, so cannot see a diabetic nurse or endo for about a month, which is too long for me to wait. Not sure where I will go next.

I’ve seen a couple of these issues happen.
Most likely is the lure lock connection near the set.
I’ve seen two of these in a row be loose and leaking.
Once when I was sleeping my sugar went up which never happens.
Second is a bad site.
Third is a leaky site.