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If you use an insulin pump, which of these options best describes when you most often change your pump site?
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My response was “other.” I only use 25 units of insulin a day, so I fill the reservoir (Tandem x-slim) with a week’s worth of insulin, but I change my infusion site every three days. I have been doing this for years with no issues. Medicare makes me get infusion sets and cartridges in the same quantity, even though I only need half the number of cartridges. I won’t enumerate the waste and cost of this system. Medtronic sells infusion sets without the tubing for exactly my situation, but Tandem has decreed that everyone must change out the cartridge every three days.
I change my infusion set every 2-3 days after I exercise and shower, late morning or early afternoon. I fill my cartridge every 5-6 days at the same time as I switch sets. Somehow, I don’t have any problem getting the right number of sets and cartridges for my routine even though Medicare pays for them. Maybe it has to do with the way my endo writes my prescriptions.
No specific routine but I prefer earlier in the day when reservoir gets low
No routine – whenever the reservoir is low and the time is convenient. I used to have a set evening time but now that I can see an accurate number of insulin units left, I try to use it up. In fact, I’m so reluctant to waste insulin that before changing my site I will often eat something and bolus for it, even when I’m not hungry, just to use those last few units of insulin!
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Totally agree!
I’ve do the same thing if needed. Insulin is so expensive!
We all have our quirks!
Start of my day which means I am woken up every 3 days at 3:30am by the reminder alarm around
I change my infusion set(steel) every 1-3days depending on how it is working. I change my insulin cartridge (Tandem X2) every 7-12 days. Depending on my activity level I use 15-25 units of insulin per day.
I don’t change sites until my reservoir is empty.
Because I need to calibrate it so many times the first day, I do it as early in the day as possible.
I answered end of day, but my son showers before dinner, and charges his pump then. After showering, he changes his pump site so that we know it’s working well before bed.
No specific routine but also if I have any insulin left in the reservoir I’ll keep the pump on for the allotted up to 8hrs that my pump allows so not to waist the insulin.
My pods expire every three days with several hours of grace period before they stop working. At the beginning, I picked a time of day when I am usually home, so around 5:30. Sometimes it’s later, but then I try to get back to my regular time.
On through the day
I don’t have a special time or a especial number of days. If it’s the site is working I might let it be up to the 4th day. If it’s not I might have to change it more often.
After many years of injections I’m sure I have a lot of scar tissue even though not visible but many times the site just doesn’t absolve week enough to keep my BG where I want them.
The tandem pump is great but it’s infusion sets really suck. All pumps give you a diagram of all the places you could input a set but in reality can you? No. The connection is not easy to hook up unless you can see and align the trident with the openings. So the back is out. If you’re a side sleeper can you lay on the site all night without getting bruises? can you use your arms if you do a lot of exercises and play sports? And so the list goes on.
I visited my nurse practitioner who helps
Me
Manage the pump and she changed the correction feature on my settings and it seems to be working better. Now when the Control IQ is trying to keep my highs it’d be given more insulin and it’ll work faster. This way I might be able to avoid trying to do the corrections myself by bolusing and ended up with a low 2 or 3 hours later.
Another problem as someone else mentioned is MEdicare and the rule that you have to get the same amount of infusion sets as of cartridges and syringes. It’s a complete absurdity.
Meant to say “the site doesn’t absorb well.
I’m on Medicare but I get more sets than cartridges with no problem.
I change my infusion set evrey 3 days – although the time of day varies with my schedule. I fill the cartrdge to the full 300 units, and change it when it is empty. Again, since my schedule is so varied I wouldn’t dare to try to come up with a 3-dyas-worth of insulin to change both out every 3 days. There are days when I don’t eat anythng but a small green salad for lunch and nothing else, days when I am very physically active, and dyas that my work requires sitting at the desk for 12+ hours. So insulin requirements vary greatly.
Adding, that since I am not qualified for Medicare, I can order just infusion sets which I do about every other order.
I change my infusion set just before I take a meal bolus (usually for breakfast).
No specific routine. When the site goes bad, after a certain amount in insulin has been infused, when the reservoir runs out, when I won’t make it through the night with what insulin is left, painful site.
I’m retired. so have greater flexibility in my schedule. Because I have high insulin sensitivity and am required to load my Tandem t:slim X2 cartridge with more insulin than I will use in 3 days, I tend to change my cartridge when it runs out but will change my infusion site every 3 days or sooner rather than doing both at the same time. Otherwise, too much insulin is wasted.
One thing I liked about my old dumb Paradigm pump was that you could choose to have the low reservoir alert go by time rather than units remaining. With an AID pump that’s more of a moving target, but with an old dumb pump it would just calculate out your basal rates. I found if I set it to 12 hrs I’d usually get warned during normal waking hours rather than the 3am pumps would just natural prefer. “Hey, if I’m not jerking you out of a deep sleep how do you know I care?”
I found that it is never good to change anything (as it relates to diabetic medical devices late in the day…….. ) I like time to ensure everything is working right so earlier is better. I also leave my existing infusion set in place in the event that I need to go back to a known working site. Once the new site is verified, I remove the old set.
What does a resevoir amount have to do with site changes. There is no clinical reason I’ve found or studies to that say that you have to change site and resevour at the same time. Never done that in over 25 yrs of pump use. Why do T1Ds get told this, it’s not written in the pump guides.
The pump runs me most of the time. I sometimes run it beyond the specified expiration if I am still getting good numbers. Sometimes I will change early if my daily plans will not coincide conveniently. Mostly I just change when it says to change, or close.
I chose: “No specific routine – whenever the site expires or the reservoir is too low”. However, I also look at my schedule for the next 24 hours. If I have an early morning, I will try to extend the site till later the next day or change it after supper. I don’t like to change right before bed nor when I need to leave home immediately after the change.
I use an omnipod from Insulet. There is a hard failure wired into the electronics at the end of 3.00 days plus 8 hours. At that point the pump, and the injection point, stop working and the pump starts to squawk loudly. Because I am on medicare, I pay for my pump out of pocket. I usually try to utilize every moment of my allotted time with the pump. I end up being a slave to a sliding time-of-failure that is usually inconvenient for me.
Same here, I like to get every minute.
I do it either 2 hours before lunch or supper, so I have a follow up period to make sure the set is working. (I am not up early enough before breakfast to do it 2 hours before.) And then a follow up period of a couple hours after the meal to make sure it handles the meal before going to bed. Which time I choose depends on where I am and what is scheduled. If I have a class two hours before lunch, I will do it 2 hours before supper. If I have a late afternoon dental appointment, I will do it before lunch. And so on.