19 Comments
If you wear an insulin pump, do you think the insulin inside of your pump while you were wearing it has ever lost its potency due to extreme temperatures?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
© 2023 T1D Exchange. All Rights Reserved.
I noticed it when I bolus and my Sugars don’t come down I had it had it happen 4 times during real hot and cold days
Sometimes on day 3, the insulin seems to not work as well.
I answered yes, because it does seem to happen more often in the summer, but even in a New England winter, day 3 can sometimes be a challenge. Like maybe the spot I chose was just tired of absorbing the insulin efficiently/there was some kind of block/etc.
I’ve noticed less potency on hot days. Not in cold weather.
Difficult to tell. Just test and adjust.
There’s potentially a couple of factors that can come into play here that can influence the results. The amount of time your insulin is in the pump, the type of insulin, the infusion site. For me I’ve noticed that if I exceed 4 days without changing out the insulin the efficacy tends to diminish more for me anyways. That said is it due to the insulin or the infusion site hard to say that’s why I keep things within a 3 days which is also stated by the pump manufacturers.
My endocrinologist has referred to a study that showed a 23% drop in insulin potency by day three in a pump. I’ve noticed decreased action, perhaps due to heat. Of course, problems with the infusion site could also become evident on day 3.
I wear an Omnipod and this happened 1 time. I was playing golf in a charity tournament and it was 107 degrees in the shade. The pod was on my arm and basically the heat fried the insulin. My blood sugar kept rising despite numerous boluses. I was a new pumper at the time and freaked out a little bit. I left the tournament early and went home and changed out the pod. It took a few hours but but my blood sugar eventually returned to normal.
YMMV – Of course there are so many factors to affect it that there can never be a hard and fast rule. Currently change site every 2 to 3 days, load 5 days insulin in Pump and Refill it once before changing. I’m in TX so heat is a factor but maybe less than in Upper West
Not often, and I cannot prove it. I had an example this week. My cartridge was low on Monday afternoon, but it had enough units to run through the night and would be ready to change before lunch on Tuesday. My BG began to rise in mid-afternoon, and Control IQ did not keep up with the rise. I ate a normal dinner with a bolus to match and more to make a correction. BG was still high at bedtime – more corrections. It stayed above 200 all night. I changed the cartridge right after breakfast (old insulin still running). The BG stayed high most of the morning but began to moderate. Within about 45 minutes after lunch with new insulin running during the morning basal period and the lunch bolus, the BG returned to normal and flattened out with no more erratic behavior. The only variable I can identify is “new insulin.”
Think it happens from it getting to warm at night time.
Yes, just a few weeks ago when AZ was having record highs and I was outside pdf of the weekend in 108+ degrees I had high blood sugars all weekend and kept having to switch insulin out in my pump. I
With the weather warming up in SoCAL, I think I’ve endured my first test of the summer. The last few days my blood sugar has been a little elevated. It’s time to make a complete pump change for the potency of the insulin not working at its best.
#diabeteslife
Only once, that I can prove.
Not due to extreme weather, but sometimes the tubing on the medtronic doesn’t work well after the second day
I have suspected loss of potency, maybe 2 or 3 times in the heat. Never from the cold, because my body temperature keeps it from getting too cold.
Just this last week I installed a ceiling fan and was in my attic. Must have been 150 degrees. Later that day, blood sugar went way up and didn’t respond to correction. Swapped the pod for a new one and everything worked.
Just this week when outside temps were high 90s/low 100s and air conditioning died, it was 90 degrees inside the house at 11 at night… BUT it was also the 2nd and 3rd day of the pod…
So, was it because it was the end of the pod’s life or the temp? I’m not sure. But, it seems to me the temp played a big part in my wonky blood sugars.
I ride on a motorcycle with my husband during long distance trips in very hot weather. I’ve found that my insulin loses it’s effectiveness during this time and I have to increase my dosing to make up for this. I am going to try wearing a different waist band pump belt that will allow a small ice pack to put next to the pump during these rides. Sometimes we’re gone for several days. I’ve also had vials of insulin freeze in motel/hotel frigs without temp control. A very bad thing to happen. 🙁