insulin reservoir......

[jonesy]

how long is it ok to keep insulin (novorapid) in the resrvoir. is it ok to fill up completely and keep going till it's empty, or should you only put a certain amount of days worth in and then change???

at present my son fills completely and doesn't change till empty. this can be quite a while, but we don't seem to have had any obvious problems.

Jonesy

[phoenix]

Theory and practice are different.
Novorapid is licensed for 6 days in a reservoir. Apidra is only licensed for 2 days in a reservoir. In both cases that is how long that it's been tested for in clinical trials.
Lots of people use it for far longer. I use Apidra for 6-7 days with normally no problems (except perhaps when it's getting low and the temperature is above 30)

[jopar]

It's the same with Humalog, it's licensed for 6 days use in the cartridge...

But I fill mine up full each time, and change when empty which for my use is best part of a month... I've not had any problems with doing this..

[iHs]

I think weather temperature also plays a part in determing how long insulin should be allowed to be left in the cartridge. I keep my pump in my bra so insulin gets nice and warm so I only fill cartridge to last 6 days whereas Jo puts her pump on her waistband so the insulin doesn't get that warm and as such gets away with leaving insulin in the cartridge for longer than 6 days. Bg testing reveals what to do as insulin going off will mean higher bg levels.........

[leb]

Hi all it not relaven to the original question but as i was flicking through sctive topics this one grabbed me as im new to a pump. Jow much insulin do you all use per day? Tjink i must use an awful lot as a full resevoir only lasts a max of 3 dsys b4 its empty. What pumps are you all on. Mines the animas vibe, maybe they are different in size.
I kniw we r all different and i kniw im quite insulin resistant as fir my weoght ive slways had more tgan expevted but it just surprised me thst some people could actuslly have enough to last mire than 6 days. I dont eat lots of carb either but i guess my rstio is highr than alot

[Riri]

I use the Medtronic pump and the reservoirs hold 1.8ml. I'm on an average of 25-27 units per day but I only fill my reservoir to last the 3 days - then I do a complete cannula and reservoir change. I've always changed both together - I guess it's just a habit I've got into from when I first started pumping and i just followed the instructions I was given at the time.

[phoenix]

I use the same reservoir as Riri, it's supposed to hold 180U though after priming pump and cannula it's normally at a max of 160U.
That lasts me 6 -7 days with a cannula but not a tube change.

[iHs]

I think the Animas Vibe only comes with a 200u cartridge whereas the Medtronic Veo is available in 2 sizes - the small 180u and the larger 300u. The larger Veo is fairly longer in length. The Accu chek Spirit Combo comes with a 300u cartridge but is just a tiny bit larger than the small Veo and can be filled up with any amount of insulin upto 300u so can mean less refill time if people need more insulin. I use about 24u per day so I only half fill my cartridge and that does me for 6 days.

[leb]

Thsnks everyone its so imtrredting to hear the differences. I appteviate you taking time to respond. I really to use alot abiut 60 units a day hence it only lasting 3 days.