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Tubing Help

G

Gemma2

Well-Known Member
Messages
193
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I have been on the Insight Pump for 3 months and I love it but I thought I would try a shorter length tubing. Big mistake. All my blood sugars went haywire. Phoned Roche and they said I had to adjust input on my meter. I am on 70mm tubing but wanted to try 40mm tubing. Can some kind soul help a lady in distress please.
 
Gemma2 said:
I have been on the Insight Pump for 3 months and I love it but I thought I would try a shorter length tubing. Big mistake. All my blood sugars went haywire. Phoned Roche and they said I had to adjust input on my meter. I am on 70mm tubing but wanted to try 40mm tubing. Can some kind soul help a lady in distress please.
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I have gone from a 23 inch tubing to 43 I think it is and it had no effect on my blood sugars, Personally I can't see how it could.
 
I'm not on the Insight but have swapped tubing lengths with no problem on two different pumps. Is it something to do with priming? Or something you have to alter in the pump settings? Is the cannula the same on both lengths?

If it was me, I'd check the pump manual and if the answer wasn't immediately obvious, I'd give Roche a call and get someone to talk me through what to do.

Hope you get it sorted :)
 
Gemma2 said:
I have been on the Insight Pump for 3 months and I love it but I thought I would try a shorter length tubing. Big mistake. All my blood sugars went haywire. Phoned Roche and they said I had to adjust input on my meter. I am on 70mm tubing but wanted to try 40mm tubing. Can some kind soul help a lady in distress please.
Click to expand...
Are they implying that you have a set amount button to push to fill the different length tubing? The different pumps I've had all require you to fill the tubing by keeping finger on button until insulin appears out the other end.
 
Hi Gemma2 using a shorter tubing shouldn't make any difference as the insulin you use to fill the longer tubing would just come out of the end, you must be disconnected from the pump when filling the tubing, I have used the 70 and 40 on my insight pump and I leave it on the 70cm fill amount and I have had no issues but it must be disconnected when filling.
 
One more question please. Should I use a smaller cannula with the shorter tubing?
 
Gemma2 said:
One more question please. Should I use a smaller cannula with the shorter tubing?
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Er no not unless you need to use one, cannula length has nothing to do with tubing length.
 
Do you mean by smaller 6mm rather than 8mm if so no, it's whichever is best for you but if you do change the length of the cannulas you use you will have to change the cannula fill amount on the pump, but you can use the cannula your using with different tube lengths.
 
Gemma2 said:
One more question please. Should I use a smaller cannula with the shorter tubing?
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No, you shouldn't need to change cannula length just because you changed the length of your tubing. The cannula just delivers the insulin into your body, it doesn't matter how long a piece of tubing the insulin has travelled along before it gets to the cannula. The important thing is that the cannula is the right length for you. Once you get that right, you can use various lengths of tubing with that same length cannula.
 
Thanks for all the gen. Very grateful. It is now all systems go for this 74 year old Pumper.
 
Gemma2 said:
Thanks for all the gen. Very grateful. It is now all systems go for this 74 year old Pumper.
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Very pleased to hear it Gemma being 74 years young is no barrier to anything :)
 
You must set up the lemgth of tubing on your insight pump for it to prime correct amount. Same with changing cannulas. Each cannula length needs altering. There is a leaflet in the instructions for which length tubes needing the qty of insulin to prime them through. If you've gone from long to short you will be massively using too much insulin.
 
donnellysdogs said:
If you've gone from long to short you will be massively using too much insulin.
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This wont affect blood sugar control though would it, as no one in their right mind would be connected when filling the tubing?
 
CarbsRok said:
This wont affect blood sugar control though would it, as no one in their right mind would be connected when filling the tubing?
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Depenfs if someone sttsches the cannula and fills... No they shouldn't but yhe Indight you prime all cannulas once inside the skin. Even the cannula prime qtys they quoted were **** for me... And I added more as 2 hours after every prime of every cannula sccording to theirbwtys Y ilelwould raise substantially.

A lot of folk do as book tells them.. A cannula change pre bolus so you know its working. If like me you did a cannula change every morningwithout eating till evening you could clearly identify that every cannula change was a problem....and the priming wty acoording to the length (of course) and body fat I guess is different.

Its just that the insight has preset fills for different lengths of tubes... Best just to be aware that they need to be changed if changing tube or cannula type.
 
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