Accuchek Piston /Bluetooth failures...

Hi

I thought that I was the only one getting a piston stuck, and blue tooth failures between pump and remote.
Accuchek told me that they hadn't heard from anybody previously with a piston getting stuck!!?? It appears from a number of postings here that they are wrong....and one thing looks to be quite significant in this happening is the batteries....

I too have lost confidence in my combo pump, and I am waiting to see my consultant on Monday next week, as I do not accept mechanical errors by a pump causing me problems with my health and trying to control my levels.

If I have another piston failure, I will be logging this on the MHRA website for machine failures, as mine was NOT down to an insulin leakage.

How many of us are having these failures?

In my case, my levels went very high, and bolus's weren't bringing my levels down. On advice from accuchek 24 hr nurse, I did a set change. Pumped through a unit for the set. Did more bolus -still going higher. Knew I couldn't go to bed without getting levels lower, and did not want to give injection by pen, as this would not resolve what was wrong with pump. I decided to do a prime of 30 units (1m tube) and nothing came out. I did another prime, and looked at piston-not moving.....
I then decided I had to change the cartridge, set etc-I also had to get the piston to rewind by pushing it up so it registered that it had 0 units in cartridge and then re-winding it by telling it I was doing a cartridge change. Put in new cartridge and primed and it worked, so did a bolus via machine and went to bed 1/2 hour later and BGs had started to fall, checking levels 2 hours later and they were still falling. By morning they were okay.

I phoned up accuchek in morning, and it was then that they said they had never heard of a piston getting stuck. They said that according to their fault checklists that I should have changed battery and battery cover as well as everything else. I did not have one single warning from the pump that there was a problem. The person on the helpdesk said I should have had a warning....but I didn't.

I have since had an occlusion, which also involved another complete change of everything, and this was when my remote and pump lost ability to talk to each other.

I know that some persons talking about pumps say that pistons can stop due to leakage of insulin from lueur, but mine is done up so tight it needs a spanner to get it off!!!!! There was no leakage, and certainly there was also no smell of insulin either, and nothing visible in tube or on piston either.

I know that people say that scar tissue and and skin etc can cause failures, but literally I know that everytime my levels raise more than 9 then I have a problem of some description from the pump, tubing or sets. My skin is perfect, I have no scar tissue at all. The only time I have had a problem with a cannula is when they have been painful in me, and I know then that I have hit blood or muscle, and I can feel this straight away, so don't have to wait for my levels to shoot up high.

It was interesting reading the other posting ref pistons stopping to know that I am not the only person experiencing this. Even though I had resolved the problems myself I phone accuchek and tell them, as unless they know that their pistons are getting stuck then how will they know that they should rectify these problems from happening?? I also know that they will email my DSN, and this would get her attention quicker than if I phoned or emailed her.....

Accuchek won't send out a new one to replace it with in the interim, and didn't see that it needed to be checked.........as they told me I was a one off with piston stuck!!!...and because I had got it going again....

After high levels again yesterday, my alarm on pump went off at 6am this morning with another occlusion error. Phoned accuchek to let them know and ask them how long should it be before the pump warns me of the occlusion-apparently 45 minutes!!!! Then got told that lots of people getting airbubbles in and around the lueur that we can't actually see, and that may be I had a combination of problems. I asked if I should be doing what the apidra instructions tell me which is to change the cartridge, and cannula every 2 days. Girl at accuchek said that she had just had another person reporting that she was having to do this, but the girl at accuchek did not even know that apidra insulin existed and asked if it was a new one out???!!and then advised me to speak to my nurse about going back to novorapid!!!!
Pretty fed up with pump at the moment. Like other pumper message, fed up with being woke up during the night with occlusion messages-when I haven't changed or done anything differently for 5 months now. Can't figure out what is happening, and accuchek weren't exactly enlightening as to how to resolve these occlusions.....
To top it off today, changed cartridge and cannula and battery and had to redo another cannula as hit blood on way in, and set was so painful had to do another one straight after.....
Not a happy bunny.....

A dsn spoke to me this afternoon from hospital...not my normal dsn but one that is actually on accuchek pump. She suggested I go back to MDI until I see my consultant on Monday. I told her I wasn't a quitter, just a very frustrated pumper, and that I just don't know whether it is my sets, or apidra or pump that is wrong, and that having to change the whole lot so frequently with additional piston problem was annoying.

\i don't weant to give up, as that is really ignoring the problem and a **** easy solution. I want a pump and gadgets that do not throw up stcuk pistons, and E4 occlusions.....and it appears that I am not the only one having these E4 occlusions all of a sudden.....other pumper having e4 messages isn't on apidra, so is it that we are both using the new flexilink plus sets?????

I'm daft and desperate but not defeated......

Just been on to internet site http://products.sanofi-aventis.us/apidra/apidra.pdf and it says that apidra should only be pumped in to abdomen......my last two weeks have had sets in both cheeks of my bum-so perhaps I will go back to novorapid......

See it also emphasises changing the reservoirs at least every 48 hours....my hospital and accuchek rep say it should be every 6 days, but I am really doubting this now I have read these details....

Have also realised this morning that my problems started when I started using a specific box of sets.
This morning I woke up at 9, when I went to bed at 4.9, and I normally wake up at the same levels as when I went to bed, so there had to be something wrong. Checked my set, and although the connector was firmly attached and not loose, the right hand side arm piece clicked in more exactly when I was playing around with it.
So I checked my log books where I write down everything including set changes and when going back over the last 4 weeks records and looking at when all my highs started, I realised that it has been after every single set change..
I have phoned accuchek with the lot number of my box of sets and told them that I still have another both untouched with the same lot number on, and they are now sending me out 2 boxes of different sets.
I don't think the connectors on the tube are correctly locking on to this particular lot number of sets. When I change the cartridge and sets over altogether I have not had problems for those 3 days.
I think that despite some insulin geting through that some is not and then it is getting stuck and eventually giving me occlusions.
I have 1 box of sets with a different lot number on my next set changeover.
Also, I am definitely going to change back to Novorpaid this afternoon, as I have definitely been scared off the apidra after from reading from the manufacturers that sets may be put in abdomen (no mention of anywhere else)and also that they definitely recommend that the whole reservoirs and sets should be changed every 2 days.
Will let you know if changing to a diffent batch of lot number sets does alleviate my highs....by the way the lot number on the boxes is GWX 007.
I am hoping that it is the set connector and not the tube connectors that aren't fitting snug on the sets.
Thanks for listening to my moans and troubles, but hopefully now I have identified what are causing my problems, and I have also informed accuchek so if there is a problem with these new flexilink plus connectors that they will look at what is happening.....

Found an interesting study done by 4 uk hospitals and 5 from the netherlands which states their studies of the accuchek combo pump: http://www.journalofdst.org/November201 ... 6-KERR.pdf

Device Function
Occlusion alarms which were triggered either by force
thresholds or the new algorithm occurred, with an
incidence of 15.3 per patient year, similar to its precursor
ACCU-CHEK Spirit (n = 16).9 About 54% of the alarms
here were triggered by the new algorithm. Sixteen
subjects reported transient and minor problems with
Bluetooth communication during the study.

Amazed me that the percentage rates are so high really....I'm staggered really.....what I really don't understand is that when we bang our pumps during priming to get out the airbubbles, will this eventually lead to problems....I certainly couldn't bang my television as much and so often without some of the electronic wizardry inside working loose.....

Just got on m=to my 2nd day with flexilink tube and set dya, and levels have now gone up to 21.7++++++after 3 ryvitas.......just given an extra 5 units bolus to try and get levels down and another 200% basal. Really fed up.........don't know what the heck is going on..........levels on basal rate fasting all at 6, then went up to 11+ after having fish n chips from shop (last time then plummeted down badly....exactly the same bolus levels........now they are up to almost 22...this is just coming up to 3rd day of tube, cartridge and set change.......really, really fed up with it all.......