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Anyone lie down for set changes?

MushyPeaBrain

Well-Known Member
Messages
647
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
I did my set change today and tried a new area. I always use my stomach and hips and decided to be brave and try the part below the stomach and just above the bikini line as I have heard people say this is good. Fired in no problem but sugars weren't right and then got an occulsion alarm during bolus (which in my case always happens when cannula is kinked).

Anyway reconnected to old set and will just leave that in for another day. My kinking issues are rare these days due to storing my sets in the fridge. However some areas of my stomach, like this one, are curved rather than flat and I wonder if this partly causes the kink. I always stand to insert, using a firing device (Inset II).

Does anyone lie down? Any success/problems with this? Any other tips for firing into non flat areas? :lol:
 
I will bump your post up as it seems to have been overlooked.
 
Hi!
It's my 5 yr old who wears a pump:
I actually find the 'non flat bits' to be better site areas! She has quite skinny/muscular thighs and tummy so no, I wouldn't get her to lie down as that would 'stretch her out' even more if you get what I mean?! The best sites are when I can pinch up for insertion. We get 3 days out of her hips/bottom area and only 2 days out of her thighs. We've started putting her CGM, not her pump, in her arm and are getting excellent results here. This is advice I've got from American mums. We've never been advised to use the arm by our medical team here (nor have we been not advised to). I know that the Americans use the arm for the pump too. We weren't keen cos of the tubing but it might be worth looking into - ?
We changed from a cannula to a smaller stainless steel needle as what was happening was my daughter didn't have a big enough layer of fat on her so the tip of the cannula was hitting muscle and this was reacting to the foreign body and was closing over the tip of the cannula. We had countless kinked cannulas, occlusions & site failures until we changed sets.
Good luck!
Vikki
x
 
Thanks guys!! I actually did another set in the same area and got occulsions again but when I pulled the set it wasn't kinked at all. I think there is tissue damage there as it's below where I used to inject my Levemir, which I was very allergic to and cause me lots of swollen areas post injection.

I can't use my arms as they are too thin (wasn't allowed to inject them either). The only area I carry any weight is round my middle so I'm sticking to the tummy and hips for now. Bum is my reserve if I get site issues later.

Vikki I would love to use the steel sets but when I tired them I had huge BG issues. I suspect this is because I have large boluses and the force from my pump was pushing the insulin back out. The only way round it would be to use a much longer steel needle which I'm not brave enough to do!!
 
Hi mushypeabrain,

Glad to hear your sets have settled down to some degree I'm finally sorted - gone on to steel - felt really wierd but it's not so bad now. I have always lay down when set changing, no idea why, just easier i guess. Occasionally I'll sit up and change it, especially if I'm looking for extra fat to grab
 
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