At what point should a cannula be changed?

I tend to get a slight lump after 2 days & the sites were taking weeks before the marks faded. I was advised by my DSN to change the cannula every 2 days as a matter of course & this has made a definite difference. There's no reason to be wasting insulin though if you change just the cannula & not the whole tubing/cartridge set. (of course I don't know what pump you have & which sets you use to know your exact set up) I treat cannula changes & cartridge/tubing changes completely separately changing the cannula every 2 days & cartridge/tubing every 7 to 8 days when it's almost empty.

Hi

With both the Silhouette and the Tenderlink there is a small clear window that you can see the cannula through going into the skin. Usually there will be some degree of yellowy redness around the cannula and also sometimes a small amount of blood but unless the set is really hurting you or if your bg levels are going upwards, then it's best to just leave it and not worry. Otherwise you'll be forever changing infusion sets when there might not be any real need.

Probably the dsn is telling you to change everything so that there is no come back but once you get left on your own to deal with the pump, you'll be able to do your own thing and use your own judgement.

Try not to worry

Cheryl said:

I tend to get a slight lump after 2 days & the sites were taking weeks before the marks faded. I was advised by my DSN to change the cannula every 2 days as a matter of course & this has made a definite difference. There's no reason to be wasting insulin though if you change just the cannula & not the whole tubing/cartridge set. (of course I don't know what pump you have & which sets you use to know your exact set up) I treat cannula changes & cartridge/tubing changes completely separately changing the cannula every 2 days & cartridge/tubing every 7 to 8 days when it's almost empty.

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We were told that the insulin would go off if left in the plastic cartridges for more than a few days. I think it separates or something so will become less effective.

I use the tenderlinks, but never found any blood showing in the patch window, the only time I've noticed any red skin, is because I've forgotten to change the infusion set and it's day 4 or 5 So to me this would be an indicator my set needed to come out...

Changing the tubing if your are using novorapid or humalog, then you only need to change the tubing every other set change, hence why they do two types of packets, one with a tube the other without the tube.. Some of the older human insulin can chrystalise in the tubing, but the users of these will know as they will be told to change there complete set every day to avoid this..

Cartridge changing, I was never given a time spam, but for me it take me about 3 weeks to use a cartridge, I have never had insulin go off in over 3 years of pumping.. And well why would they make a 300ml cartridge for pumps when most people would take over a week to use it!

If for a reason your insulin does go off after a certain period of time, there's no need to waste insulin by filling the cartridge up full then dumping the remainder, but fill it up to cover your needs then no wasted insulin..

I finish off the majority of the 200ml cartridge my pump takes in the three days that I leave the sets in for. I think the sets I use only come in one package with tube and canula as one, so makes sense to change everything all at the same time.

It's interesting to see what various people are told & whether we listen to our professionals or do our own thing. I've been pumping for almost 2 years now, but only recently found this site, it's very helpful as I've had a lot of problems. I'm certainly not aware of the range of devices & accessories available, I guess that we all only get told about the pumps favoured by our own healthcare team.

Anyway, I'm finding this all very useful for me & hope my own input isn't confusing matters for others.

Hi, I am allergic to the steel needles, and had to move to teh plastic ones. I wondered if this could be your problem? I know that people can alos be allergic to the adhesive etc?

For teh record, I change my cartridge every 6 days, which is what I was told to do. As it happens, this is when it runs ourt anyway. If I was on less insulin, I would have no problems with leaving t for another day or too, as I am on novorapid, and thid is pretty stable.

When I was on plastic cannula's (quickset & silhouette) I used to change 3-4 days sometimes 5 oops. But I could often get away with using the same cartridge for about 6 days, I would just prime through the tubbing again when changing cannual.

Must admit though I'm a bit worried about ordering more stock as now i've gone on to steel cannula's I have to change it every 2-3 days eek, i'm already half way througha 3 month order and it's only been a month! :shock:

We change Lily's cannula every 2 days and the whole set every 6 days, she uses steel cannulas (rapid D link). There is always plenty left that is thrown away. I have often wondered wether to use it untill it is nearly empty, but the DSN told us to draw up approx what we need and to change on day 6 so that is what we do.

Harry