Constant issues with Accu-Chek infusion sets

[Chas C]

I have a running belt that I wear under clothing. It is elasticated and has 3 pockets.
I use a 70mm tube. Sometimes I use the plastic clip that attaches to my trouser belt.

Adding to the "how to wear pump when using arm" I put mine in a shirt / t shirt breast pocket. Or if exercising its hung round my neck.

 

[ChrisLinington]

So I tried a brand new sight today as I needed to change my cannula and... it didn't work! Big BG spike and it did not come down after doing correction units. I honestly don't know why I am having so many problems.

 

[ChrisLinington]

Pleased to report that my last 3 cannula changes have been successful in the new sites. Not sure what was wrong with the one in my last message but have had no problems since.

I heard from Accu-Chek but they could not give me any info on other infusion sets as this is something that should be discussed with my diabetes nurse. Have an appointment in a few weeks so will just wait until then!

 

[smig1973]

Hi everyone,

I have been Type 1 Diabetic for 25+ years and have been using the Accu-Chek Insight pump for almost 2 years now. Before this I was using pens.

This is my first ever post on a diabetes forum because I am having serious issues when changing my infusion set. I would say that 50% of the cannulas that I use do not allow insulin through and I sometimes have to change the set up to 3 times before I get one that works and starts to lower my BG.

I have done a google search for known issues but can’t find too much info.

Does anyone else find this issue? Am I just doing something really stupid?

I am starting to consider ditching my pump because it is so unreliable and I am getting worried every time that I need to change it. It’s not right that my BG spikes half of the time that I change it because it simply does not do its job.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated! Or even just to know that I’m not the only one!

Thanks

Are you using the applicator? I think it’s called a LinkAssist or something similar, or are you attempting to do it by hand. In theory you should be able to do either but I have found that whenever my link assist was let’s say temporarily misplaced I would experience similar problems. It would either be very uncomfortable or the tiny latex cannula would’ve linked causing it to seem blocked/occluded. The key benefit of the Link Assist is that the cannula goes in straight and perpendicular to the skin surface and at speed. I keep one at home, one in the car and one at work, still manage to misplace them though.

 

[ChrisLinington]

@smig1973 Yes, I always use the applicator. I've never tried to do it without.

I think the cannulas were probably fine all along and I was just re-using the same sites too often. I'm rotating much more now and not had any issues for a while

 

[donnellysdogs]

Hi everyone,

I have been Type 1 Diabetic for 25+ years and have been using the Accu-Chek Insight pump for almost 2 years now. Before this I was using pens.

This is my first ever post on a diabetes forum because I am having serious issues when changing my infusion set. I would say that 50% of the cannulas that I use do not allow insulin through and I sometimes have to change the set up to 3 times before I get one that works and starts to lower my BG.

I have done a google search for known issues but can’t find too much info.

Does anyone else find this issue? Am I just doing something really stupid?

I am starting to consider ditching my pump because it is so unreliable and I am getting worried every time that I need to change it. It’s not right that my BG spikes half of the time that I change it because it simply does not do its job.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated! Or even just to know that I’m not the only one!

Thanks

I had this after 5 years of great pump usage.

I had used the combo steel and flexible CanI las and insight as well. I came off it.
Changed hospital twice as I moved. Both hospitals gave me different pumps to Accuchek and both still had problems with my body blocking cannulas-any length, any type.

My final hospital a tertiary care one suggested a diaport-but I am intolerant to so much and also being a guinea pig did not appeal. A silly consultant then suggested I should try the artificial pancreas....but thankfully my own consultant ruled that out too. (Same cannulas).

It’s not known why my body blocks cannulas. I was lean at the time but even after regaining some weight the other pumps and cannulas had exactly the same happen.

I am now on tresiba and insulatard as my background insulin and novorapid for my rapid.
My consultants leave me to my own devices to manage and this has been my best regime.

 

[ChrisLinington]

@donnellysdogs Oh wow, sorry to hear about all of the issues you have had. So weird how it just doesn't work so well for some people!

 

[deborabaratto]

Hi everyone,

I have been Type 1 Diabetic for 25+ years and have been using the Accu-Chek Insight pump for almost 2 years now. Before this I was using pens.

This is my first ever post on a diabetes forum because I am having serious issues when changing my infusion set. I would say that 50% of the cannulas that I use do not allow insulin through and I sometimes have to change the set up to 3 times before I get one that works and starts to lower my BG.

I have done a google search for known issues but can’t find too much info.

Does anyone else find this issue? Am I just doing something really stupid?

I am starting to consider ditching my pump because it is so unreliable and I am getting worried every time that I need to change it. It’s not right that my BG spikes half of the time that I change it because it simply does not do its job.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated! Or even just to know that I’m not the only one!

Thanks

I'm having the same problem!! I use the Accu Chek pump for 3,5 years and the last month I'm finding it difficult too to make a change of cannulas that work properly (3 of my 4 last changes that happened) and I always end up having bad spikes too

 

[ChrisLinington]

Do you rotate your sites, @deborabaratto? I've found that rotating further out to my sides has been much more successful. I used to not rotate enough and must have been going in the same 2 or 3 spots over and over again, just by mistake.

It could also be that you've got a bad batch of cannulas though. I still get the odd one that just refuses to work. Maybe get some new ones in and see if there is any improvement

 

[Jollymon]

Not every infusion site we pick to plant an infusion set will be perfect. Some don’t work at all, and will come at the cost of the infusion set itself. When in doubt, change it out. Infusion sets are sadly considered “disposables”.

Infusion sets are the weakest link in the pumping chain for me.

 

[philchap1]

Like @aphex2k, I use metal cannulas now. I find the 6 mm 90 degree plastic type tend to bend too easily causing delivery problems. The other thing I was told by the pump rep (I use a Tandem pump) was that scar tissue can build up and this will influence the degree of infusion. I am currently using sites or areas I have not used before and at times will vary from a 6 mm to 8 mm steel cannula.
Mind you have have been injecting insulin for 52 years, 7 of those on a pump, so I guess there is "a bit" of scar tissue there!!

Do they do steel cannulas for the insight or just the combo ? Thank you.

 

[Chas C]

Do they do steel cannulas for the insight or just the combo ? Thank you.

Both pumps have steel cannulas or teflon plus different lengths of each

 

[Estelle_C]

Hi everyone,

I have been Type 1 Diabetic for 25+ years and have been using the Accu-Chek Insight pump for almost 2 years now. Before this I was using pens.

This is my first ever post on a diabetes forum because I am having serious issues when changing my infusion set. I would say that 50% of the cannulas that I use do not allow insulin through and I sometimes have to change the set up to 3 times before I get one that works and starts to lower my BG.

I have done a google search for known issues but can’t find too much info.

Does anyone else find this issue? Am I just doing something really stupid?

I am starting to consider ditching my pump because it is so unreliable and I am getting worried every time that I need to change it. It’s not right that my BG spikes half of the time that I change it because it simply does not do its job.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated! Or even just to know that I’m not the only one!

Thanks

@ChrisLinington use @ChrisLinington accucheck combo pump and I am having the exact same problem you've described. It's been such a struggle that I stopped the pump and reverted to pens. I'm now trying to get back on the pump by testing out different cannulas.. when I first started the pump I originally used the flexlink 6mm for about three months with no issues.. but now I find my sites/insertion sets are completely unreliable. I have tried the steel cannula and angled cannula with no success. Did you end up finding a solution that worked for you?

 

[ChrisLinington]

@ChrisLinington use @ChrisLinington accucheck combo pump and I am having the exact same problem you've described. It's been such a struggle that I stopped the pump and reverted to pens. I'm now trying to get back on the pump by testing out different cannulas.. when I first started the pump I originally used the flexlink 6mm for about three months with no issues.. but now I find my sites/insertion sets are completely unreliable. I have tried the steel cannula and angled cannula with no success. Did you end up finding a solution that worked for you?

Hi @Estelle_C! Sorry for the delayed response, I somehow managed to miss this message, and sorry to hear you're having issues.

I never tried using different cannulas but I found that rotating my sites helped a bit and I think it was good to give my usual spots a bit of a break. One other tip that I got from my diabetic nurse was to put the new cannula in a couple of hours before taking out the old one and changing the cartridge and tubing. Apparently the shock of putting the cannula in can cause a BG spike and so may have been giving me some misleading BG results after changing my infusion set. I don't personally think that inserting a new cannula gives me a big BG spike, but it may do for other people.

I have also recently got the Freestyle Libre on prescription and the data that this provides has been very helpful in showing me when a new cannula is/isn't working. (I was previously self funded and only purchased on the odd occasion). Of course it is also possible to work this out with finger prick tests but the Libre provides a fuller picture and I can really see if an adjustment dose after a cannula change is working or not.

Unfortunately, I do still get cannulas that don't work for me but this happens less frequently now and I hope that some of this will be of use to you also!

 

[RLMorgan]

Hi everyone,

I have been Type 1 Diabetic for 25+ years and have been using the Accu-Chek Insight pump for almost 2 years now. Before this I was using pens.

This is my first ever post on a diabetes forum because I am having serious issues when changing my infusion set. I would say that 50% of the cannulas that I use do not allow insulin through and I sometimes have to change the set up to 3 times before I get one that works and starts to lower my BG.

I have done a google search for known issues but can’t find too much info.

Does anyone else find this issue? Am I just doing something really stupid?

I am starting to consider ditching my pump because it is so unreliable and I am getting worried every time that I need to change it. It’s not right that my BG spikes half of the time that I change it because it simply does not do its job.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated! Or even just to know that I’m not the only one!

Thanks

Hi Chris,

I have been using the accu-chek combo know for last 4 years and have come upon a few issues with the cannulas.
What you are experiencing sounds like what happened to me when I traveled to Australia.
I had only been there for a day or so when I realised I had forgotten my insertion tool.
I had tried to insert the cannulas manually with some success.
If you look at the cannula when you take it out, is the plastic tube bent?
If so either get a new insertion tool or put your bolus in over a 30 minute period (extended Bolus) and see if that helps.
Do you get occlusion alarms (blockages) this will some times happen if I have a bad (hard) site
You might try asking your DSN for longer length needles. If your using a 6mm long cannula try the 8 or 10 mm versions.
Also I have been told that Roche are not suppling the flex link plus any more and they are know only using the flex link.
I don't really know what the difference is.
If your worried about it being a site issue, try using a completely different area.
I started using the areas on the side of my waist with great success, by the time you get back to the same site your normally a month down the line.

Cheers Rich

 

[ChrisLinington]

Hi @RLMorgan ,

I don't think I've ever had the plastic tube be bent before, certainly not that I can remember.
I do get the occlusion alarms although have only ever seen that once or twice before when changing my cannula/tubing.

Rotating sites further out has been very positive for me in the recent past.

Thanks for the other tips!