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Help please!

cath67plum

cath67plum

Active Member
Messages
40
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I've only had my pump 26 hours :) (Medtronic 640G)

I'm worried that I've got an air bubble in the tube - how will I know?

Can I upload a photo on hear?

Catherine
 
Hi,

Yes you can upload pictures on here. Just click on "upload a file" (bottom right where you would type message.) then follow the prompt...

Unfortunately, I'm not a pumper. But I'll tag a few in.. @azure @Juicyj @noblehead @himtoo
I'm not sure which models they use, but I know they can help..
 
Here's a photo:
bubble.jpg
Pump is not alarming. BG levels are not rising. I might be worrying about nothing!!
 
hi @cath67plum I too get these on my sets, nothing to worry about, don't know why they appear in the tubing, just check your BG level and if rising change the set - which set are you using, have they put you straight onto Mios ?
 
I sometimes also get sets with tubes that are a bit flawed and look as though air bubbles are along but it's just the way the set has been manufactured. When bubbles are present, they will move along the tube but can be identified with priming insulin with the tube unclipped from the set and watching them move along so when they don't you know that there's nothing wrong.
 
I have a Vibe and haven't had any bubbles, but I did with my first pump on the first or second day of using it and it freaked me out! However, even if it is a bubble rather than a mark on the tubing, it looks small and shouldn't cause any problems.

If you ever get a series of bubbles (it can happen occasionally) just prime them out and you'll see little frothy insulin coming out of the cannula before it changes to normal clear defined drops. That 'froth' is the bubbles.

As Juicy says, just keep an eye on your sugar, but don't worry :)
 
Looks like everything has been mentioned but as i have the 640g also.

Must admit i never thought that it could be a manufacturing mark on/in the tubing. I used to get these bubbles quite a lot when i first started using the pump and have to say i get the odd one or two now and again but so far they have never affected my BG.

If it worries you just disconnect from yor body and go through the motions of a set change without changing anything. In other words all your doing is filling the tubing. When you reconnect to your canular as you didn't remove it there is no need to fill it. You will have the option to skip that part.

Regards

Martin
 
i have been on a vibe for a month now. I have not had bubble problems. However once when i removed an insulin cartridge it had a lot of tiny bubbles in. I had a thought on this, When I fill my cartridge with insulin, you have to first put air into the insulin bottle. If too much is put in maybe this presurrizes the bottle of insulin and so puts invisible drops of air into the bottle. This possibly would come out when in the pump as it would then just be atmospheric pressure. Ever since then after using the insulin bottle I put a pen needle into the bottle to release the air. probably not relevant in your case especially as its your first.
 
richyb said:
i have been on a vibe for a month now. I have not had bubble problems. However once when i removed an insulin cartridge it had a lot of tiny bubbles in. I had a thought on this, When I fill my cartridge with insulin, you have to first put air into the insulin bottle. If too much is put in maybe this presurrizes the bottle of insulin and so puts invisible drops of air into the bottle. This possibly would come out when in the pump as it would then just be atmospheric pressure. Ever since then after using the insulin bottle I put a pen needle into the bottle to release the air. probably not relevant in your case especially as its your first.
Click to expand...
I think any excess air pushed into the insulin vial is expelled when you remove the reservoir after filling.

Regards

Martin
 
Should have mentioned that champagne size bubbles are expected and ok. Also make sure you allow the insulin vial to reach ambiant/ room temperature for an hour or more as if you use one straight fom the fridge this will cause bubbles to form.

Regards

Martin
 
Mine can look like that most of the time usually if the tube has bent or got stuck in the belt clip, if sugars are rising change otherwise its grand
 
my DSN told me those white bits are because the tube is actually made of two layers and that's when the layers stick together - if it's an air bubble it will move down the tube but these marks won't move.
 
I have something on my tubing that looked like that. I thought it was an air bubble, but it was just a mark that was just a mark where the tubing bent or folded a little bit. Hope this helps. : )
 
Just another voice to say me too, I get ones like that :)
 
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