I Cannot Get A Set To Reliably Work

[ExtremelyW0rried]

I was on silhouettes for years - about 9 years - then suddenly they started to kink all the time.

Tried the Mio. Failed. Tried the sure-T. Less failures (maybe 40% failure rate) but hurt all the time, they didn’t fail initially but perhaps 12-24 hours into being worn. Tried the mio 30s. Consistent failure.
I can’t get a cannula to work anywhere apart from on my stomach and I know that is causing patchy absorption as I’ve used the same sites for a decade.
I’ve been struggling on with the sure-Ts but my dsn told me to try the mio 30 again but further round on my back. Have done so this morning and have had a rise from 4mmol to 9mmol in the last half an hour so I’m not feeling very optimistic.

The Medtronic rep told me all these sets can’t be failing and it must be something else but I’m 100% it is the set. The sureTs often bruise and leave a big lump when I take them out and there is usually blood on the end of them too when they have failed completely. The silhouettes were constantly kinked at a right angle. I’m not sure why the mio 30s don’t work. They haven’t been bent over but they have been filled with blood when I’ve taken them out.

Has anyone else had similar and found a solution that isn’t going back to mdi? Although I cannot think what that solution might be.
I am slim - bmi is now 17.5 and I’ve lost two stone in the last 7 months - but kids use these sets so I can’t believe the fact I’m slim can be the issue.

 

[Juicyj]

Hi @ExtremelyW0rried i'm having similar issues now with sure t's in that 1 in 3 now hurt and/or are causing lumps under the skin and when I remove the sites are sore for up to 5 days afterwards, I can only use my tum as anywhere else is to painful or catches my clothes or causes an issue with sleep, it's pot luck where they go on my tum and if they don't hurt, I generally remove straight away if I get instant pain as a rule of thumb, if it just gets sore then I leave them in and change every 2 days. I had a reaction with mio so didn't get on with plastic cannulas and had complete failures too, sure t is much more effective but then I wonder when I start running higher if it's me or the set. I won't go back to MDI as my control now is so much better than MDI regardless of soreness or lumps.

Sure t's don't fail though for me so when you say fail what do you mean ?

 

[ExtremelyW0rried]

Sometimes they fail entirely - I think they block - and sometimes they cause patchy absorption. My dsn has told me to stop using my stomach and I’m really finding it hard to use anywhere else. The sure Ts sometimes hurt immediately and like you I know that means they won’t be great. Other times they take 12-24 hours and then start. If it’s not unbearable I leave them but sometimes it is so then they have to come out.
It’s not great but I also don’t want to go back to mdi. I’m a bit fed up with it as I don’t feel I can trust the cannulas and then if I get a random higher sugar I’m never sure where it’s just a random higher sugar or the set. Same problem you have!

 

[dancer]

@ExtremelyW0rried I thought I'd check you've tried the smallest cannula in all the sets you've tried. I was using the Mio 9mm sets till they started hurting on some sites. When I changed to the 6mm I was fine. . . . Sorry, it's just a thought.

 

[Ann48]

ExtremelyWOrried,Hi, i have had problems with sets when I use my stomach. Generally I tend to use my hips or high buttock area as it works best for me. I use the Quick sets which I find ok! I normally find if they fail it's after a day.

 

[scotteric]

I was on silhouettes for years - about 9 years - then suddenly they started to kink all the time.

Tried the Mio. Failed. Tried the sure-T. Less failures (maybe 40% failure rate) but hurt all the time, they didn’t fail initially but perhaps 12-24 hours into being worn. Tried the mio 30s. Consistent failure.
I can’t get a cannula to work anywhere apart from on my stomach and I know that is causing patchy absorption as I’ve used the same sites for a decade.
I’ve been struggling on with the sure-Ts but my dsn told me to try the mio 30 again but further round on my back. Have done so this morning and have had a rise from 4mmol to 9mmol in the last half an hour so I’m not feeling very optimistic.

The Medtronic rep told me all these sets can’t be failing and it must be something else but I’m 100% it is the set. The sureTs often bruise and leave a big lump when I take them out and there is usually blood on the end of them too when they have failed completely. The silhouettes were constantly kinked at a right angle. I’m not sure why the mio 30s don’t work. They haven’t been bent over but they have been filled with blood when I’ve taken them out.

Has anyone else had similar and found a solution that isn’t going back to mdi? Although I cannot think what that solution might be.
I am slim - bmi is now 17.5 and I’ve lost two stone in the last 7 months - but kids use these sets so I can’t believe the fact I’m slim can be the issue.

Your problems are similar to mine. The pump companies won't acknowledge that site problems are a legitimate obstacle to pumping, and I don't find the medical community really recognizes this problem either. The only solution I've found is to take pump breaks so that my sites heal and then it works better again. Honestly MDI has improved a lot with half-unit dosing pens and newer basal analogues, so it isn't as bad as it used to be .

 

[ExtremelyW0rried]

Your problems are similar to mine. The pump companies won't acknowledge that site problems are a legitimate obstacle to pumping, and I don't find the medical community really recognizes this problem either. The only solution I've found is to take pump breaks so that my sites heal and then it works better again. Honestly MDI has improved a lot with half-unit dosing pens and newer basal analogues, so it isn't as bad as it used to be .

Yeah the pump rep didn’t want to know really. She suggested my issues were caused by stress over the possible sets failing. She said that could be why my sugars go up rather than the set has failed. Yes pump lady that will explain why I started at 4.2 this morning and tried a mio30 as instructed on my back and then ended up at 19mmol three hours later.

I get major swings in my blood sugars caused by hormones which is why I went on the pump to begin with. It was really hard to manage on mdi which is why my fear of mdi is so great but this isn’t brilliant either. It took me most of the day to get my sugars back under control and I have a sure-T in again now but it is hurting.

 

[ExtremelyW0rried]

Your problems are similar to mine. The pump companies won't acknowledge that site problems are a legitimate obstacle to pumping, and I don't find the medical community really recognizes this problem either. The only solution I've found is to take pump breaks so that my sites heal and then it works better again. Honestly MDI has improved a lot with half-unit dosing pens and newer basal analogues, so it isn't as bad as it used to be .

How long did you need the breaks to be?

 

[EllieM]

I get major swings in my blood sugars caused by hormones which is why I went on the pump to begin with. It was really hard to manage on mdi which is why my fear of mdi is so great but this isn’t brilliant either.

But presumably cgms weren't available when you were on MDI? MDI with a cgm is a completely different deal to MDI without... Could you use a libre while on pump breaks?