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Pump not working correctly?!

Medusa41

Medusa41

Well-Known Member
Messages
423
Location
South East
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hi all - puzzled today- I changed the infusion set this morning and assumed all was okay. Scanned my libre & saw my sugars creeping up, corrected, ate some carrots & hummus (dosed for this) & by the time I was home I was at 20!!!!! I can only assume the pump wasn't working properly. I think the units seemed to be at the same number! Changed everything again & finally 'normal' Has anyone else had this with the Insight? TIA
 
Medusa41 said:
Hi all - puzzled today- I changed the infusion set this morning and assumed all was okay. Scanned my libre & saw my sugars creeping up, corrected, ate some carrots & hummus (dosed for this) & by the time I was home I was at 20!!!!! I can only assume the pump wasn't working properly. I think the units seemed to be at the same number! Changed everything again & finally 'normal' Has anyone else had this with the Insight? TIA
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Yes this has happened to me and mostly I do what you did - change it all and try agaim and for some strange reason it works
 
I've had 2 cannula fails since starting to pump - the first time was my first one, and so I was in the 20s on only my second day of pumping - and the more recent one was when I unthinkingly put my cannula in my favourite bit of my tummy for decades of injections. Absorption was completely rubbish!

A few times I have inserted a cannula and it really hurt. In those cases I have ditched that one immediately and inserted a new one in a different area. As @donnellysdogs so wisely said on this forum when I was pre-pump lurking, if it feels wrong, it probably is wrong.

Are you using the Flex cannulas, and if so, are you using the Flex-Assist inserter? A couple of people at my pump start had trouble with manual insertions rather then using the gadget. I've never done it manually myself, and don't fancy doing it without the inserter!

:)
 
Hi @Snapsy - thanks, yes flex & yes I'm using the Flex Assist. (Can't imagine doing manually ). The funny thing is where I put the new cannula it really hurt but seems to be working! Really odd. It's never happened to me before & I thought it was v odd the fact that it kept climbing!
737885e14bc8fdcf7cf44d90c6cc3959.jpg
Thanks
 
It gives me the creeps just thinking about doing it manually, but I guess one of these days I really ought to try it, just in case I ever need to!

I think the rule of thumb is, if there's no other reason for a sudden unstoppable climb, better be safe than sorry by changing cannula ASAP.

I so so sympathise (and indeed empathise!) with the ski slope depicted above - I hate it when that happens. Glad you're feeling okay now, although I suspect you might've felt a bit wobbly come 4pm..... ;)

:)
 
anntuplin said:
Yes this has happened to me and mostly I do what you did - change it all and try agaim and for some strange reason it works
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I started on the Omnipod a few months ago but several times lately my blood sugars have risen to dangerously high requiring an injection. Have checked carbs etc and no reason that I can see so have changed the pod and got bags back in range but it's ca bit scary particularly in the run up to bedtime. Have others experienced this?Thinking of giving up pump.
 
Hi @jill17 - sorry to hear this regarding your pump. Yes I agree it is scary & this has happened once since I posted this & I've no idea why. I changed everything again & was back in range within a couple of hours. How long have you had the omnipod?
 
Snapsy said:
It gives me the creeps just thinking about doing it manually, but I guess one of these days I really ought to try it, just in case I ever need to!
Click to expand...

It's seriously not creepy : D And I'm someone who isn't exactly good with needles. I've always inserted my cannulas manually. It's really simple and allows you to get exactly the right positioning you want.

I also resent the pump,companies pushing the more expensive self-inserters and hiding the manual sets on their websites, but that's another story : D Have a go one day when you're relaxed and have plenty of time. It really isn't as bad as you're probably imagining :)
 
Snapsy said:
It gives me the creeps just thinking about doing it manually, but I guess one of these days I really ought to try it, just in case I ever need to!

I think the rule of thumb is, if there's no other reason for a sudden unstoppable climb, better be safe than sorry by changing cannula ASAP.

I so so sympathise (and indeed empathise!) with the ski slope depicted above - I hate it when that happens. Glad you're feeling okay now, although I suspect you might've felt a bit wobbly come 4pm..... ;)

:)
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you can order a spare inserter from Roche when you order supplies, I keep one at home and one in my work bag just incase
 
jill17 said:
I started on the Omnipod a few months ago but several times lately my blood sugars have risen to dangerously high requiring an injection. Have checked carbs etc and no reason that I can see so have changed the pod and got bags back in range but it's ca bit scary particularly in the run up to bedtime. Have others experienced this?Thinking of giving up pump.
Click to expand...

You say several times lately, do you mean over a course of days, weeks or months @jill17 ?

If it's over several days then it could be possible that you have a batch of faulty pods, but if we are talking about months then it could be your just unlucky and your experiencing poor insulin absorption at the cannula sites, occasionally I've had to change a pod because of poor absorption and experiencing higher than expected bg levels is the first sign.

I'd make Ypsomed aware of the problem, their phone number is on the back of the PDM, I'd also inform your pump DSN/Consultant to see what they have to say.
 
@jill17 ive not had any problems with omnipod so I don't think I can offer much help. If youre having unexplained rises it seems sensible just to change the pod as a first step. Ive not had to do that though. It might be worth looking into whether there's any pattern with it and having a chat to ypsomed, I hope you can get it sorted out.
 
jill17 said:
I started on the Omnipod a few months ago but several times lately my blood sugars have risen to dangerously high requiring an injection. Have checked carbs etc and no reason that I can see so have changed the pod and got bags back in range but it's ca bit scary particularly in the run up to bedtime. Have others experienced this?Thinking of giving up pump.
Click to expand...
Hey @jill17
I have been pumping with the omnipod for 17 months so far and it has been brilliant overall -- have I had a few moments ?? --
resounding YES -- about 2 weeks ago my pod started alarming as I was walking out of Tesco car park to my car
( the noise was really loud )
I drove home ( 10 minutes ) changed immediately -- and all was good -- No BG blip


I have also had a couple of occasions with BG's rising unexpectedly -- to High teens -- so changed at the point of realising -- and soon gained low 5's soonafter

we do ride on a bit of a knife edge in terms of control -- but the flexibility and the tightness of control I achieve seem to make it worthwhile.
 
himtoo said:
Hey @jill17
I have been pumping with the omnipod for 17 months so far and it has been brilliant overall -- have I had a few moments ?? --
resounding YES -- about 2 weeks ago my pod started alarming as I was walking out of Tesco car park to my car
( the noise was really loud )
I drove home ( 10 minutes ) changed immediately -- and all was good -- No BG blip


I have also had a couple of occasions with BG's rising unexpectedly -- to High teens -- so changed at the point of realising -- and soon gained low 5's soonafter

we do ride on a bit of a knife edge in terms of control -- but the flexibility and the tightness of control I achieve seem to make it worthwhile.
Click to expand...
when you say that your pump started alarming does that mean you use continuous glucose monitoring- i don't and have to rely on when i test so could be 2 hours before i notice high bg or longer- today changed set this morning but after lunch noticed insertion set was not attached properly- so changed it and thought all was ok but before dinner my bg was 16+ - so bloused with correction- 2 hours later it has gone up again- am going to change set again using new insulin and hope it goes down
 
loliver1 said:
when you say that your pump started alarming does that mean you use continuous glucose monitoring- i don't and have to rely on when i test so could be 2 hours before i notice high bg or longer- today changed set this morning but after lunch noticed insertion set was not attached properly- so changed it and thought all was ok but before dinner my bg was 16+ - so bloused with correction- 2 hours later it has gone up again- am going to change set again using new insulin and hope it goes down
Click to expand...

No, the pod will alarm to tell you there's something wrong with the pod. That's nothing to do with blood sugar. The omnipod will just alarm to tell you about an occlusion, or that it has stopped delivering insulin because there's some technical error, or because it's too cold or something (my pod usually got too cold to work when out running, without a PDM to turn the alarm off!). So the alarm is just telling you that insulin is not going in, it's not telling you anything about your blood sugar and nor does it have anyway of reading your blood sugar.
 
totally agree with @Caterpillar-- she described what happened to me pretty much word for word.

I do not have separate CGM
 
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