Knowing when to switch out the infusion set can be confusing when the insulin bolus is not reacting in your body in a normal way. I recommend that after 3 bolus attempts within a 6-hour time frame then seeing almost no response to the insulin that you should go ahead and insert a new infusion set. I have found that when you nick a vein and a large pocket of blood can accumulate around the plastic tubing where the insulin is diffused and will not be absorbed into your bloodstream. This goes against my logical thinking and is hard to justify in our minds and is an abnormal condition that does occur on occasion. Note: when you remove the infusion set be prepared with an absorbent pad to collect the leaking blood from the injection site. This is a normal event and may take several minutes for you to extract the accumulated blood from under the skin. Use pressure applied by your fingers around the site to expedite the extraction until the flow has stopped completely. It is amazing how much blood can sometimes ooze out, so be prepared and again this is a normal event and do not let it scare you.
