This diaTribe article by Gary Scheiner has a great little summary with lots of suggestions to help you pick the right pump for you but the comparison information it links out to on Integrated Diabetes Services gives you the full monty on each current pump. Happy pumping!
So lately I’ve been trying out OmniPod sites to experiment with my insulin absorption rates. Wearing the pod on my back is great as far as insulin absorption and blood sugar are going, however, how the heck do you reach back there to change your pod?
If I was just using the OmniPod and the adhesive it came with, I’d probably be ok using a mirror to place new pods and remove old ones…but I use Skin Tac and (as many of you know) that stuff is messy!
When I place pods on my belly, the circle of Skin Tac I apply first is larger than the circle of the OmniPod adhesive, so I’m left with a sticky ring around the new OmniPod when I’m done that I have to go back and carefully clean off.
No way I can use an adhesive remover on my back and just wipe off the extra “ring” of Skin Tac without also getting some on the OmniPod. If you can do this…more power to you! But, I’m just not that flexible/coordinated anymore. What’s a girl to do? Well, actually I’ve been asking my husband to assist with hard-to-reach site placements. He diligently sprays the old pod with De-Solv-it, removes all the old, yucky residue, places the new pod (where I actually want it instead of where I’d probably accidentally stick it if I was trying to place it back there myself), and wipes away the “ring” of leftover Skin Tac. Yeah, I know…he’s a great catch!
What would I do without him? Anyone have any good tricks to share for hard-to-reach sites?
So, like a lot of people, I tend to get higher blood sugars after breakfast (which I rarely eat) or morning coffee (which is a “must have” every day) than after any other bolus in the day. Until about 6-12 months ago my post-meal highs were something like 150-160. Lately, though with all the other variables I’ve introduced (post-pregnancy, nursing, hormones, stress, etc) it was getting to be like 250…even 300 some mornings. I always felt guilty about it but did I give up my morning joe? Heck no! I’ve just been keeping the problem on the back burner for several months knowing I would eventually have to deal with it. Now is the time.
Realistically, I need to reassess my entire insulin regimen including my basal rates (but for me that’s phase 2 after hormone-adjustment phase 1), so for now I’m experimenting with less conventional ways to bolus in the morning that might make the difference. It looks like I may have found one!
For the past several days, I’ve been giving myself a square-wave bolus over 30 minutes and then actually drinking my morning cappuccino starting at minute 45. Look at these CGM results: On this day, I took my bolus about 7:45 and drank my coffee about 8:30. The little bump you see about 9:30 never got over 140.
It’s not the most ideal but it’s working for now so I’ll take it! What do you do for post-breakfast (coffee) highs?
So, I’ve always been guilty of not rotating my pump sites enough, in fact you could call me downright resistant. I guess when I find something I like, I just want to stick with it and after all, I do ask my Endo about it occasionally and he always replies in his usual fashion “All looks good Julie”.
And this pic is only my 7th month…yikes!
For years, I used to use my belly for my Omnipod and rotate through about 6-8 sites but last year, during my pregnancy, I had an enormous belly and a lot of discomfort with my pump, so I started relying on only two sites.
Since then (it’s been 13 months!), I guess I just got lazy, or caught up with putting life ahead of routine diabetes management…we’ve all been there right? Frankly, I still have 28lbs of baby weight to lose and the old sites (which were largely around my waistband) just aren’t comfortable anymore.
Well, I started noticing that it looked my insulin needs were increasing?! It didn’t make sense: I was breastfeeding, not overweight (technically), active, hadn’t changed my eating habits, other medications, etc. WTH?!
It finally dawned on me that maybe my poor old sites were just worn out. I Googled it and came across lipohypertrophy and then got scared out of my pants by doing an Image Search for it (fyi, don’t click on this Image Search unless you’re fully ready for the unsettling consequences). Enough said…site rotation here I come!
Now, I don’t have any signs of lipohypertrophy yet but when I was pregnant, my insulin needs tripled and it makes sense that my insulin absorption rates for those belly sites might have taken a toll.
I’m currently a proud wearer of a back Omnipod…day two ;) It has it’s issues and will take some getting used to (especially when I try to carry a backpack)…but my sugars have been much lower, while everything else has stayed pretty much the same (same insulin rates, same diet and activity, same morning and afternoon coffee, same evening glass of wine…you get the picture). So far this experiment is a success, Phew!
Stay tuned for more pod placement experimentation…