HELP with endless NO DELIVERY warnings?

General
1

Hey this is my first post. Be psyched!!! I know it's really annoying when people write super long entries because you feel like you have to read the entiirreee thingg, which sucks, so most people just get lazy, and don't. I am going to write the super-long-boring thing, but for those of you lazy children, here's my basic question:

I keep getting NO DELIVERY warnings. I have a Minimed 515 insulin pump, and I'm experienced with it, but lately I've been getting these warnings almost every single set-change. Doctors told me to switch from my 6 mm quick-set sites to the silhouette sites, which I did, and that worked for about 2 sites. This morning it failed again. Help???

 

And now for all my really interesting details. The pump doesn't seem to fail with a basal rate. Usually I get the no delivery message a few minutes after one of the first few boluses. When I take the sites out, they're aren't always bent or messed up in some significant way. It would make a lot more sense if the canula was always bent when this happens, but a lot of the time they appear to be just fine. Here are some of the things we've tried:

  • Quick-Set 9 mm sites... well, we didn't actually try these. The first time we called them, Medtronic told us we should consider trying these larger sites, but when we talked to a rep nurse in the area, she told us that the idea was completely irrelevent and wouldn't do anything to help this specific problem. Has anyone found this to be incorrect?
  • Changing the site of my body. In the past, I've always done set-changes on my hip (backside, whatever). I tried the 6 mm Quick-Sets there several times, and on my arm once or twice, to no avail. Then I tried the Silhouette on my stomach (worked twice, failed once).
  • I tried priming the pump itself, which worked perfectly. This tells me that the problem isn't in the machine itself.. it's me.
  • The rep nurse (Linda from the Chicago-area, she was great!! Many thanks to her for her help.) told us that a common source of error for this problem was in the connection of the reservoir to the wire-tubing thingy itself, like when you click it on. She said some people don't listen carefully enough for that perfect click, and this causes an interruption of the flow and extra pressure on the pump motor... resulting in the No Delivery warning. I'm actually very careful about this, so I'm sure this isn't the problem.
  • Plain old insulin shots... I hate that!! I was on shots for a day or so, when I got so fed up with all the painful set changes, failing one after another. This sent my blood sugars insane. Definitely not a good/permanent answer. 

Hmm... I think that's about it. Please comment with some suggestions, I'd really like to figure out what's going on as soon as possible.

 

Note: Assuming I will be sticking with the Silhouettes for a while, I need some more general help. Inserting it, using that stupid inserty-thingy that never works right, and even taking off the site after the 2-3 days... all of this is really frazzling me. If you're experienced with these types of sites, please check out another post that I will be working on soon...

 

 

2

Sofilita,

Sorry to hear about your problems.  I have used 6mm quick sets for over 2 years with only 1 instance of NO DELIVERY.  Still, I do hear about this problem a lot on other sites.  There is a metal version of the infusion system called a Sure T.   I have heard that people who do get a lot of NO DELIVERY alarms have better results with these infusion systems.  Minimed should be able to send you samples.

There is a small possibility of a pressure sensor problem in your pump too.  Keep records of your alarms and let the Minimed rep know what's going on.

Cheers

3

 

I think I may have a solution :) On my insulin pump, it is a Paradigm 722, whenever I used to get 'No Delivery' warnings, I'd change the entire set/reservoir as suggested. However I'd sometimes get two in a row, and then who wants to change it for a third time? I believe it occurs when there is too much pressure built up, and can be easily fixed. (note: this is most likely not a problem with the pump as I have seen many people assume)

Take the reservoir out completely, and put it back in. There is a sort of cap that attaches to the actual insulin bottle on mine, which may differ from yours, however I always take this off and put it on again as well. Make sure it is straight; almost every time I've gotten a 'No Delivery' warning, I straighten the reservoir out, it turns out it has been crooked, and the pump works great.

Hope this helps!

 

 

 

 

4

I'm with you Alyssa.. This is the exact problem I have when we get No Delivery with my sons MM 722. I've noticed the last couple shipments have had resevoir issues with either being too tight when trying to attach or very loose. As soon as I reset it and reprime it works fine.

 My son's Endo also uses the sames sets on himself and said he is getting more and more complaints of this nature from patients.

Perhaps it is time to complain to MM!!!! Everytime we throw one out, we have to pay for another..