I'm from Germany and my dauther is one of the first users of the omni pod since it was made availlable here in summer last year. We still have some discussions of how to attach the pods on the skin. Some are slighly pressing the pod agains the body, others make a skin fold. Does this make any differences?
Another question discussed is the time the insulin needs to be taken out of the refrigerator befor changing the pods. Are two hours enough ? It is said that a cold insulin cannot be filled into the pod correctly.
Finally, some physicians recomment to give have a unit insulin extra directly after changing the pods to circumvent an increase of blood sugar. Is this necessary?
I do not squeeze the skin up when I put the pod on my skin. I always squeeze my skin up when I am about to start the cannula insertion. I haven't had any problems when I do it this way. I was also told not to use cold insulin in the pod. If I am using a new vial of insulin I leave it out about 2 hours and I haven't had a pod failure because of cold insulin. Lastly, I usually bolus a small amount of insulin before I change pods. Before I discard my current pod I usually bolus about .5-1 unit with that pod, then I discard that pod, take a shower, then put on a new pod.
When placing the pod, I only worry about the "cloth" backing being completely on my skin. Then, when I am ready to push the "start", I squeeze slightly with the middle finger and thumb, and use the index finger to hold the canula area against my skin( to prevent a rebound when the canula inserts. It is all very minimal, but can help to prevent a kinked cannula, or the canula slipping and reinserting causing bruising. As to using cold insulin, I just take it our @ 20 minutes ahead of time, and if it doesn't seem that the chill is off the vile, I will put the vile against my inside of elbow to warm it. 2 hours is more than long enough, unless you are in a very cold place. The extra insulin is totally a matter of each individual, plus how long the time between turning off the old pod, and finishing starting the new pod.
While I do not always use it, I do know that all the Insulet staffers I have spoken with have strongly advised the use of the pinch-up method.
Insulin should be at room temperature - an open vial should last for 30 days at room temperature so depending on usage - you may find you make yourself less crazy leaving the vial out once opened...
The additional bolus is something you should be able to determine whether you need based on observation. I know my sugars tended to go up slightly and i usually bolus a quarter of a unit at the time i do the change - i know a number of other people who do not experience this - let the body be your guide and watch for patterns when doing the changes.
I'm no expert and there are more holes in my knowledge than knowledge itself so please review any changes you intend to make with your doc(s) to make sure they are on board - and good luck!
I only pinch the skin up if it's a very lean or muscular area like my upper arms and abs. If the area has a little fat I don't worry about pinching the skin up. It only takes me about 4 or 5 minutes to remove my pod and put a new one on, so I don't really think I need any insulin to cover for that time period. If I happen to have a couple units left in the pod I might use them just so they aren't wasted and then I eat a snack.