My son is 7 years old and has been wearing his Omnipod for about a year now. Does anyone else have absorption problems in certain areas? It seems the only area that really works for him is his arms, which becomes problematic when we are changing the pod every 3 days as they become swollen. Everytime I place the pod on his upper buttocks or legs he runs high all day. I keep calling support and they tell me to change out the pod and send me a new one. Now this is great but I just don’t understand why they don’t work well on these areas.
Hi @Mysonhero. I use tslim, not Omnipod, so I can’t speak specifically to that pump; but in general some body parts are better at absorption than others. I usually use my abdomen and I didn’t see that in your list.
I found an article (from 2013) with guidance on site selection - you have to scroll about halfway down to the section titled Site selection, care, and rotation for the info.
Swelling could mean a sensitivity to adhesive - I think I’ve seen some work-arounds but will leave that to pod users to address. I how you find a solution soon.
Is it possible he is allergic to the infusion tube? I had trouble with teflon-coated infusion sets when first using a pump and have had to use the steel needles. I do not know whether these are available with the Omnipod.
We definitely experience the same issue with lower back/upper buttocks. But do well with the legs. Lots of folks do abdomen, though my kids don’t. Just keep trying different sites. Swollen is short-term, but if you keep using the same sites, they can become insulin resistant, which would be terrible. In the DASH you can actually record the site every time, so I use that to ensure a good rotation pattern, too.
@Mysonhero Hello Katherine and welcome to the JDRF TypeOneNation Forum!
Unfortunately, one of the frustrations about living with diabetes is development of “scar tissue” from the necessary frequent injections/infusion of insulin; some of us more serious than others because each human being is somewhat unique. The OmniPod is different from other continuous insulin infusion systems [i.e., pumps] in that it is a “one size fits all” system.
Fortunately during seven decades of injecting and infusing insulin my body has not developed too much scar tissue and I have been able to keep insulin working effectively by rotating sites around my body and choosing different type infusion sets for certain areas of my body. I can see two options possible for your son:
- Stop using a pump. This would mean many daily injections and possibly sacrificing the ability to tightly manage his glucose levels
- Choose a pump that uses tubing and offers a variety of infusion-set choices; I have found that for me a longer canula inserted at an angle works better for most sites on my body other than my arms.
You didn’t mention your son’s body size, but I’m assuming that he is slender like me.
Hi! I’ve been using Omnipod for a few years and find it works really well when I place it anywhere on my chest. I noticed a cross country skier had it there watching the Olympics so I tried it and love it. Doesn’t get in the way and absorption is great as well. Maybe give that a try? I do have to say, the last box of pods seemed to give me a rash and were harder to remove, even without using SkinTac. Hmmmm…
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I’ve certainly noticed higher blood sugars when placing my pump on the upper buttocks. I’ve only used my OmniPod there a couple times, but had a Medtronic pump for about ten years. Once I narrowed it down to that problem, I would actually use a small temp basal increase to help offset the difference. Of course, that solution would not work for everyone! I figured the problem was either the type or amount of fat there, but never gave it much thought beyond that.
Good luck!