Can I still use the pump to give me insulin, even if the set needs changing?

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DeathBySpaghetti

DeathBySpaghetti

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I’m going out today, and it will need changing at 10:30 but I am not going to be home until at least 12 today, can I still give myself insulin with the pump even if it needs changing? I can’t change it while I’m out.
 
I think it depends what pump you have as they behave differently.
Tubey pumps, typically, do not stop delivering and some people have left 5 days or more between set changes.
Tubeless pumps (Medtrum and OmniPod) need to be changed every 3 days but usually have a 8 hour grace period so need to be changed at least every 80 hours (3 days + 8 hours grace).
There is no reason not to change it earlier if you so wish.
 
helli said:
I think it depends what pump you have as they behave differently.
Tubey pumps, typically, do not stop delivering and some people have left 5 days or more between set changes.
Tubeless pumps (Medtrum and OmniPod) need to be changed every 3 days but usually have a 8 hour grace period so need to be changed at least every 80 hours (3 days + 8 hours grace).
There is no reason not to change it earlier if you so wish.
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I have a Tandem T-slim.
 
You don’t need to change the set at a particular time, as long as it’s still working just do it when you get back. Which sets do you have, we only change them at the same time as refilling the pump, they don’t give you enough to do extra ones! However if you suspect that the cannula is no longer delivering insulin properly (blood sugars rising) then you should change it immediately.
 
In general the advice is to avoid doing set changes at bedtime, just in case things go wrong over night.
Apart from that some have flexibility over times saying change every 2-3 days, or longer for some pumps. As @Sally71 says if you think there is a problem with the delivery in a cannula definitely change it.
 
Sally71 said:
they don’t give you enough to do extra ones
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That is interesting Sally. I assume that this is for the regular deliveries, but if you run out they will deliver earlier than usual.
 
SB2015 said:
That is interesting Sally. I assume that this is for the regular deliveries, but if you run out they will deliver earlier than usual.
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For 8 years we had Roche Combo pumps (I think you did too?) and they were great, you get cannulas with tubes for when you are doing the full set change /pump refill and then cannulas without tubes for in between, a full 300 unit pump presumably can easily last most people 6 days. So you’d reorder say 3 boxes of cartridges, 3 of cannulas with tubes and 3 without tubes. I remember our DSN saying that Roche was the only pump company which expected/allowed you to change the cannula only, the rest all expect you to always change all the tubing at the same time. Now we are on Tandem, all the cannulas come with tubes whether you need the tube or not, and they expect you to order the same number of cannulas as cartridges and once got a bit stroppy because I tried to order an extra box of cannulas, they said I would have to get my clinic to authorise it! Come on, we all occasionally have a failed cannula or one that falls off or something. In fact we got through far too many in the early days because they just didn’t stick (whereas Roche ones needed a chisel and a special spray to dissolve the glue to get them off). I got round the problem by ordering early and only asking for 2 boxes of cartridges so that we didn’t get overstocked with them, they didn’t seem to mind that. Thankfully now daughter seems to have found a way of getting most of them to stay on for the three days so we’re back in line ordering every 3 months again.

I don’t understand why they think you don’t need to do interim cannula changes, 300u lasts most people longer than the 2-3 day limit for changing cannulas, are you supposed to not fill the reservoir full then if your insulin needs are not large? In which case you’re wasting cartridges! My daughter now can get through 300 u in 3-4 days, and the Tandem cartridges are weird, instead of a tube with a piston in they are rectangular and contain some sort of collapsible bag inside, and although you put 300u in you never seem to get that much back out! So pump refills and set changes coincide anyway for us now but it surely can’t work that way for everyone.
 
Roche were really good with reordering stuff as well, they had limits on how many you could order at once but the limits were fairly generous so an extra box of cannulas here and there was no problem at all!
 
Like you I found the Roche system so sensible. I would have loved to stay with them had they offered the option a pump that loops. I have found workarounds for the issues that have arisen in the early days with Medtronic. I do some cannula only changes and then just have to discard the tubing. I suspect it works out cheaper to have all of them sent out with the tubing rather than have separate ones.

I think that every pump and manufacturer has its glitches and it is a case of making each pump work for us for the time that we have it.
 
I just change cannula before a convenient meal and cartridge when needed, very rare they are on the same day or time.
 
DeathBySpaghetti said:
I’m going out today, and it will need changing at 10:30 but I am not going to be home until at least 12 today, can I still give myself insulin with the pump even if it needs changing? I can’t change it while I’m out.
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Why can't you change the pump when out? You will have to do this at some point in life as cannulas can and do fail when they please.
 
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