Issues with tech

[Ivostas66]

Hey folks!

Has anyone encountered issues with diabetes tech recently, or is it just my bad luck?

Since early August, I have had 3 Libre sensors fail. All three have been within 48 hours or so of attaching the sensor. One was whilst on holiday - I was swimming in the sea and when I returned to the sun lounger and scanned, it stated 'sensor error, replace sensor'. Abbot have been swift in replacing two of them. I have not heard why they have been faulty.

Similarly, I have had several Omnipod Dash pods conk out. Two whilst on holiday - my daughter popping up from underwater in the sea, "Daddy, there's a funny screaming sound underwater" and another whilst in a hotel pool. Carrying a 'screamer' with everyone staring is a rather unpleasant experience - as is desperately trying to find a sharp object to break it to stop the alarm. Yesterday I had high levels throughout the afternoon, a dreadful headache and when prompted to remove my pod as it expired, insulin had pooled beneath the pod. It was attached correctly and canula was inserted, but insulin was clearly not being delivered properly. Insulet have assured me that Omnipod is fine for swimming. Again, they have been really helpful - replacing each of the pods swiftly and requesting them back for R&D purposes.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

 

[rebrascora]

Sorry to hear you have had issues with your tech lately. I had a Libre fail a couple of months ago on day 12 after a period of well over a year of no issues whatsoever and in general Libre has been extremely reliable for me and they replaced this particular one without any quibble. Unfortunately it died overnight and I woke up hypo at 4am, tried to scan and it said it had ended and to replace it, so not the best timing for it to die, but these things happen. 🙄

As regards insulin pooling under the pod, I have read that this is called "tunnelling" where the insulin comes out of the cannula but then tunnels back up the outside of it to the surface instead of being absorbed by the surrounding tissue. I think it may happen more often with Fiasp which some people describe as giving them "scanky" sites, particularly after the first day or two. So if you use Fiasp, it may be that you are developing this problem and a change of insulin might be the answer if it persists.
I should say that I do not have a pump myself, so I am just relating info that I have read on this site from others with pumps.

 

[Ivostas66]

Sorry to hear you have had issues with your tech lately. I had a Libre fail a couple of months ago on day 12 after a period of well over a year of no issues whatsoever and in general Libre has been extremely reliable for me and they replaced this particular one without any quibble. Unfortunately it died overnight and I woke up hypo at 4am, tried to scan and it said it had ended and to replace it, so not the best timing for it to die, but these things happen. 🙄

As regards insulin pooling under the pod, I have read that this is called "tunnelling" where the insulin comes out of the cannula but then tunnels back up the outside of it to the surface instead of being absorbed by the surrounding tissue. I think it may happen more often with Fiasp which some people describe as giving them "scanky" sites, particularly after the first day or two. So if you use Fiasp, it may be that you are developing this problem and a change of insulin might be the answer if it persists.
I should say that I do not have a pump myself, so I am just relating info that I have read on this site from others with pumps.

Thank you Barbara!

I have used Libre for years and never had a problem until recently. I was approved for a pump in February and things have been fine until recently. I use Fiasp, so that is something I can look into.