using multiple injection sites

I

Izzie

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hello, I've had type one diabetes since adolescence, a very long time ago. My blood sugars became very difficult to control recently - for about ten days. I saw a Diabetes Specialist nurse who told me to use multiple injection sites - not just stomach and upper thighs (which I've been doing for many years). So, I am still getting used to using lower thighs as well as both sides of upper and lower abdomen. I'm disappointed that this had not been reviewed at my previous appointments. Doctors and nurses I have seen in the past have often asked 'do you change your sites of injecting?' but have asked nothing more specific. I think this needs to be spoken about much more routinely at clinic settings when seeing doctors and nurses as well as publicised more widely at chemists. Interested to hear if this has happened to many other Type one diabetics.
 
I use my buttocks and thighs for my basal insulin and anywhere around my middle that I have fat for bolus, so right from as far as I can reach on one side to the same on the other side and as high as the bottom of my rib cage and as low as just above the top of my pubic hair, plus I occasionally use upper arms, particularly when eating out in restaurants if my arms are more accessible than my stomach or thighs. . I have considered chest but being a woman I am perhaps just a bit wary for some reason. All those other sites give me plenty of options for rotation though.

There is a chart somewhere which shows you suitable injection sites, but any area where large blood vessels or bones are not near the surface (ie the inside of your arms or your ribcage area) and you have some fat, can be used.
 
Thread 'Low-tech way to rotate injection sites and keep a daily diary'
http://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards...njection-sites-and-keep-a-daily-diary.104079/

I posted (see above) on this topic some time ago. I’ve been using this system for quite some time now and it works for me.

I print off this pdf each Sunday and cut it into 4 inserts. I keep an insert in my diabetes kit bag and mark off each site as I inject. Assuming I stick to this guide I use each injection site once every 4 weeks. Seems crude I know but I just needed something quick and easy.
 
Welcome to the forum @Izzie

Sorry you’re a bit disappointed with the ‘site rotation’ advice you’ve had. I don’t think you are alone at all. My experience is that the ‘tick box’ questions are:

Any trouble with your sites?
and
Do you rotate your sites?

But not much detail about what appropriate ‘rotation’ might be!

I really overused my abdomen in my last years of MDI, and even after 12 years on an insulin pump it still hasn’t really recovered.

Since being on a pump I’ve used mostly ‘back and sides’ in three rows on each side, so by the time I get back to the ‘same’ spot it should be about 90 days since I was last there.

Of course I’m nothing like accurate enough to keep them scrupulously 2 inches apart, but at least the strategy is sound!
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Welcome to the forum @Izzie

Sorry you’re a bit disappointed with the ‘site rotation’ advice you’ve had. I don’t think you are alone at all. My experience is that the ‘tick box’ questions are:

Any trouble with your sites?
and
Do you rotate your sites?

But not much detail about what appropriate ‘rotation’ might be!

I really overused my abdomen in my last years of MDI, and even after 12 years on an insulin pump it still hasn’t really recovered.

Since being on a pump I’ve used mostly ‘back and sides’ in three rows on each side, so by the time I get back to the ‘same’ spot it should be about 90 days since I was last there.

Of course I’m nothing like accurate enough to keep them scrupulously 2 inches apart, but at least the strategy is sound!
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