What is happening when a set goes bad

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Radders

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Type 1
i was just wondering what has actually happened to a set when it fails in these circumstances: unexplained high readings which resist corrections. It normally takes me a few hours to realise what is going on, I never get an occlusion warning, and since my levels don't go off the scale, I think perhaps some insulin must be getting through. The only reason I know the set is at fault is that the problem goes away after I've changed it.
Why don't I get an occlusion alarm if the thing is blocked?
 
It could be that you get some irritation at the site and some swelling or lumpiness there. This will not let the insulin absorb as well as it shoul, although some gets through your levels rise.
I have had this a lot with switching to FIASP, so now change my cannula each day, and a lot more use of backside as a consequence.
 
SB2015 said:
It could be that you get some irritation at the site and some swelling or lumpiness there. This will not let the insulin absorb as well as it shoul, although some gets through your levels rise.
I have had this a lot with switching to FIASP, so now change my cannula each day, and a lot more use of backside as a consequence.
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Thanks, that makes sense. I'm not very good at remembering to change the cannula in between full set changes.
 
Radders said:
Thanks, that makes sense. I'm not very good at remembering to change the cannula in between full set changes.
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I am finding changing every day a lot easier to do, as it has just become part of pre breakfast routine and when I go away I don't have to check which days I need to change.
Use of the buttocks is a lot more comfortable than abdomen.
 
I'm not sure I've ever known @Radders - certainly in my first year on a pump I had several times where I felt my set had failed, raging high BGs for no reason which only resolved when the set dl was changed. I only once or twice had a 'no delivery' alert and I had to assume it was that my body reacted faster than the required pressure build-up to trigger an alarm.

Sometimes the cannula was linked at 90-degrees halfway along the bit that goes inside you, sometimes it wasn't. It couldn't have gone in like that as there is a needle going through, so it must have happened *after* insertion. And if you've ever tried to bend a cannula yourself you'll know how resistant they are - so it was a mystery to me. But after changing to angled sets (5 years ago) I've had almost no fails at all, so I can only assume my body doesn't like 90-degree.

What is happening with sets that seem to fail but don't kink I really don't know - but there are some which seem to work fine, then suddenly stop. Scar tissue? Absorption? I really have no idea - so I just try my best to change every 2-3 days to prevent scarring, rotate sites, space them out and swap a site if BGs run out of control for no reason.
 
Thank you, it's solved a mystery for me: I had forgotten about the possibility of it being my own body rather than the cannula causing the problem.
 
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