Omnipod Dash Pump Change - High blood sugars

[anniefriar84]

Hi all - I have been on the Omnipod Dash for a number of years and this has always been a problem but has got much worse recently.

I change in the morning before breakfast- give myself a 0.8 Bolus on my old pod - Then put a new pod on - bolus for breakfast as normal and add an extra unit and put a temporary basal rate on and still go high - over 20 within 1-2 hours. Then stay high for hours and then crash in the afternoon.

I don’t know what to do to manage this - I can’t change the time of day I change my pump due to lifestyle/ work. But it’s now becoming a real issue and giving me real anxiety.

Does anyone else have this or have any suggestions on how to manage?

Thanks

 

[h884]

Hi all - I have been on the Omnipod Dash for a number of years and this has always been a problem but has got much worse recently.

I change in the morning before breakfast- give myself a 0.8 Bolus on my old pod - Then put a new pod on - bolus for breakfast as normal and add an extra unit and put a temporary basal rate on and still go high - over 20 within 1-2 hours. Then stay high for hours and then crash in the afternoon.

I don’t know what to do to manage this - I can’t change the time of day I change my pump due to lifestyle/ work. But it’s now becoming a real issue and giving me real anxiety.

Does anyone else have this or have any suggestions on how to manage?

Thanks

Hi anniefriar84

I am an Omnipod 5 / Dexcom G7 closed loop user. I have recently switched back to manual mode as I was getting woken most nights by alarms.

I experience similar problems (although not as severe as yourself) associated with pod change. I tried the strategies that you have used and they did help. The other strategies which I wonder might help would be altering your basal rate or your insulin to carb ratio. Obviously if you only experience this problem with pod change this might not help. You may have to create another basal programme to help manage this.

Have you spoken with your DSN to see if they have solutions

Hope this of some help

 

[StewM]

Hi all - I have been on the Omnipod Dash for a number of years and this has always been a problem but has got much worse recently.

I change in the morning before breakfast- give myself a 0.8 Bolus on my old pod - Then put a new pod on - bolus for breakfast as normal and add an extra unit and put a temporary basal rate on and still go high - over 20 within 1-2 hours. Then stay high for hours and then crash in the afternoon.

I don’t know what to do to manage this - I can’t change the time of day I change my pump due to lifestyle/ work. But it’s now becoming a real issue and giving me real anxiety.

Does anyone else have this or have any suggestions on how to manage?

Thanks

Usual provisos of I’m not telling you what to do, or guaranteeing this will work, but it worked for me.

There do seem to be absorption issues with both the Dash and the 5, when switching pods. The delayed insulin absorption you’re seeing is fairly standard. I have found, of late, the old trick of doing a dose of Insulin “to get the pod going” has become less effective at managing this (when this had been a good method for years).

By far the most effective method for me is changing the pod after your last bolus of the day*. This gives the pod a lot longer to get going before it’s asked to do anything intensive like a Bolus. I think the Omnipod 5 also helps a lot with this method, as it will automatically raise and ease off Basal to help manage that initial period of poor absorption. With this method, I still see some absorption issues on the first couple of Boluses after a pod change but it is greatly reduced.

Changing it before Breakfast is a challenging time to do it, as Breakfast is when most people need the most insulin.

*Insulet, it should be noted, tell you to do a Bolus for a main meal after changing to help manage this, but this method has never worked for me.