In a post a while back I was talking about how I run high for a while right after changing my infusion set.
I mentioned the problem to a couple of educators and clinicians, and they suggested making sure I am inserting the set into a very “fresh” site/location – something that doesn’t have much scar tissue or “nodules”, and to also do the set change right before breakfast, getting a nice big breakfast bolus delivered right after the set change.
I’ve been pumping for what I consider a “long time”, which in numbers is somewhere around 8-10 years (I can’t remember exactly when I started). For all of those years I’ve used my abdomen and lower back (love handle) areas. I’ve always been very good at changing my sites every 3 days and rotating around each side, etc. So I am a little disturbed to think that my tissue is at the point where I’m having absorption problems.
Trying their suggestions, I have started using my rear end. I was very hesitant, just because it’s a new place – I’ve never jabbed a needle there before and didn’t know if it would hurt worse than my “usual” sites. To my delight, it was very comfortable, and I did the change right before breakfast. I had a normal breakfast and took a normal bolus.
My blood sugar did not spike and run high!! It was great! A normal blood sugar after a set change and a meal! How refreshing!
The next experiment will be to let my abdomen heal up for a while (how long will that take?), and then try infusing there again. I’ll also have to do some research on alternate infusion sites and see what other options I’ve got.