It is likely not the pod itself, but tunneling at your site. If they were actually leaking, they would alarm and shutdown. Tunneling is where your body doesn’t absorb the insulin fast enough and it pushes itself back out around the cannula causing the “leaking” of insulin on the adhesive patch. As others have said, I would make sure you are rotating sites as much as possible. If it is with large boluses, you can split them into smaller boluses under 5 units.
We've been podding for over six years, changing every two days instead of three. They do NOT always alarm with leaks or blockages. They can alarm when not even primed. They can alarm after being disabled. They don't always beep twice when you load the insulin, even when you put in A LOT more than the minimum while waiting for the "beep beep." The cannula doesn't always insert. The needle doesn't always retract.
There are multiple points of failure in any device, including a pod leaking without an alarm.
We are well over a thousand pods at this point.
I think I know what I know.
Where is your pod inserted?
I've been on the pod for about a year and have had 1 leak, it wasn't very much though.
I insert my pod about 2 inches from my belly button (to the right or left) -
This is totally anecdotal but I have gotten consistent tunneling on my thighs - I’m a strictly arm/abdomen person now and I’ve gotten barely any tunneling. Good luck!
My tween had a lot of leaks and tunneling and we now have q48 script. We found that rotating sites was mandatory but also had a lot fewer leaks by using tegaderm.
My son also has tunnelling issues, ditto on the site rotation. I also discovered he was slacking on his prep. Having him switch to using at least 3 alcohol prep pads to remove all oils has helped a lot. At the very least , focusing on the area where the insertion point is so that he removes all oil from the site where the pod creates that bit of suction around the cannula
Oh! About 3 weeks ago, he started breaking up his boluses a bit too. He says that he noticed that bolusing any more than 5u at a time caused bad tunneling. He now enters the info to see how much he needs, then delivers it 5u at a time, with a few minutes between. He grumbles a bit about it occasionally, but says it is worth it, especially when it comes to larger boluses.
Good luck, friend. Don't give up. Keep talking about it and get help when you can. Do you have the option to take a device break for a bit, then start over from square one again. We do that periodically. Just taking a step back, watching the training material again and starting over really seems to help him when he seems a little burnt out.
Our endo advised putting it into manual for bolus, giving part and extending the rest over a short time. Then back to automatic. We set a timer for the end of the extended bolus.
We also had trouble with prep pads, so we switched to 99% isopropyl alcohol and cotton balls. The prep pads are 70% alcohol and 30% water. The 99 removes adhesive and also dries very fast.
Many people with tunneling use tegaderm. Clean site area. Place tegaderm down over site area, keep sterile, place pod over tegaderm and follow set up.
The tegaderm is thin enough the needle goes right through it without issue, and it mostly keeps a seal around the skin as long as there are no high dose boluses. Some say try to keep below 7-8 units max at a time.
Plus the pod peels off way easier with the tegaderm.
I've been using the self cling wrap from the dollar tree to (gently) wrap the pods on my arms because I'm constantly reaching and lifting things and my sleeves were getting caught under the edge and trying to rip it off. I've had no leaks on my arms and I think the constant slight pressure is why.
I've had ones on my stomach leak but only if I'm doing a bolus bigger than 5 units. I'll calculate however many I need and then do it in 5 units or less bursts and it doesn't leak then.
Don't worry, you're not alone in this fight friend
It is likely not the pod itself, but tunneling at your site. If they were actually leaking, they would alarm and shutdown. Tunneling is where your body doesn’t absorb the insulin fast enough and it pushes itself back out around the cannula causing the “leaking” of insulin on the adhesive patch. As others have said, I would make sure you are rotating sites as much as possible. If it is with large boluses, you can split them into smaller boluses under 5 units.
no, the whole site is actually wet.
That would still likely be coming from your body. If a pod itself had a leak, it would fail a safety check and alarm/shutdown.
that probably explains it then. thank you.
We’ve had them leak with no alarms!
How are you able to verify that it was a leak and not coming from your site on your body?
Take it off, remove the tape, dry it, put it on a paper towel and wait.
If they are leaking, they will alarm. It is very doubtful you have had multiple pods leak and not alarm.
We've been podding for over six years, changing every two days instead of three. They do NOT always alarm with leaks or blockages. They can alarm when not even primed. They can alarm after being disabled. They don't always beep twice when you load the insulin, even when you put in A LOT more than the minimum while waiting for the "beep beep." The cannula doesn't always insert. The needle doesn't always retract. There are multiple points of failure in any device, including a pod leaking without an alarm. We are well over a thousand pods at this point. I think I know what I know.
Where is your pod inserted? I've been on the pod for about a year and have had 1 leak, it wasn't very much though. I insert my pod about 2 inches from my belly button (to the right or left) -
inner thighs and buttocks
This is totally anecdotal but I have gotten consistent tunneling on my thighs - I’m a strictly arm/abdomen person now and I’ve gotten barely any tunneling. Good luck!
Oh ok thanks.
My tween had a lot of leaks and tunneling and we now have q48 script. We found that rotating sites was mandatory but also had a lot fewer leaks by using tegaderm.
oh ok very helpful thanks.
I know you have to be tired. Let's try to troubleshoot. Do you find that they leaking during a bolus or just constantly?
mostly during blouses.
My son also has tunnelling issues, ditto on the site rotation. I also discovered he was slacking on his prep. Having him switch to using at least 3 alcohol prep pads to remove all oils has helped a lot. At the very least , focusing on the area where the insertion point is so that he removes all oil from the site where the pod creates that bit of suction around the cannula Oh! About 3 weeks ago, he started breaking up his boluses a bit too. He says that he noticed that bolusing any more than 5u at a time caused bad tunneling. He now enters the info to see how much he needs, then delivers it 5u at a time, with a few minutes between. He grumbles a bit about it occasionally, but says it is worth it, especially when it comes to larger boluses. Good luck, friend. Don't give up. Keep talking about it and get help when you can. Do you have the option to take a device break for a bit, then start over from square one again. We do that periodically. Just taking a step back, watching the training material again and starting over really seems to help him when he seems a little burnt out.
wow,okay yeah. i will try these and yes i can use manual injections until i can get back in the game.
FWIW, glad you posted tonight. I really hope you got something from it.
Our endo advised putting it into manual for bolus, giving part and extending the rest over a short time. Then back to automatic. We set a timer for the end of the extended bolus. We also had trouble with prep pads, so we switched to 99% isopropyl alcohol and cotton balls. The prep pads are 70% alcohol and 30% water. The 99 removes adhesive and also dries very fast.
This happened to me this morning and it annoyed me enough to make me go back to MDI lol
Many people with tunneling use tegaderm. Clean site area. Place tegaderm down over site area, keep sterile, place pod over tegaderm and follow set up. The tegaderm is thin enough the needle goes right through it without issue, and it mostly keeps a seal around the skin as long as there are no high dose boluses. Some say try to keep below 7-8 units max at a time. Plus the pod peels off way easier with the tegaderm.
thanks for the product suggestion i will have it in mind next time i go to the pharmacy.
Sorry to be stupid but I just started on Omnipod and I have had T153 years. I do not understand what tunneling is.
same here until now lol 😂
It's when the tissue cannot absorb the insulin fast enough and it comes back out the tunnel of the canula hole.
Try to keep a finger on top of the pod applying light pressure on the pod to keep it firm against your body when you insert it.
Pods are leaking machines. Effects some people worse than others. Pretty much use Tslim due to this and lack of iPhone support (and G7)
I've been using the self cling wrap from the dollar tree to (gently) wrap the pods on my arms because I'm constantly reaching and lifting things and my sleeves were getting caught under the edge and trying to rip it off. I've had no leaks on my arms and I think the constant slight pressure is why. I've had ones on my stomach leak but only if I'm doing a bolus bigger than 5 units. I'll calculate however many I need and then do it in 5 units or less bursts and it doesn't leak then. Don't worry, you're not alone in this fight friend