Anyone else have site reactions from boluses?

415 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by itissteve, 2 mo ago

Dogen83

Discussion Starter · 2 mo ago

Sorry for the length of this post. I'm curious if anyone else has an immune reaction to boluses. I use about 25 units a day in basal and it works fine, but if I bolus through the pump I get an immediate burning sensation. If I bolus for every meal the infusion site will become so enflamed it gets occluded after 5-6 boluses. For several years now I've been letting the pump handle the basal (it fluctuates throughout the day and I had nighttime lows with Lantus) and doing boluses with a syringe. Even doing this, the infusion site is always just a little red, warm, and swollen when I remove the pump. My endo several years ago asked me about all the little red marks on my stomach and was surprised when I told him those were my infusion sites from the last week or so.

I've used Novolog, Humalog, and Apidra with the same result. I'm using Omnipod now, but have used the Tandem T2 and the Aminas Ping (with silicon and stainless infusion sets), with short and extended boluses, and always have the same result. Anyone else experience this?

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mbuster

· #2 · 2 mo ago

Hi Dogen83, welcome to the forum.

No direct experience here, but I have heard some folks talk about being sensitive to the adhesives. Could it be a reaction of the adhesive and the insulin, is there any leakage. I would think an allergy specialist would be useful at find out what is causing the issue. Resolving it may be another issue though if it's not just the adhesive. Have you talked with Omnipod customer support about this?

Maybe someone out there that has had similar issues will chime in with their experience and hopefully a fix.

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Dogen83

Discussion Starter · #3 · 2 mo ago

mbuster said:
No direct experience here, but I have heard some folks talk about being sensitive to the adhesives. Could it be a reaction of the adhesive and the insulin, is there any leakage. I would think an allergy specialist would be useful at find out what is causing the issue. Resolving it may be another issue though if it's not just the adhesive. Have you talked with Omnipod customer support about this?

Hi there! The only time insulin leaks is if I give enough boluses to cause an occlusion, so by the 5th or 6th bolus it'll start to leak. My previous endo wondered about the adhesive, and the fact that every infusion site is swollen, red, and warm could have gone either way, but the fact that boluses make it a lot worse suggests it's the insulin. Also, the Omnipod helped clear it up because the adhesive area is huge compared to an infusion set, but the redness and swelling is only around the cannula. I've been pumping for ~15 years and every endo has asked me a few questions about it and then kind of shrugged and said, "Well, we already know your immune system is wonky, so..."

I've never thought about going to an allergist. There's an idea.

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itissteve

· #4 · 2 mo ago

Welcome, Dogen83!

I second seeing an allergist. One thing I've learned in mumbly-many decades is that people can develop allergies to anything at pretty much any time. Worth a visit.

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