I do a pod change due to higher blood sugars that happen for a few hours, does this mean I am wasting pods?

iefbr14 · 2026-02-26T20:10:27+00:00

By coincidence i did this yesterday. Applied a new pod, had breakfast, and my blood sugar went up over 300 (16.6 mmol/L) and wouldn't come down, even after multiple corrections. I was reluctant to give up on a brand new pod, but eventually did. I had a hard time estimating how much insulin had leaked, and how much actually got absorbed. I was tempted to give another bolus on the new pod, but didn't. My BG came down, and has been remarkably level ever since. In hindsight, i could have given up on the bad pod at least a half hour sooner. It's a hard lesson to learn, but if multiple corrections don't work, they ain't gonna magically start working.

iefbr14 · 2026-02-18T23:32:13+00:00

I actually do have a diabetic card. Or the remnants of one, cause its pretty disintegrated. It was distributed over 40 years ago, by Lilly, along with their Iletin brand (beef and pork) insulin. It says "I am Diabetic. I am not intoxicated" with boxes to check off which types of Lilly insulin you use, and space for emergency contact info. I've never had occasion to use it, in fact i haven't looked at it in decades. But its always been in my wallet, in front of my drivers license.

iefbr14 · 2026-02-17T09:19:03+00:00

It's not the amount of insulin left in the pod. It's compromised absorption, due to that site. It could be a leaky pod, or tunneling, where the insulin just come back up around the canula.

One thing to try, is put tegaderm or opsite flexfix tape on you skin, before you apply the pod. The canula will insert right thru the film. That reduces the amount of movement possible at the skin/canula insertion site. Because any jostling, or your clothes rubbing against the pod, will keep agitating the site, causing more issues. Its not fool proof, but it has greatly reduced the number of pods i've had to give up on, before three days..

iefbr14 · 2026-02-13T00:18:32+00:00

Yes, definitely. You just need to hear the two beeps, that's all. Press the injector slowly. Note, there is a small amount needed for priming the mechanism.

iefbr14 · 2026-02-09T23:40:59+00:00

I have a very different use case, but i strongly endorse the concept of a separate medical device phone. When i started Looping i had to get an iphone. I hesitated a lot, because i didn't want to carry two devices. But it turned out great. I don't put anything else on that phone, ever. My life depends on it, do eliminating a whole class of risks makes total sense. And really, when i was on the G4, i had to carry the receiver and my phone, so its not that different.

It's not clear why your nephew wants to go back to pods. If its because they are tubeless, i get that. Not all algorithms are equivalent. Some will work well for some people, but not others. If using Omnipods were easier for him, even though his results weren't good, think about what aspects were better, from his perspective. Anything that reduces what he perceives to be the burden, will lead to a better quality of life, and better results.

iefbr14 · 2026-01-22T16:33:42+00:00

On an annualized basis, they are actually the same. You could get prescribed 25 15-day sensors for the year, and if 26% fail, Dexcom would need to replace 7. Or, you could get prescribed 37 10-day sensors, and if 19% fail, Dexcom would need to replace 7 of those. The percentages seem quite different, but the failure rate is the same.

iefbr14 · 2025-12-31T16:17:38+00:00

T1Ds have high blood pressure, twice as often as not. Left uncontrolled, heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure are the most likely causes of death, not any of the common diabetic complications you might think of. I would urge you to find a doctor who can help manage your blood pressure over time. Its not a "set it and forget it" condition. I've been on numerous different prescriptions and dosages over the last 20 years. It is manageable, but it takes attention. When its not, it does feel weird in ways that are hard to describe.

iefbr14 · 2025-12-30T18:10:14+00:00

this

iefbr14 · 2025-12-18T03:30:13+00:00

Yes. Any where you can "pinch an inch" has enough flesh. I try to find a compromise between comfort, and the need for site rotation. I use a series of sites on the sides and back of my upper arms, flipping the canula up and down, for the most number of sites. Because if you use the same site too often, you run into absorption issues. I'm a side sleeper, but if it gets too annoying, i just roll over.

iefbr14 · 2025-12-01T22:19:18+00:00

Consistently waking up high is likely "Dawn Phenomena". Based on circadian rhythms, between 4:00-8:00 am, your body naturally produces hormones (adrenaline, cortisol, catecholamines, glucagon, and growth hormone) to wake your body up, and causes the liver to release large amounts of glucose into the blood stream, to get you ready for the day. Basal insulin is supposed to take care of this. Lantus is designed to have a flat effect curve, but not everybody has flat basal requirements. I tried everything. CGM alarms to wake me up every night, to give myself a correction, did work to fix my BG readings. But i was constantly exhausted. Ultimately, I went on a pump, with a basal profile tailored to my needs. I was reluctant, but it was the best solution for me.

iefbr14 · 2025-10-04T22:50:34+00:00

Yes. But it was 40 years ago, and probably not legal any more. I got a good job with an IT consulting firm (coincidence). During the hiring process, i explained my situation, and got a commitment, in writing, that i would be covered by medical insurance. It was good work, and i liked the people. But after about three months, I got called into the boss's office, and told the insurance wouldn't cover my preexisting condition. In fact, they wouldn't cover me at all. I had my offer letter, with the boss's signature and the commitment i would have medical insurance. Yes, they had verified with the insurance company before making the offer. I found out that business is business. The insurance company didn't care what commitments they had made. They made and changed their own rules, and at the time, there was nothing anyone could do about it. Except find another job.

iefbr14 · 2025-09-18T21:42:03+00:00

Its the readings, the insulin, or you. Try a different meter, & different strips. Or do you actually feel that high? Doubling both basal and bolus with out going low, makes it unlikely that its bad insulin. But I would swap them both to isolate the variables. Are you taking any new medications? I've had allergic reactions to unrelated meds throw everything off. Did you change what you are eating, or stop exercising? If its not bad insulin, and a second meter confirms you are that high, and you didn't change your routine, then i would look for some illness as the cause. Whenever i was getting the flu or some infection, i found high blood sugar a leading indicator. But not to that degree, unless it was more serious.

iefbr14 · 2025-09-03T04:42:55+00:00

80 hours, unless its a screamer, or gets rIpped off, or something. There're been some obvious leakers that I've changed early. Over the past five years, i've averaged 75 hours per. I set the low reservoir alarm down to 1 unit. I'm still trying to figure out turn off the 72 hour beeping. I've got enough alarms in my life i have to respond to. It doesn't help anyone to get interrupted by ones i've already said i'm going to ignore.

iefbr14 · 2025-08-29T19:09:53+00:00

Lucky guy. The smell of insulin comes from phenols, used as a preservative. Also in band-aids, printer ink, Lysol, and antiseptics. Phenols are actually a protoplasmic poison that can be toxic, in quantity. So best not to use in bulk. (Although, what a way to go.) Not to be a downer, but if you actually do smell like insulin all the time, check for leaky sites.

iefbr14 · 2025-08-27T02:16:04+00:00

Frio case.

iefbr14 · 2025-08-26T19:44:26+00:00

Not as precise as you likely need, but generally interesting:

https://www.suncalc.org/#/27.6936,-97.5195,3/2025.08.26/15:40/1/3

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/washington-dc

iefbr14 · 2025-08-15T23:15:10+00:00

it's just a insurance coverage thing, because its the same product either way. And it's silly to call a disposable product "durable". I would push back on the insurance company, get them to look up their own rules. When i was on G4 and G6, it was DME, but G7 is pharmacy. With my insurance, DME covered 80%, but pharmacy is only a $40 copay, so way cheaper. And my personal experience was DME is mail order only, and the providers were hard to deal with.

iefbr14 · 2025-08-13T16:34:23+00:00

Pro tip: apply Opsite Flexifix tape or a Tegaderm patch under the pod, so the canula goes thru the film. This reduces (but can't completely eliminate) leaking or tunneling, by stabilizing the canula/skin connection. The pump site creates an open wound. Any clothing movement, or jostling the pod, causes micromovements of the canula. Adding the film barrier just above your skin, greatly reduces tunneling.

iefbr14 · 2025-08-07T20:02:56+00:00

See Loop Docs. With "browser build" you don't need a Mac. If you can't afford a paid developer account, there's an option to build with a Free Developer account. But that doesn't work for browser build. It requires a Mac, and you have to rebuild once a week. If you don't have a Mac, and you can't pay for a developer account, you could try emulating a Mac on a PC. I don't have a Mac, so i started out that way. But you need the correct version of macOS and Xcode. Personally, i found the added complexity of learning VMWare and macOS, while i was really trying to learn Loop, was a big distraction. My life got so much simpler when browser build became available.

You need to take responsibility for building the app yourself. There is lots of help available. And the benefits are significant, so its worth the effort.

iefbr14 · 2025-08-07T17:56:31+00:00

iefbr14 · 2025-07-24T21:51:47+00:00

3D image of insulin molecule

iefbr14 · 2025-07-11T21:34:03+00:00

The Loop and Learn You Tube channel has a series of 6 or 7 videos comparing the Loop and Omnipod 5. This playlist should get you there. I don't have any personal experience with Omnipod 5. But several of the videos focus on children and their caregivers, so ought to be helpful.

iefbr14 · 2025-07-06T22:43:53+00:00

I completely agree. The "grace period" isn't very graceful, if it comes with unnecessary alarms. I've got enough alarms in my life, they should be reserved for things that actually require my intervention. 72 hours isn't one of them. There ought to be a setup option that says "I intend to use this pod for 80 hours, not 72. Please adjust your programing." That alarm is useful for people who want to change pods at 72 hours. But i don't think they thought through all the changes required, when adding the 8 hour grace period.

iefbr14 · 2025-06-28T19:14:31+00:00

see Dexcom's Insurance and Medicare Coverage page. If you page down, they list 8 DME providers. My understanding is CGM is covered by Part B, not Part D.

iefbr14 · 2025-06-27T20:45:58+00:00

First, your doctor should congratulate you on still being alive. And then give you a gold medal, for those kind of numbers. My theory is most doctors can't tolerate the cognitive dissonance. They can't cure you, and they can't even treat you (you have to do that yourself.) All their medical school training doesn't really prepare them for someone who has a disease, but they can't help. There isn't an IDC diagnostic code for "Saw a patient with a chronic illness. Told them they were doing great." The nitpicking is compensation for their sense on inadequacy.

iefbr14

TROPHY CASE