MDI worked for 35 years but I’m ready for some help from a pump connected to my CGM. I picked Omnipod Dash + Loop and my doc sent in a prescription. Y’all have been awesome sharing your experiences using pumps so I’m not worried about figuring out settings. What I am unsure about is… pod fashion?. Where to wear the pump in order to avoid having to say “its not a tumor”. The basic upper arms works but after that where do put the pod that works with clothes and is safe-ish from all the enemies of pods like doors, door frames, door knobs, etc. 
2 Likes
you beat my personal record of 27 years on MDI before trying a pump Chris, I dont pod but I have to imagine you can place a pod anywhere you can inject insulin or put a tubed infusion set… (if you can pinch it, you can put a pod there), I would favor my arms and maybe find an off center abdomen location. I know @wadawabbit podded for years. I hope she answers! good luck @spdif the very first morning you dont need a shot will be wierd but I got used to not having MDI very fast.
Have you tried the short (5"?) infusion set with the mobi? If you have that’s close enough to a pod in my book to share about.
I’m counting on hearing from Dorrie, @Tlholz and @jbowler about what they’ve done to wear a pod discreetly or warn me about pod alarms when I’ve stuck it somewhere inaccessible.
@spdif , no I have not. My personal preference is to wear the pump in a pocket or on my belt and I like 23” tubing I can put the infusion set almost anywhere.
Fashion is certainly an issue for me; I was diagnosed juvenile onset in 1972 (approx) but didn’t use a pump until I found out about the OmniPod around 2010 I think. Tubes are not acceptable. It’s not just the issue of looking like something out of Dr Who, or maybe some emergency room drama, it’s the simple fact that the tube is a loop which will get caught up and cut/ripped off/etc.
For me the upper arm never worked and now that I use the Dexcom G7 that’s where the G7 goes. The ‘pod is just too big; it has a magnetic attraction for doorframes. The outer thigh was a failure too, even if I could manage the interference with my wardrobe when I tried it that location the ‘pod caught on the underside of the dining room table.
My first endo suggested avoiding the inner thigh, which others do use, because of closeness to the femoral vein. While people do use that location but it would have wardrobe problems for me. My wife is not very good with anything mechanical and I change the ‘pod at all times of day so my buttocks are also not available. Also I sit on them.
My most recent endo seemed happy about anywhere, so I’ve used pretty much everywhere on the front of my body; draw an oval from my chin down to my wherever and the pod has been anywhere there is fat. Upper chest is a widely used favourite, I’ve never seen a discussion of the lower abdomen, i.e. just above the genitals, but that may be politeness. Works for me.
My waist, the traditional location but also where I did my 30-40 years of injections, has a lot of fat (the injections and the beer combined did that) however it’s also too close to the waistband of garments and, worse, the location a seatbelt adopts (slightly lower). I still do use it but unwillingly and just to give the other sites a rest.
Don’t keep using the same place. It’s maybe not as bad as MDI was for me but I do seem to be getting site adsorption issues. I think I need at least four widely separated sites and/or giving some sites a multiple-month (3-6) rest.
Fashion? What do you wear in the sauna? I figure the fashionable approach is to be proud of it; I control my own pancreas Stick it where it shows. Still, I’m not 12 any longer.
The other sometimes mentioned location is, of course, the forehead.
Hi @spdif! I saw the post the other day and have been meaning to reply but got distracted, so thank you for looping
me back in. When I was on Omnipod (I recently switched to ilet) I wore it on my upper arm, front of thigh or abdomen. With the arm I did knock a few off that had been placed on the side as I walked too close to walls, I started placing them more towards the front but I also learned to give myself some distance. One thing I’ve found about thigh placement: when I wore denim having the pod or sensor there could interfere with the CGM connection - only with denim. Go figure.
I never tried wearing it on my butt as I sleep on my back and imagined it would be uncomfortable. I have heard of people wearing them on their back or chest/breast but never tried those either. I’ve had shoulder surgery and teaching certain ways is difficult, so back placement would be awkward, and uncomfortable because I’m a back sleeper. Leaning back in chairs sounds uncomfortable too. I never even once thought placing on my breast but wouldn’t want lumps showing through my shirt - call it my nod to vanity.
Since I mentioned ilet - no problem going back to tubes. I started pumping when Minimed (Medtronic) tubing didn’t even detach (gasps from some in the crowd)
so you had to make due. I’ll confess have gotten yanked on a doorknob a couple of times but generallyI try to keep my tubing wrapped around the pump and under the clip, or wear it inside my clothes - which has the added benefit of keeping it away from my cats. I’m really loving the iLet - just got my first set of labs back and my a1c was 6.5 (usually it’s around 7.2).
1 Like
@spdif Thanks for the callout, I haven’t been active on this site in quite a while, but got an email due to the mention of my name. I’ve been using Omnipod Dash (about 4+ years) and Trio (a DIY AID for about 2 years); I also maintain Loop (another DIY AID software up-to-date). I’m 71 and don’t worry much about looks or fashion. I normally use about 8 locations on my body: left abdomen twice, once with rounded end of the Dash pod to the left, once with it to the right (this ensures the cannula location is separated); then to the right of my navel using the same configurations; then the inside of my left arm with the rounded end up and then down; then the back of my left arm with the same configurations. This gives me about a 25+ day cycle of use (I try to make use of 8 hour grace period Insulte provides). Sometimes I’ll throw in using the upper left thigh (front and to the inside). My reasoning is I’m a side sleeper (mostly right side) and the locations avoid sleeping “on” the pods. I hadn’t thought about it, but the abdomen locations are protected by shirts and the inner arm location isn’t likely to get knocked off either. While I’m not concerned about others “seeing” my pods (gives me the opportunity to educate a few folks), they’re normally covered up by the shirts/shirt sleeves. That said, I sometimes have caught the edge of a pod when taking off my shirts (mostly T-shirts, I live in mostly long and short sleeve varieties), though I have avoided ripping a pod off except for one occasion when I pulled the cannula out far enough that it bent causing sufficient discomfort to notice and replace it. To cover those asking about a CGM: I use the G7 and reserve my left outer arm for that. I’ve about eliminated compression lows by using the space between the tricep and bicep and rotate the location up and down, applying a new sensor before removing the old to ensure separation and hopefully avoid scar tissue buildup under the sking that I’ve read about by others. I’ve not experienced any issues with G7/Dash communications due to separation of any locations, though I’ve had my share of G7 comms problems (its reduced significantly over the last several months). BTW, I count myself fortunate to have found Loop and Trio (slightly different algorithms, carb vs BG centric); I average about 90+% TIR (70-180) and 70+% TITR (70-140), though its taken time to fine tune my settings to achieve those numbers. My concern is what I’ll do when Insulet stops manufacturing the Dash pods; fortunately, the Loop and Trio developers seem to be focused on widening both the pumps and CGMs the two programs support. Would that the coporate entities making pumps and CGMs would focus on product improvements, rather than on corning the market on both. I hope this helps you and others!
Thanks @jbowler, @wadawabbit and @Tlholz. This is super helpful. Sounds like it is going to be no big deal to just have the pod underneath clothes. I like to talk to people about diabetes but there are certain situations I prefer to cover up my device, now devices.
That space seems to be permanently occupied by my hand these days.
1 Like