When I converted over to an insulin pump roughly four years ago, little did I know that syringes would never go away. I have written here before some of the reasons I miss my syringes and my insulin pen. With injections there’s no unknown. You fill the syringe, you grab some skin and inject. When using an insulin pump there are a few unknowns and a mental checklist that you need to go through when something doesn’t seem right or your numbers are out of whack.
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I sometimes long for the freedom of no tubing or infusion sets. I wonder what life would really be like if i was cured. How long would I continue to test my blood sugar after being cured out of habit or curiosity? When I am in between infusion sets and showering it’s the best feeling. I don’t have to worry about the infusion set getting attacked by the towels’ strands. I know I digress, so I’ll get to my point of this post.
There will always be syringes in my house for two very good reasons.
- They are a backup for the time when/if my insulin pump dies
- I use them very effectively for correcting my blood sugar
Anytime my blood sugar is over 300 I will almost always use a syringe to correct it. I have found through experience that an injection in a different area than the infusion set will bring my blood sugar down faster than a corrective bolus any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I imagine it that when I am bolusing and infusing insulin in one area, it can tend to get pooled up before it is absorbed. If I eat a lot of carbs, bolus and then find I am still high, I find it more effective to inject into a different site.
Another benefit of using a syringe is that you take out the unknown of a bad infusion site, pump problems, reservoir problems, bleed backs, gusher, etc. I know that when I inject the insulin my blood sugar WILL come down. If I enter a corrective bolus, it’s a crap shoot. When my blood sugar is really jacked up, I might inject about 70% of the corrective dose while bolusing for the other 30%.
Maybe this is a no brainer and you haven’t even read this far into the post. Maybe you don’t even have an insulin pump. Quite possibly you don’t even have diabetes. But if you didn’t know, now you do. A box of 100 syringes has lasted me literally years and only set me back about a $20 co-pay. It is so worth the money and you will always find some in my case or home.
If you pump insulin, do you correct the same way or do you rely on your pump?
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I have only used an injection once since Caleb has started pumping. You’ve given me something to think about though. My mindset when Caleb is high is – “what is causing this?” If I administer a correction bolus and if his BG doesn’t come down, then I conclude it’s the site/Pod and change it. If he corrects, then I have to consider other variables. I haven’t considered that an injection might be more effective than a bolus. This “pooling” concept is intriguing. Typically if I “pull” a Pod, it will be kinked, or a tissue buildup will be visible in the cannula. But there are Pods that I’ve pulled that looked crystal clear. I’m just not sure Caleb would be too keen on me pulling out a syringe at this point! Thanks for raising this issue, Tony. It’s something to keep mindful of.