Infusion Site Annoyances

Oh my, another long story!

I had a gusher last week. That’s an infusion site that bleeds like crazy after you take it off. No problem – just another thing we have to deal with. I was left with a lovely, perfect-circle bruise that is slowly fading. After that one, the next infusion site became a warning about the warmer weather headed our way in Australia. It itched like crazy! Even using a barrier wipe.

When I pulled off the infusion set for that one, there was a lovely crimson oval, exactly the shape of my Inset II.

I was sure it wasn’t infected, just an allergic reaction, which took several days to fade, and hasn’t quite completely gone.

The site after that had a bleed, but the insulin line was clean and working, so I left it another 24 hours. I think I know how that happened on the second day.

Some kind of drama with 3 infusion sites in a row.

We had a dust storm on the east coast of Australia a couple of weeks ago. Since then, despite thoroughly steam cleaning anything I usually touch, I’m itchy.

I’m talking frustratingly, infuriatingly, exasperatingly, aggravatingly itchy.

My skin is a little flushed in places – more so on my face than elsewhere, but I don’t have a definite rash confined to a specific area. Just itchy spots here and there,  on my scalp, face and upper torso. Add to that the mosquitoes who can find me under bug repellent, and it’s a recipe for a prolonged scratch-fest. It’s driving me so nuts, that I think it’s probably raising my blood sugar at times. Stress always does.

Double doses of non-drowsy antihistamines (as advised by “Dr Steve”, as I’ve aptly named my pharmacist), haven’t helped.

Today, I added that horrid stuff, Phenergan. Yes, the stuff that puts you into a stupor faster than a bottle of vodka. Haven’t taken any yet but plan to before bed, so I don’t spend yet another night scratching.

I’m sure that all this contributed to the infusion site allergy.

So, it was site change day today. In nearly 5 months on a pump, I can still see the rather large bruise from the side I was injecting Levemir before. No amount of Arnica, massaged in thoroughly, is shifting it. That area is not yet ready for any infusion sites.

The old Novorapid (Novolog) injecting side, is ok as far as I know, but I haven’t been using either side of my belly for infusion sites (only above my belly button).  The only time I did, on the old Levemir side, I got a  pump occlusion, so in 4 months, I never tried again.

After this week of gushers, allergy spots, and my abdomen peppered with little red site-dots that I can still see weeks later, I thought I’d dangerously venture on down to the old bolus side for an infusion set site.

The pattern is that my blood glucose goes up with a site changes. It happens to many pumpers and it’s not a problem that I or anyone else I’ve read about have been able to solve easily.

I also had to go out today not long after my planned site change. Unless I got an occlusion alarm on the pump, how would I know whether the site worked or whether it was just going to be a usual site-change high?

I bit the bullet, and while I was at it, gave a small correction, which I’d needed. These days I also fill the 9mm cannula a tad more than is recommended.

My husband and I then went out, ran some errands, did some shopping, and went for a very short walk along the beachfront to listen to the sunset drumming. Always a treat.

I tested just before the walk. Yup, I was high – higher than when I changed the site. I gave another correction.

About half an hour later, we decided to go have some sushi. I tend to pick the good bits out of some and not eat much of the rice. That way, I end up with about half a cup of rice. Not too much to bolus for with the protein, and the extra sugar in the sushi rice, I think.

So I test again as we sit down. I’m higher still at 9.5 mmol/l (174 mg/dl).

So I’m going to throw some food at it as well. Not a good idea, I know, but we were in town, it was nearly dinner time, and I was starving after only a couple of eggs for breakfast. So was my husband. I also hadn’t got around to buying some meat or fish for dinner. We’d have done that on the way home so it didn’t have to sit too long in a warm car. The sushi was calling.

It was only 2-ish hours after the site change and it usually takes around 3-4 hours for my sites to get going. But I was also worried about the location of the site. Was it working or was this my usual site-change high? By then I was a little higher than usual, so I was suspicious.

We ate in the yummiest of the three sushi places in town. It was also 3 boluses later. I need to get home. Just couldn’t forego that sushi though.

And I’m going higher. By the middle of dinner, I’m 13.9 mmol/l (250 mg/dl), and not about to do a site change in the middle of a Japanese restaurant, with clients and acquaintances around me.

Nah, this is definitely a bad site. I never go that high in the first couple of hours. I need to get home. We finish dinner and  make a move.

There are buskers playing in town on Friday nights – really good ones, amplified most strangely by car batteries. I heard an incredible voice singing a Stevie Nicks song. We go look but can’t stay for all of the song.

A friend owns a store across the road. We always say hello. We can’t because it means a 15 minute chat, at least.

We can’t walk back up to the beach and watch the moon over the bay. We can’t stop off at the supermarket and buy some meat & fish for the weekend.

The stupid D takes priority.

As it was, I wasn’t panicking or rushing, but knew the primary target was home to get the site sorted.

We drove the 7k (4.3 miles) back to our house, bring in the shopping, say hi to and feed the cat and dog, and I get ready for another site change.

I test. What the? I’m 7.2 mmol/l (127 mg/dl). I test again to be sure. Pretty much the same. I often don’t trust my meter because it lies, and I never know which test is the lie, but that’s another story.

Dropped that fast? I guess so!

Seems as if the site was finally starting to work and the last bolus plus a bit of the others were finally starting to kick in.

Why on earth does the site take so long to get going? What happened to all those corrections? Well I know now. They didn’t just disappear into the ether as they usually do. It’s just after midnight, some 8 hours later, and I’m 3.8 mmol/l (68.4 mg/dl). Go figure!

Looks like I have another viable area of site-skin.

PS: Woke up itchy again but had the BEST scratchless sleep with 20 mg of phenergan!