Anyone concerned about this latest message from Medtronic? (re: how far away you wear the pump away from the infusion site)
I haven’t noticed any problems. Sometimes I have an infusion site on my upper back and I have 23” tubing so that I can wear my pump in my leggings thigh pocket. I guess I’ll just keep doing what I do and keep an eye on it.
I haven’t received this notification yet, but it seems really dumb to me. If one needed to place the site at the same level as where one wear the pump, that would drastically limit site rotation. But then, this is the same company that developed a CGM that requires two hands to insert but insists it should be worn on the back of the upper arm.
Anyway, as far as I can tell, I’ve had no problems with over/under delivery no matter where my site is in relation to where my pump is.
I got the notice the other day via email. You’re supposed to click on a link to acknowledge that you got it, (which reminds me I have yet to do that).
It seems dumb to me too, I’m guessing it could only actually happen in extremely unusual circumstances. Most likely its just a CYA kind of thing, maybe required by FDA, and the email says that they aren’t aware of anyone who has actually had this issue,
I agree. Most likely CYA.
I don’t use a Medtronic pump anymore, but there are a few things here that worry me. First, if the pump is delivering too much insulin for a child, that could be really dangerous. It’s true that a child might have shorter tubing, but even 14 inches is possible.
Second, for adults: when I used a Medtronic pump, my tubing was 42 inches. I’m 6’1" and that length worked for moving the pump up and down from my belt, whether it was on my abdomen or my leg. I often wore it near my knee, so again, 14 inches of tubing is definitely possible.
Third, this makes me wonder about the problems people have when flying. For years, we’ve been told it’s a micro-dosing issue, but this warning makes me think there might be more going on than we’ve realized.
I agree this notice is likely the result of the FDA finding that Medtronic endured a few years ago when they failed to notify some customers about the cracked set lip on the paradigm pump. Still this seems like it could be fairly serious in the right / wrong situation.
rick
They have known about this for ages.
This has always been an issue with the hardware (tubed pumps). It’s called the “siphon effect.” This was first published about in 2010. See the article titled, “Siphon Effects on Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion Pump Delivery Performance“ Checking your browser - reCAPTCHA
Honestly, as a Medtronic pump user this feels like a total nothingburger. Every once in a while I get spammed by Medtronic for these supposedly URGENT things that could go disastrously wrong in some fantasy world, but that do not occur in real life. The variability of day to day life has a much bigger impact on BG management than the tiny differences in insulin dosing.
Excellent point.
yes, but remember Medt had to cease introduction of new products for a period of almost 18 months as the result the crack in the collar in the pump ring which Medt informed everyone about but that the FDA held they had not done enough. That was followed up by the flaw (as viewed by the FDA) that allowed the 504(I think) to be used as the drone pump for Night Scout. That caused another shut down of production.
After all those months of shut down you can understand why they are hyper about anything that looks like it might be a small thing. Hey history lessons are tough on the bottom line.
I do not think I had read that study before. Thanks, I knew it before I ever knew it, yet i knew it, better, even though I don’t think it mattered much. Unless it did.
All that word mish-mash aside - I would like to see that study updated with modern pumps.
Right? We have all always known this, even if we didn’t see it on paper.
Hardware hasn’t changed. Software changes, but the hardware is identical. That’s why the notification extends ALL the way back to the 600 series pumps. I think the 630 was the first pump I ever had.
I think I had a 5 something. That thing ran like a ticking time bomb on an atomic watch. It had three round watch batteries. With a warning do not swallow the batteries. LOL oh sure, swallow the batteries. That would be good for diabetes care.
Sir why did you swallow the three watch batteries? To restart my pancreas and get it ticking, it didn’t work so well. Oh well!!
What’s the carb count on a watch battery?
13 on a brand new battery, but only 4 if the battery is depleted. So you have to calculate the charge to mass index (CTMI) times the rate of digestion (ROD) = amount of carbohydrate coverage (AOCC)