Omnipod

Good idea!

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Just wanted to check peoplesā€™ strategies for keeping pods onā€¦whether glue works, or additional adhesivesā€¦or another strategy

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In roughly three years of use, Iā€™ve never needed additional adhesive. I find what the Omnipod comes with is very secure, but at the same time easy to remove at pod-change time.

If you find with your skin type or activity that you need something more secure, you could look at products like Skin-Tac. I found it kept my G4 sensors secure for several weeks. Other options ā€“ particularly if you tend to lose pods during sports or other activity ā€“ is something removable like a SpiBand, or if poor adhesion is more of a continuous problem, then an overlay of surgical tape such as Opsite Flexifix, which I used with sensors once the Skin-Tac started losing its grip. Omnipod itself makes overlays (PodPals) and there are ā€œdesignerā€ overlays, but I donā€™t have any experience with these.

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I had been losing my pods while running very consistently. I donā€™t know if it is due to the heat or the location. I suspect location. So Iā€™ve moved them from my abs/stomach area and am now wearing them on my lower back. That seems to keep them from detaching from the skin, not one has come detached since moving to the new location about a month ago or so. Hwr, not a great location for sleeping or doing stretches, etc. I also tried my thigh but absorption was very poor.

I had tried Opsite which had helped but not enough to keep the pod attached, especially the cannula would just pop out once the pod became loose on the skin. Then Iā€™d end up holding the pod on 'til I could change it! :frowning:

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Did you ever try regluing with Mastisol on a q-tip? With the Dex G4 I did that a lot and it worked well. Iā€™m not a podder, but wonder if it would be possible to stuff the q-tip under a loose edge without pulling out the cannula.

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No, Iā€™ve not even heard of it before! I will check it out!! Thanks!

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I always scrub the area really well with an alcohol swab before putting the pod on. That helps.

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Holy crap, you use alcohol swabs? Learn something new everyday. /s

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I have to admit, I rarely use alcohol swabs prior to putting on a pod :frowning: Iā€™ll try it next though!

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Iā€™ve probably used more swabs in the past 5 years with OmniPods and Dexcom than I ever did with 44 years of injections. :hushed:

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I too am in the swab camp. The adhesive seems to stick better after a thorough swabbing. Not to gross anybody out, but youā€™ll occasionally be surprised at how grungy that swab looks after a swabbing. Our skin attracts grunge!

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I always use alcohol swabs and only use non creamy soaps and body washes (the creamy ones leave a film that makes the pod not stick as well).

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I approve of your message. Ivory bar soap to shower and I actually use an alcohol saturated paper towel to give a good scrub were the sensor is going. I do a lot of sweating when exercising and seldom have even a minor bit of lifting at 10 days. I am sure this would work well with pods or infusion sets.

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I tried placing my pod on my abdomen again yesterday, AND scrubbed the area with alcohol prior to placement. I noticed one problem I have is that the pod itself starts to separate from the adhesive right after placement, almost like the pod is too heavy for the adhesive backing. Perhaps it is a faulty pod. I should have placed the pod vertically instead of horizontally to prevent the separation! I ended up using Optiflex to tape the pod to my skin. I hate the Optiflex though as it is soooo itchy. I am probably having a slight allergic reaction. Hope the pod sticks through tomorrow!

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I have seen that happen a few times too. The pod starts to peel off. But thatā€™s an easy replacement issue with Insulet, they wonā€™t hassle you about it.

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New to me! Had to look it up.
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Spidey-sense

Cool!!!

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Me, too! Thanks, @MM2 !

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Good to know!!

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I buy 190 proof grain spirit from the Oregon liquor store (here in Oregon we have to buy the strong stuff from our state), put it into a spray bottle, liberally dose myself then wipe it off with paper towel. In summer I do this several times; being out in the sun makes my skin peel more so there is more stuff to remove.

I used to use cotton swabs, but since what Iā€™m doing here is basically cleaning my skin the paper towel is a lot more efficient because it is more abrasive.

I find this is very effective at keeping either the pod or a G6 attached. Nevertheless for the G6 I have taken to using the Lexcam patches that are available on Amazon in the summer; at this time of year I end up with a sticky mess but there is no chance of the G6 dropping off in 10 days. For the Omnipod I sometimes use patches; if I am doing a lot of heavy work outside I can sometimes need the patch.

Clothing adds to the problems as do annoying things like seat belts and, if I wear the pod on my back, car seats. In all those cases combining sweat with friction from the clothing/webbing/leather over a long period of time means I need a patch for the Omnipod. Fortunately I can avoid all three here in the summer and I donā€™t sweat that much in the winter. (I did manage to sweat quite a lot in Colorado in the dead of winter at temperatures close to 0F a few years ago but that was because I was cross country skiingā€¦)

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Itā€™s only attached via a thin line of glue in a few places:

20210820 Omnipod Belly|640x480

So thereā€™s a ring of glue round the canula and another lower down the body. It takes some force to detach the adhesive from those points; I think Iā€™ve only ever had one occurrence when the lower, body, adhesive detached due to violently hitting the pod on something.

I have, in the past, used the big (5"x4") Tegaderm patches over the whole thing. It sort-of works but afterward any flexing of that part of my body has the potential to move the canula. I guess thatā€™s why the design only attaches the pod in those two places.

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