We're trying the Cleo

[BrendaK]

Well, we're trying out the Cleo for the first time today. I wasn't planning on it, but I had signed up for some samples when Smith's Medical had them available. And I guess they just became available because we got a box in the mail today. Right before I was going to do a site change!

I was quite impressed with the insertion device. I've never used an inserter before, so that was nice. We have always used the Tenders (an angled set) and this is also the first time we're using the straight in kind.

Carson was nervous but it went great!! The needle was SOOO much smaller than the Tender. And it was nice that he couldn't see the needle.

I was nervous that it didn't go in right, but it looked fine and his bs was 141 after dinner, so it seems to be working fine!

The real test will be to see if it lasts for 3 days on a really active 6 year old.

I also like the feature on it where you could position the needle on the tubing in any direction you want.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[Hollyb]

Hi there,

I'll be really interested to hear how you like it. The Cleo isn't available in Canada yet, but Aaron likes the idea of being able to use an inserter but at his own (slower) speed. He still finds that "staple gun" effect with the Quickserter kinda spooky.

[BrendaK]

So far, so good with the Cleo. The first site stayed in for a full 3 days with no problems. We did the tummy for the first site and today I put the site on his rear. I can't stress how much smaller the needle is with the Cleo compared to the Tender. I think we may even eventually be able to get rid of the Emla cream :cwds:

I did like being able to slowly introduce the needle and not have the "staple gun" effect. (Though we've never used those kind of inserters.) Carson was still nervous about the new sets, so I was able to tell him exactly what I was doing and when then needle would go in.

I also like the feature where you can position the tubing to go in any direction that you want. Sometimes when it's on the rear, you need to get the tubing out of the way for "bathroom duties" and it's hard if the tubing is pointed the wrong direction :rolleyes: . It's not the most important feature, but it's nice!

The site removal seemed easier, too. I don't think I did it exactly right, but there is a tab that you are suppossed to be able to push on and have it come off easier. I still had to use unisolve, but it was less painful for Carson.

I'll keep this thread updated if we run into any issues with the Cleo. It was time to order some more supplies, so I ordered some more Cleo sets. I have a couple of boxes of the Tenders left just in case.

[BrendaK]

http://www.cleoinfusionsets.com/default.cfm?PID=1.4

Here's a link to a demonstration

[thebestnest5]

Brenda,

Hi :)

How's the Cleo working for you? I hope it works for Livia; but she's lean and a bit muscular. We're going to try the Cleo when we trial the Cozmo in a week and a half. So, I was looking for some opinions. Thanks a bunch! :cwds:

[BrendaK]

So far so good on the Cleo. We've been using it since I posted this and site changes are SO much easier for Carson. The sets stay in fine and we haven't had any set failures yet. BUT, I've been noticing that his numbers are running much higher on day 3. I honestly don't know if it's set related or not. It seems that on day 3 we have always had something crazy going on. For example, yesterday was day 3 and we had company from out of town. I'm embarrassed to say what I fed my kids yesterday ;) . I'll just say that we had a lot of McDonalds and Pizza Hut along with other yummies yesterday. So that may have been the problem, or it may very well have been the Cleo set.

No more company for a while, so I'm going to track very carefully what is happening on day 3. I will keep you posted!

[thebestnest5]

I am so glad it is going well with the Cleo. It looks like a kid friendly option. Thank you! :D

[Twinklet]

We have been using the cleo for about a week now. I noticed that on day 3, Emily's numbers run high. Yesterday I had to change a set after 37 hours because of high numbers. An hour after I popped in a new Cleo, her numbers were back in range.

I'm wondering if they only last 36-48 hours?

[BrendaK]

We had our first major problem with the Cleo this morning. Today is site change day -- we usually do them around 4pm, so today is "Day 3"

Carson's numbers were hovering around 270 all night, despite 2 correction boluses. He woke up at 278.

I bolused him for breakfast with a correction. Then a minute afterwards, the pump starts alarming and it said "blockage error, stopping delivery." That has NEVER happened EVER. So, I got very nervous that he didn't get the bolus for breakfast and I didn't know what to do. So, I called the customer support.

Based on the history in the pump memory, the bolus was completed at 7:16am and the blockage was at 7:17am, so he should have gotten the bolus.

When I did the site change and took the old site off, there were a bubble of insulin that leaked out. That's never happened either. The old site looked fine, though -- no kink in the cannula or anything...

The rep also said that depending on the person's body structure, the Cleo sets may need to be changed every 2 days. I'm just sure that's why we're having higher numbers on the 3rd day -- especially with the problem we had this morning!

I explained to Carson that he could either have the angled sets changed every 3 days or do the Cleo every 2 days. He chose the Cleo. Funny reason why... He gets a quarter for every site change we do that he behaves well at -- so when he heard every 2 days -- he said Great then I'll get more money!!!

So Carson got to school late and on top of it the teacher had told me they were having "M&M Math today" Everyone does math with a fun size pack of M&M's.:D :rolleyes:

They just called from school and he was at 288 -- not bad. I think he got all of his insulin for breakfast except for the bubble that leaked out of the old site. I had them give insulin for the m&ms and regular snack, so he should be fine I hope.

So here's a summary of our Cleo experience so far:

Pros: VERY easy and less painful insertions and removals.
Site doesn't get as red and heals much faster
You can rotate the tubing in any direction you want

Cons: Site change every 2 days instead of 3


Accucheck Tenders:
Pros: Very reliable, rarely a site failure

Cons: Large needle and very painful manual insertion process
Must use unisolve to remove and that is also painful
Sites are very red by day 3 and heal slowly

[BrendaK]

Okay, Carson's home from school and he's down to 229, after the M&M's and regular snack. I think he had some ketone at school from everything. He got super thirsty and tired during gym. Since I did the site change and he had just gotten some more insulin at school, I went ahead and let him stay at school. He seems totally fine now and hopefully we'll get it down after lunch.

We're definitely changing sites every 2 days now!!! Gotta call the dr and make sure they change the prescription to every 2 days.

[TaeandTiff]

O.k. I really want to know how the Cleo is doing for you. We are considering the Cozmo pump with the Cleo on Ayden. He is very lean, so I am worried about a 90 degree infusion site. Has your ons reading been beter now that you are changing sites every 2 days v 3?
thanks

[BrendaK]

The Cleo is working great now that we are changing the site every 2 days. No problems at all. Carson has even been able to do the site changes without the numbing cream!!!! That is amazing -- emla was an absolute necessity before the Cleo. And it's so nice not to have to fight so much about changing sites. He HATED site changes before.

Let me know if you have any other questions about it. I would encourage you to at least try it -- if you don't like it, there are lots of other sets you can choose with the Cozmo.

[piratelight]

I was happy to read your posts. We are currently waiting for our samples of the Cleo to come in. Our son is anxious to try them. We use the tenders and need to change every 2 days anyway so it seems that not much would change other than possibly easier insertion. Thanks so much for the information.

[mischloss]

I went ahead a ordered a sample before reading your post about needing to change out the site every 2 days. We just starting pumping this week and my son has the 90 degree inset with the "saucer popper" disk I I like to call it. It has worked great so far, no occlusions and stays on tight for 3 days. But I did like the cleo demo and the way the speed of the insertion can be regulated. He too is a bit spooked by the loud "bam" as it injects in so would like to control the insertion rate.

did the customer support person say all users experience a two day limit? or is it just your son's skin sensitivity or irritation that is making it non-functional in 2 days?

We are using the Animas 1250 pump, I hope it will work with it.

Thanks!

[BrendaK]

did the customer support person say all users experience a two day limit? or is it just your son's skin sensitivity or irritation that is making it non-functional in 2 days?

Customer support said that it depended on the person's "body structure" -- meaning how much fat and muscle the person has. It really just depends on each individual.

I have a friend who just tried the Cleo and it didn't work at all for her son. His number were in the 300-400's constantly for 2 weeks until she switched back to the Tenders. Once she switched his numbers were perfect, so we both thought it was the Cleo sets.

But they work great for us if we change every 2 days.

Good luck! That's smart to order the samples and not a huge shipment of them!!

[mischloss]

Hi BrendaK,

Thanks for the reply. So did the customer support person say anything about the amount of body fat or muscle? So are chunkier people more or less likely to have success on the Cleo? My son is very muscular. Hardly any fat. We even have incidents where the inset goes into muscle instead of fat on this tummy. Had one such incident last night during our site change. He was howling in pain right after the insertion and we had to take it out and try at another location. At this new location, he didn't feel any pain at all! I think with young children, the success rate of these inserts is lower than perhaps adults. Just thoughts. But will definitely post back with my results when we get the samples. Do you know off hand how many samples they send out for free? I was hoping for at least two so that we can try it for at least a week's time and get some sample BG numbers to run on the log.
Thanks!:)

[BrendaK]

No, they didn't say anything about which body type works better. Carson has a very "average" body type. Not super skinny, but definitely not a ton of fat either.

Carson used a 6mm cannula, they also offer a 9mm one. Is the inset a 90 degree angle?

We got 3 samples in the mail. Enough for a week or so. I hope your son likes them better that what he's using now. I just feel so bad when the site changes hurt so much!! Good luck!

[mischloss]

Mikey is about 88 pounds right now and what I would call lean. Our inset is 90 degrees and 6mm also. Great that they send 3 at least in the sample. That should give us a clue on it's usage and comfort. Now we just need to see if the insurance will cover it. the other insets are covered 100%. Don't want to rock the boat with the insurance company. We already changed our infusion set from the 45 degree angle 13mm (which he just could not make work,,, it hurt like heck!) to the 90 degrees. This would be our third switch in like 3 weeks of being on the pump. :)

[Twinklet]

We've been using Cleo's since Oct 4 now, and we're doing well with them. Most days we ARE able to have them last 3 days, but we've learned where to put them on her body to facilitate this. We did have to change the last set a few hours early due to high numbers (in the middle of the night, of course! :rolleyes: ), but generally we are happy with them.

I've been wanting to try a "needle" set, but Emily will hear nothing of it! She saw an insertion of one on an Animas video and freaked out! So, for now, we're still on the Cleo's and seem to be doing OK.

[sammysmom]

we use the cleos on my 5yr old son...the insets just quit working with him all of the sudden.....we have had no problems with the cleos.....we also use the tender mini's when using a tummy site....my son is just too lean to have any 90 deg set in his stomach....he does fine with the tender mini's as long as he doesnt watch me put it in....BIG LONG NEEDLE..but truthfully we like the tenders better because we can see the canula....we are only able to get 2 days out of a set, it has been like this since he started pumping, it may just be body type....

shannon

[Tania]

I just wanted to say thanks for the info re Cleo sets only lasting two days on some kids. My daughter, Anneke, 7, gets "blockage" errors on the 3rd day. The insulin seems to crystallize in the tube.

The diabetes educator suggests that it may be due to her body heating up the insulin. We wrap the tubing about her bod so it doesn't hang. We're going to try not clipping her pump onto her pyjama bottoms tonight and let it roam the bed. Any thoughts?

Thanks so much

tania

[RJsmom]

Hi My son has only used the Cleo so I dont know how the others are but so far the Cleo has worked well. we have only been pumping since Jan. 2007 so not alot of experance but personally the Cleos are great.
Prior to starting him on the pump I tried various infusion sites on myself. I found the Cleo was virtully pain free and was the easiest to use.
My little boy is 21 months old and he does not really complane when we change his sites... (we dont even use emla cream) just give the area a good wipe, let the skin dry and pop the new one in.

[frizzyrazzy]

we're just getting ready to try some cleos and some insets and some quicksets after having LOTS of success with comfort shorts. I really don't mind the insertion of the comforts and neither does my son but we're just looking for something easier, so I'm glad to know there are a lot of cleo users here.

I tried one on myself last night and it didn't stick..so that was quite unsatisfying for an experiment. :(

[MLH]

We tried the Cleo's for one week. It was a complete disaster. :mad: :eek: We kept getting occlusion and high pressure readings which resulted in changing tubing and sites I can't tell you how many times. I finally got rid of them. Now we use the Animas inset. They are fantastic! My daughter actually lets me do her sites on her belly:) There is no separate insertion device or anything!


MLH
mom of AGH 9, dx"d 5 pumper 4 yrs

[Twinklet]

It's me again. We've now been using Cleo's exclusively for 6 months and have had very, very few problems. They are lasting 3+ days (I've forgotten to change it a few times :rolleyes: ).

I'm wondering if it's because we only use the backside for insertion? She won't let me try any other body part. :cwds: I'm wondering if they would last as long if I used the tummy. :confused: