Hello! So, for the entire time that I've been using Minimed (about 16 days) I've had to change sites at least 10 times with bent cannulas every. single. time. I use the mios and I've tried both the 6mm and the 9mm; neither seem to work for me. I was wondering what everyone here uses and which ones you'd all recommend? Right now my insurance covers everything, so I can give almost anything a trial run.
Mio's and Quick sets both have a learning curve. You have to press both sides of the inserter at the same time. If you dont, then you get the bent cannulas. You can practice with one of the used Mio's to get the hang of pressing both sides together. (no set in the mio) Just re-cock the Mio over and over for practice. My daughter has been using Sure T's, she likes them, some people dont. SureT's have a metal needle that stay in. My daughter is very thin, she uses the 6 mm cannula, with the 43" tubing. She is 20 years old. You can call MM and ask for samples of different sets. If you go here, https://www.medtronicdiabetes.com/store/products/IS-PARA Its a list of site sets that are available. Hope you find something that works for her!
We"ve switched to the Sure-T's the steel sets, and Noah likes them. He says they don't hurt as much going in, but they hurt more coming out (only when we 've left them in too long). We are sure to tape it down really good though! We use these especially on his bum, where he isn;t so "soft". The cannulas always bent there for us.
I always get bent cannulas with teflon sets. Apparently it's caused by not having enough body fat, so the cannula hits muscle and kinks. I've had great success with the 6mm sure-Ts. I was nervous of a metal set at first (I thought it would hurt) but it really doesn't hurt any more than a teflon one, and the insertion is really simple, just like giving a shot.
Try a steel needle set - William has been using them for 6 years with success. He seems to be allergic to teflon sets but I'm not sure about that.
Another option are the Silhouettes. I manually insert mine as the serter for them looks like a torture device. Work well for me especially on my belly sites. You physically see them going in. Gives me piece of mind that I know it is in.
We use Insets which is the same as Mios. 6mm . We always pinch up so hit fat instead of muscle. More important if your child is thin. Also, make sure when you pull back the inserter on the Mio that the bottom is 'level' . You could sit it on a table to look at it or eyeball it. Those (and Insets) can pull back crooked. If crooked pop it in the air and pull back again. Also, like what someone above said make sure you press both sides at the same time. But, pinching up has really helped us. We have used 6mm for years. Used to use Quick set 6mm. Never had a bent cannula. We had a few on angled sets because we hit muscle though. We quit using those about 7 years ago though.
We use the Orbit micros and absolutly love them. They don't hurt at all and are so easy to use. We have an animas pump.
We use the silhouettes with the inserter! As you can see different sets work for different people. Call medtronic and have them send you samples of all their sets so you can find out what works for you. You might need to borrow an inserter if you want one for the silhouettes from your rep.
We used sureT's since pump start over 2 years ago and never had a problem. We recently started using Mio's, no problems but I am not as comfortable using them. SureT's were good for us because Abbey was so lean, it is like pushing a thumb tack into the skin, no teflon cannula to kink.
We use the Rapid D. Why? Because it has a steel cannula that won't kink and the manual insertion is a breeze. We have an Animas pump, but chalk up another vote for steel sets.
Silhouettes for 2 1/2 years, and I think only one kinked site. And this is in my very skinny dd, who has very little body fat to work with. We insert them manually, just like giving a shot, and they've been great.
Sure-Ts here as well. We never even tried any other kind. A little while ago our CDE suggested silouettes, but , honestly, after i got a couple of samples of those, i just chickened out... looked too copmplicated. We love Sure-Ts because theres no clogging or bending, and the insertion is a breeze. Highly recommend them.
Another vote for Sure-Ts here. We switched after having so many kinked sites with Quick sets. Now I KNOW if we have wonky #s that it isn't a site issue. Eliminated A LOT of middle of the night emergency site changes. We use skin tac as well.