From Russia with Omnipod – Afrezza Decision Mistake

I have been in Russia for a bit over a week now. I decided to try to take the “easy” route, and only wear my Omnipod. It seemed it would be easier to carry a few pods and a couple of bottles of regular insulin, instead of the many packages of Afrezza that inherently get questioned at international security. Compared to last year’s trip, this was a bad mistake.

My Blood Glucose with Omnipod

My blood glucose was averaging about 140 mg/dl in the US, using just the pod. I did this for 3 weeks before leaving. The adage that all you need to do with a pump is change the time and everything will be perfect is… not true. On arrival to Moscow, I did not immediately change the time and date, and had some unusual glucose levels. When I did change the time, I found my blood glucose went out of control. I had to adjust my basal for nearly the entire week. Now my only issue is when I eat something relatively simple. My average glucose is now about 208 for the past week.

Tresiba and Afrezza to the Rescue

I have since changed to Tresiba as my basal, and using the little Afrezza I have with me to supplement the bolus from the Omnipod. My blood glucose is ok, but not like I would prefer. Unfortunately, I brought only a limited supply of Afrezza as backup, and am having to use it sparingly.

This is my second try on Omnipod. Do not get me wrong – I like Omnipod as a pump goes. Using it to supplement Tresiba as a basal works well. But compared to Afrezza, it is not a good alternative for a bolus.

I now know I will continue to carry massive bags of Afrezza with me when I travel.

 

 

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