Last year, I wrote about how I “pre-soak” CGM sensors for better first-day BGs. That’s something I started doing years ago whenever possible.

Similarly, in the last few years, I’ve also changed how I change my pump sites with similar goals of improved outcomes, whenever possible.

What I used to do (i.e. for 12+ years):

• Pull out pump site
• Take shower
• Put in new pump site
• If the pump site didn’t work, spend all night high, or the next hours high while I debated whether it was just “slow” or if I needed a second new site. Ugh.

What I decided to start doing and have done ever since (unless a site gets pulled out by accident):

• On day 3 when I decide to change my pump site, I do not take my “old” pump site out before my shower.
• After my shower, I leave in the old pump site and put the new pump site on. Which means I am wearing TWO pump sites.
• Put the tubing on the new site etc. as expected. But because I have the old site on, if I start to see BGs creep up, I can do one of two things:
  • 1) Swap tubing back to old site, give a bolus or a prime on the old site, then switch tubing back to new site. (I do this if I think the new site is working but “slow”)
  • 2) Swap tubing back to old site, ditch the new site, and then insert a second “new” site (or wait until the next morning to do so when I feel like it)
•  Otherwise, if BGs are fine, I pull the “old” site out once I confirm the new site is good to go.

Is this method perfect? Nope. Does it usually help a lot when I have a new site that is kinked or otherwise a dud? Yup.

To me, it’s worth keeping the old site on for a few (or even ~12) hours. I know many people may not like the idea of “wearing two sites”. But it’s not wearing two sites for 3 days. And if you find yourself having a lot of kinked sites – that’s why and when I switched over to this approach.

YDMV, always. But hope this (post-soaking?) of pump sites, like the idea of pre-soaking CGM sensors, is helpful to someone else.