Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by clubkobe on December 28, 2010 at 9:20pm

I am not experiencing failure to that extent but maybe you should seriously consider dropping the omni system and going with mini-med or animus. My diabetes educator swears by the animus. Personally, I hate the tubing so I will stay with the omni and hope it gets better. I would guess my pod failure is less than 10%, Just had one fail tonite in the priming process but that is pretty rare for me. I would be very curious as to what the answer for the failure is. I enjoy troubleshooting and figuring out why something is not working. I'm sure one of the omni techies, not customer service,  has a few ideas.

Permalink Reply by big dog rockies on December 28, 2010 at 9:49pm

Thanks Clubkobe for the info on Animus. I have started researching the different pumps "just in case" I get any more furstrated. I asked to speak to an engineer about this and was told they are not avaliable, so I guess I will continue to work with customer service. It would be nice to have a "cheat sheet" of all the alarm codes :)

Permalink Reply by Ron Doyle on December 30, 2010 at 1:30pm

I agree and having been on the Animus before Omnipod I found that the Omnipod definitely gives better control and accuracy, at least that is my experience.

 

As for the failures.  I had none for about 2 -3 months and then had one box with 4 failures while loading in the insulin.  I have only had 1 failure while wearing it for no apparant reason.

 

It is discouraging but customer care has been good and I MUCH MUCH prefer the Omni over Animas or Cozmore, both of which I used before, so I don't plan on switching other than the expense, which is a bigger issue for me. 

 

Permalink Reply by Natasha Bowlds on December 28, 2010 at 9:23pm

We have experienced this but only in the last 2 months.  Before that we had almost no issues at all.  This week I've called Insulet every day (including twice Christmas Eve and once on Christmas)  One was an occlusion, but we've only ever had a couple of those.  All the rest have been failures, and I've told Insulet that I can't wait for some competition because we are willing to try almost anything - my son is SO frustrated.  The worst was having one fail minutes before he went on stage for his Christmas program and then as soon as he got home from it.  I was just glad it didn't happen while he was on stage.  He also had one at a sleepover while I was at work - he can't change his own pods, so the mother had to drive him halfway to me, and I met them in a parking lot to change his pod.  

There is no way my son will ever do a traditional pump so we are stuck with what we have, but I am tired of calling them!!!!

Permalink Reply by Sandy Palmer on December 28, 2010 at 9:42pm

Hello Natasha,  I have started the Pod in October and only had one that didn't start up since then.  However I have been on the traditional pumps for the past 16 years now and I do want to assure you that they are not that bad.  I still have my Animas Ping and I will not get rid of it.  The Pod has been great but there are only a few sites for me that I can wear them and I know that I will most likely go back and forth so that I can do other sites as well.  Don't be afraid to try different things.  Good luck.

Sandy

Permalink Reply by Natasha Bowlds on December 29, 2010 at 9:44pm

We actually tried the Animas and the Omnipod on the same day at a conference, and discovered that my son (who has anxiety as well) can't handle the insertion of a tubed pump, the presence of a tube, nor having anything on his abdomen.  He will only wear the pod on his arms and although I know you can put a tubed pump on the arm, it's not as easy.  He's also sure it would get ripped off since he's a rough kid who is always rolling around on the floor with siblings and on the football field with his friends. He wore an Animas for 15 minutes and was practically hyperventilating the entire time.  He declared he would never wear a pump at all after that.  We just kind of got him into the Omnipod area and they distracted him while inserting a pod.  The speed of it and the automatic-ness, and the arm placement sold him - but he won't consider anything else.  At his age we try to let him make as many decisions as possible since he already is angry about having the disease : (

Permalink Reply by big dog rockies on December 28, 2010 at 9:54pm

Hi Natasha,

Sorry to hear your son is having difficulties also, yes it is frustrating! With the cost of replacement insulin, lost time for changing posd, calling customer service, etc... I'm willing to try a traditional pump. Thanks for the support!

Permalink Reply by big dog rockies on December 28, 2010 at 10:02pm

Hi Spooky,

Hang in there. Yes, it is frustrating and a pain in the .....

As for your pods squealing, I heard there a little hole where you could push a paper clip or pin into that will turn the sound off (by the battery on the rounded side). I only found out after I called customer service to report another failure and mentioned that I had to dismantle a pod because it would not stop beeping or communicate with the PDM.

 

Permalink Reply by Ron Doyle on January 1, 2011 at 6:48pm

Make sure you use a heaviest duty paper clip you can find.  I have one just for that purpose now.  The first time it happened all I had was the needle I used to put the insulin in the pod. When the continuous beep started I stuck the needle in the "little" hole and it broke off.  The only way I could stop it then was to tear the bottom off of the pod and yank the batteries (at least one).

The hole does work but it isn't very easy, you have to stick the clip in and poke and prod a little to find the correct cut off.

Permalink Reply by Jay on January 7, 2011 at 6:47am

a hammer is by far the most satisfying and effective way to shut those little suckers up ---just aim carefully and there's no need to smash it into little bits...just break the skull, and that should do it.:)

Permalink Reply by mwags on January 25, 2011 at 10:12pm

I thought i was just me! A rep told me last Fall that some people's tissue clogs the cannula more quickly than others. I'm about to give up on it. I switched from the Paradigm because I had similar failure rates with it and hoped the auto insert of the pod would make a difference. I do love the hammer tip for shutting the screamers up! Has anyone given up and gone back to shots?

Permalink Reply by MountainDolphin on December 28, 2010 at 9:56pm

I've been on the OmniPod for 4 months; failure rate, that is,

(not including occlusions, pods knocked by accidental impact, coming off the adhesive base or the adhesive itself not holding up after immersion)

pods that are either

1) DOA (dead on arrival): No double-beep after filling, or a constant beep and failure to communicate with the PDM;

- or -

2) a "Pod Error" after the pod has been installed & started working correctly (it can happen just hours afterwards, or just before it was due ot expire -- no consistency)

 

is pretty consistently 2/month, or 10%. That's obviously a manufacturing or serious design defect, and personally I find it very high. It means you really need to carry 2 spare pods along if any significant distance from home.

 

 

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