Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by still_young_at_heart on January 15, 2013 at 3:14pm

Two additional item to consider:

1) the pump should have insertion sets that your son likes. I'm needle phobic and need a angled set and the Animas Inset 30 really meets my needs. If the sets for a given brand don't work well for your son he will have more bad sites than necessary which will not make either of you happy.

2) insurance companies often have funky rules that raises the costs of the supplies for one pump or another. Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA will only cover Bayer test strips as an exception at the highest co-pay. This raises the cost of using the Revel. If your insurer doesn't support One-Touch at the base co-pay level you'll pay extra if you use a Ping or Omnipod.

Maurie

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Amy on January 15, 2013 at 4:38pm

MyBustedPancreas couldn't of said it better. It all does depend on the lifestyle, etc. I am on the animas pump. I like it and only had problems with it a few times. I like that its waterproof and the meter is a remote. Makes it easier for me to deal with. The clip however I've had to replace a few times and decided not to replace it again as it just keeps on breaking. Even tho it holds 200 units its, 206 after it finishes rewinding and 186 units when its loaded up, and when you prime its less than that. So its not a true 200 units.

Another factor is your insurance company. You may want to find out which one they cover the best, etc. Right now my current insurance the test strips are more $$ for me.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stiebwill on January 16, 2013 at 7:31am

I have been using my Omnipod for almost a year now and I LOVE it!! I haven't had a single pod fail during that time and hopefully I never do. :) I did have a Medtronic Paradigm pump for two years before that and hated the tubing. I forget i have it on alot of the time actually. The smaller pods are coming out in a few months and I'm excited to give them a try.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by smileandnod on January 16, 2013 at 11:22am

Another OmniPod user here... I've been podding for almost exactly one year now after 25 years of MDI and am very satisfied with OmniPod. I stayed on injections so long because it was working for me and I didn't want to be connected to tubing.

When I began having hormone issues due to menopause, I really had no other choice than to go to a pump so that I could vary my basal rate through the day and night. I did not consider any other pump other than OmniPod because of the tubing. One of the other posters mentioned that her son likes to operate "incognito" with his diabetes - after about 26 years of this, I still like operating incognito as much as possible. OmniPod helps me do that because if you look at me and don't know me, you would never know that I'm diabetic. You might think I'm just playing on my cell phone (aka PDM) alot - and I can just stash it in my purse or backpack until I need it.

I also like that the insertion process with OmniPod is automated - you literally stick it on you, push a button on the PDM, wait while you hear 3 clicks then POP! (feels like a rubber band pop) and it's on and functional - you never actually see a needle. I have heard that some of the insertion sets with other pumps are "scary" to look at but have no first hand experience with inserting those sets.

As others have said, be sure to check with your insurance. I have a BC/BS plan that required me to pay $225 for the upfront purchase of the PDM system and my pods are at no cost to me. So even with the same insurer, your coverage/plan may be different than someone else with that same insurer.

Good luck to you! And try not to get frustrated at the beginning. I believe that many of the issues pumpers run into early on are user error and will diminish in time as you learn what works. I have also found OmniPod's customer service to be excellent - they are available 24 hours per day if you have a pod problem or alarm or question - I called more than a few times at the beginning but haven't needed them in a good while now.

It's like everything else with diabetes, everybody is different and has to find what works best for them. And it takes time with pumping. I would say I'm just now really comfortable that I can troubleshoot effectively *most* of the time. :)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kat1997 on January 17, 2013 at 8:30pm

I use the Tandem t:slim and it is awesome. I dont have to scroll through the numbers to enter carbs or meter readings, input the numbers and done, it has confirmation of amount of insulin and reading then distributes the insulin. Charging can be done at home or in a vehicle. The t:slim is smaller than all other pumps and will be integrating with the Dexcom CGM. I used Animas as my first pump and I had it for 4 years then switched to Omnipod, used it for 5 years until the pdm quit and was out of warranty. I tried the Medtronic Revel and hated it, the CGM dangles and hooks on my clothes and was constantly ripping out, the insets caused infections that didnt heal for weeks. I didnt like scrolling through everything and the CGM was alarming low when I was high. Now I have the t:slim and love it, customer service is super helpful and always call people back. I found that after time customer service at Animas was not so supportive(one reason I left them) The waterproof feature was a plus. Omnipod is water proof also, the pdm is not. Medtronic has the cgm integration, but not waterproof. Tandem is checking into the waterproof label instead of being called water tight. At Tandems website you will find information about all the features. Hands on is always better, as the Endo if they have them all to be seen and have a chance to see how they work and what you son would like. Several people have said their kids love the t:slim due to it being like a cell phone or mp3, making them more discrete in school, yet have tubing and teachers realize it is a medical device and not a phone. Only your son can decide what he prefers, but it depends on what works for him also. Good luck in you decision.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Matthew Yarbrough on January 17, 2013 at 8:47pm

Hi,
I have used both Minimed (722) and Omnipod. I am currently using the Omnipod. The biggest argument I hear against the omnipod is the pod failure rate. All pump brands fail how ever Insult (the company that produces omnipod) produces well over a million pods a year (probably closer to 2 million "10k users using a pod every three days") and for less than $30 each. Yes there will be more failures per year than the other pump companies have. With all of its issues I still prefer it over minimed's products (and I have had issues with their infusion sets and resivours). There is no perfect pump, which ever ya'll chose learn the proper technique to start and apply.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by MyBustedPancreas on January 18, 2013 at 8:52am

One thing to note about the Omnipod that I recently heard as a complaint from an Omnipod user - when the pod expires (which occurs at a set time), it will intermittently beep until you change it. She found this really annoying because she couldn't always time her changes to occur right when the pod expired, so she would walk around with a beeping pod all day.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by smileandnod on January 18, 2013 at 11:11am

I had to smile when I read this because my OmniPod just beeped to let me know that it is time to change my pod.

It really does not "beep all day" though unless you don't change your pod before it "expires". It beeps to remind you ahead of time that your pod will expire in a few hours. If you change your pod before it "expires", no more beepiing.

The pods will give you an additional 8 hours after they "expire". It is during this 8 hour period that the pod will beep every now and then to remind you that your pod is overdue to be changed. This doesn't bother me though because I'm getting the benefit of an additional 8 hours so that I can change my pod at my convenience when I get home or after I shower or after I finish whatever I'm doing.

I figure it's my choice to use those additional 8 hours so I don't mind the occasional beeping... and there are some occasions when I'm really busy and I'm like "oh yeah, I need to change my pod" so the beeping does serve a purpose. It's just not that big a deal to me... but then, I try not to sweat the small stuff. :)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kate on January 18, 2013 at 12:34pm

same here smileandnod! After the 72 hours it gives a little beep sequence every hour (for an additional 8 hours - so you can wear one pod for a total of 80). I work in a cubicle farm and no one has ever asked "What the heck is that beeping?" I figure it can't be that bad! And I'm glad that it beeps - I can never remember when I am supposed to change that thing :)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by FHS on January 18, 2013 at 3:16pm

Yeah, not sure how this qualifies as something to complain about, but it's probably the same reason why we need to have 31 flavors of ice cream. People are gonna find reason to complain about anything.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by jaredsmom on January 19, 2013 at 9:59am

We received the Omnipod trial in the mail - just the pod to wear so he can see how it feels and if he can deal with it stuck on him. So far he thinks it's great. Again, thank you to everyone who has responded.

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page