Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by shzowie on October 5, 2010 at 4:53pm

I talked with omnipod this morning and they told me they are NOT approved and to only use the old strips. I really like the new strips and would like to use them, but now this is totally conflicting info. Maybe there was further investigation into the matter. I just want to know that the numbers are accurate. I worry about it anyway when there is no reason to. I think a little communication from Abbot and Omnipod would have aleviated a lot of this drama. I got a box of the old strips and we are going on with life.

Permalink Reply by Jon on February 5, 2011 at 9:25am

Wow Insulet told me the opposite, My PDM requires the old strips. And I have had readings from 60-100 difference between the two.

Permalink Reply by AML on October 5, 2010 at 5:59pm

CORRECTION ON TEST STRIPS - INSULET IS NOW RECOMMENDING WE DO NOT USE THE NEW STRIPS
I got a follow up call tonight from Insulet Customer Support and they gave me new instructions. They are recommending that we do NOT use the new FreeStyle strips and that they do NEED FDA approval. Please verify this on your own.
I have asked Insulet to put a notice on their website.
Insulet and Abbott have completely botched this up and neither one seems to have a handle on it. What is worse is that neither of them seem to be working with the insurance companies--who are actually distributing the new strips. I am sorry that I have added to the problem by repeating their misinformation.

Permalink Reply by Mila on October 5, 2010 at 6:58pm

I have a question. Aren't we suppose to use the regular Freestyle? I have the New Freestyle (Easier to use) and haven't had any trouble, and I'm checking a 7 yr. old. The color of the vial I have is like a mustard yellow.

Permalink Reply by AML on October 5, 2010 at 7:27pm

There is lots of chatter on this. I got mixed instructions from Insulet today and no direction from Abbott. The last recommendation I got from Insulet (tonight) is posted on this and other threads. They (customer support) do NOT recommend using the new strips yet. They are waiting for FDA approval. You need to talk to them yourself to confirm. We have been using the new strips for over a week with no problem--so we thought--but others have reported some concerns. We will now use the old ones until we hear otherwise...from someone.

Permalink Reply by typeIIjan on October 23, 2010 at 8:32pm

Hi, I've been doing a lot of testing on my own (being a software quality engineer manages to pervade other areas of life.) After doing numerous comparisons between the older Freestyle test strips and the new Freestyle Lite, I found that the finger prick with the older Freestyle approximates the numbers I'm getting using the newer Freestyle Lite on my arm. I do set the Omnipod meter to the code on the Freestyle Lite strips. Fortunately, I had both kinds of strips marked with code 16, so I could compare "apples to apples".

Comparing the two on my arm were vastly different, and comparing the two by finger pricks also gave me a wide difference. Finally I compared a finger prick with the older with an arm prick with the newer and came within the 20% rate that Freestyle says is acceptable. They are usually very close, with only a few points difference.

I hope this helps.

Permalink Reply by Eric Rizzo on October 25, 2010 at 10:34am

typeIIjan,
Did you really test with Freestyle Lite strips? Freestyle Lite is NOT compatible with "regular" Freestyle meters. If the box does not specifically say "Lite" then they aren't Freestyle Lite.

Permalink Reply by typeIIjan on October 25, 2010 at 11:29am

My testing was between the new Freestyle Lite and Freestyle regular. Here is an article of interest from May 10, 2010 that explains why the Freestyle Lite is often more accurate.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/722651. The Omnipod folks just need to get with it and get FDA approval for the Omnipod or do some kind of Firmware update.

Jan

Permalink Reply by Bradford on October 25, 2010 at 11:49am

Here is a press release from Abbott that also discusses the new regular freestyle strip re-design mentioned in that medscape article.

I know these new regular freestyle strips have not received clearance from the FDA to be used "on label" in the Omnipod, but I do not understand how they could not work in the omnipod's PDM. I mean, the old strips worked in the PDM as well as freestyle flashes and freedoms, right? Now the new regular freestyle strips work in freestyle flashes and freedoms (w/o any kind of software upgrade or anything) so why would they not also work in the PDM the same? I'm not advocating blatant off-label usage w/o FDA approval, just pointing out all of the "coincidences"...like the other coincidence that the new regular freestyle and the new freestyle lite strips look exactly the same and now both operate w/ the same enzyme chemistry (as touted in the press release)... ;-)

Permalink Reply by typeIIjan on October 25, 2010 at 12:10pm

I had the same results testing the freestyle, freestyle lite, freestyle flash and freestyle lite freedom meters with their own test strips as I do using freeslyle lite strips in my omnipod. In other words, there were variances all around. I guess it's where your comfort level is. I finally satisfied my own, but I guess that's a personal thing that has to be worked out until Omnipod gets evaluated with the Freestyle Lites.

Permalink Reply by Iris Weismer on November 2, 2010 at 12:40am

What I think Eric is asking politely is why are you even mentioning the LITE version strips which have never been compatible with the PDM. The issue is whether there is a problem with the NEW STYLE (butterfly) NON-LITE strips.

Permalink Reply by StaceyD on November 21, 2010 at 3:11pm

Hi all,
I just did a few tests comparing the two types of strips, both old and new. My old version freestyle strips were coded 16 so that was fortunate in my comparison to the new strips which I gather are all coded 16. For each test of both strips, I used just one finger stick but two draws of blood, one into each strip. I alternated which type of strip went first with each finger. Each pair of tests were done within about 20-30 seconds. Here are my results. I have noted the different strips as such. The old white label freestyle strips as o and the new orange label freestyle strips as n.

Ring finger left: o-121, n-97
Ring finger right: o-115, n-97
Thumb left: o-111, n-103
Index right: o-107, n 97

Notice is all cases that the butterfly new strips are more consistent to each other but all are lower levels than my old strips. My old strips have me dropping quickly (all tests done within 5 mins) when according to my CGM (Dexcom) I'm really not moving much at all. I am 4 hours post meal with no snacks.

Well, that was fun. I'll just keep an eye on things. I still have 400 old strips left to use up.

Stacey


p.s. Danny, thanks for the idea from your past musings....

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