Will you switch to another type of pump? If so, which one?
Not switching yet. With the current line-up I’m inclined to go with t:slim in a couple of years.
My Ping is new and I have a pretty new Revel, so I am just going to keep moving along. Insulet has an ok Omnipod deal, but I hesitate to get into those. TSlim did not work for me.
I have an endo appointment next week. Will discuss it with him. I’m around halfway through my warranty, maybe farther, so I’ll have to see - but I’ve been happy with the Vibe. My hope is that it will last long enough to see Bigfoot get its AP to market OR SOOIL to get its Dana RS pump to the US. Either one sounds better to me than currently available options.
I am in a state of shock. Just called Animas to order a new pump, mine just went out of warrenty, to be told…no more Animas pumps. I am really attached to Animas pumps, I think it is the only one completely waterproof and I really know how to operate it. The Medtronic is more complicated and I don’t do well with touch screen stuff (Tandem) as my fingers
often don’t work (too cold or something). Any recommendations? Don’t want to give up my Dexcom.
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@Suzan – One option you have is to keep using your Animas pump, even though it’s out of warranty. You likely have plenty of use left in this pump.
Otherwise, the choices we have in the US are limited: Medtronic, Tandem, and Omnipod. You might consider buying the oldest pump that Medtronic will sell you as new. That appears to be the MiniMed 530G system. Although it’s made to be used with Med-T CGM, there’s nothing keeping you from using the insulin pump function only and then adding your Dexcom separately. This is what I’d likely do in your circumstance. I’ve used Dexcom CGMs since 2009.
There’s a good chance you’ll become accustomed to the 530G system and soon feel comfortable. I’ve never used the 530 but I started on a MiniMed 722 a year ago and I can access the menu system as quickly as I used to navigate the Animas Ping. I used the Ping for eight years.
One other option is to go on multiple daily injections or MDI. I did this last year for five months simply to get used to another treatment so I could go to it if forced to in the future. It was my first time off of a pump in 29 years. I found it a great experience. I used a Tresiba pen for my long-acting insulin and an Apidra pen for mealtime and corrections. I also used Afrezza for corrections. I believe that everyone on a pump should have an MDI plan on standby should the need arise.
Good luck with your choices. It can be hard when you are forced off of the comfortable routine but diabetes is all about adjusting to what it throws at you. You can do this!
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Understood. We liked our Animas Ping also. We have since switched to the Tandem t:slim X2.
I also understand your reservation about the Tandem touchscreen. If you already know you have trouble with the touchscreen on a Smart Phone then this may be a deal breaker for you in regards to Tandem.
In terms of water resistant however, the Tandem Pump is water resistant. I believe the manual for the t:slim states “3 feet of water for 30 minutes” is what it is tested to. We treat the Tandem in relation to water the same we we treated the Animas Ping. Which is we don’t worry about it - in terms of water and getting wet.
I will check on the Medtronic 530. This summer I had a Medtronic 5xx and used it for three weeks. It drove me nuts, I couldn’t see the screen and part of the time bolused using Braille and memory. I don’t know if I could do a really small bolus with MDI as don’t use much bolus insulin.
Yes, I can keep using my Animas until it croaks. During my eight years of Animas, something went wrong and it was replaced two or three times. Since pumping, I have paid little attention to other develoments like Tresiba or Aprida pen, never heard of Afrezza.
Also checked out the Sooil Dana pump, but don’t think so.
My Vibe is just out of warranty. I was already planning to try get my clinic to allow me to switch to the new Dana RS so I can run AndroidAPS. Animas’ demise is actually good for me as it gives me a good “excuse” to go with the Dana.
@Suzan - the main reason for considering the Dana is that at present it is the ONLY pump (apart from the 670G) that allows you to run a closed loop system with a modern in-warranty pump and with only an Android phone to run the loop (no DIY transmitters or computers on a board)
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I have been lurking here for a while, but this post got me to register as I am quite upset about this. My daughter is 13 and was just diagnosed in February of this year as type 1 after a severe DKA episode that left her in the PICU for a week. She just started on an insulin pump in August (it was shipped August 11, but did not get trained and on insulin until August 29) so we are new to everything.
Here are my two cents. We worked with the endo to determine that Medtronic wasn’t for us and so we were choosing between Tandem and Animas which was a very difficult decision, but ultimately Ping won. Fast forward to six weeks later and Animas drops this on us. We never expected it and are under warranty until August 2021. First issue is that had we known we would have went with Tandem and now it feels like we are being forced into going with Medtronic. Second the 630g is not approved for anyone younger than 16 so I don’t know what that means for her.
I called Animas last night because she is barely out of the 30 day return period and at first they gave me a hard time, but ultimately said that they can’t help me because we had to order from a distributor.
I am at a loss on what to do at this point. I feel that it is very unfair since we are only 6 weeks into a pump and are being shuffled to a pump that is not what we want, but also that is not approved for her.
@finny81 - I agree - this stinks. No getting around that.
We initially obtained our Animas Ping around 2011 or so.
We continued to use the Animas Ping after the warranty expired for another two years. Because we liked it. The Ping was a good choice for us. But nothing works forever and we finally decided we had to switch and so switched to the Tandem t:slim X2 just a few months back.
So an option you could consider is just running the Animas Ping until the warranty expires. Certainly you take a risk on that and would have to evaluate if that is the best move for you.
You could also call Tandem and explain the situation and see if they can do anything to help you out? Similar to the Animas/Medtronic offer to existing Animas customers, Tandem also has an offer. Your situation does not fit within the published offer from Tandem but maybe they could provide a custom solution that might work for you? Probably worth a phone call at least.
BTW - Just because the Medtronic is not FDA approved for younger than 16 does not necessarily rule your child out. Not being FDA approved means Medtronic can not market it to a younger age group. However your child’s Pediatric Endocrinologist who knows your child’s individual medical situation has the ability to prescribe the pump as an “off-label” order. This is commonly done.
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You do not have to use Medtronic. Insulet and Tandem both have offers for Animas users.
I’m not sure what your warranty period means right now. The press release refers to a transition period - not sure how long that is. You can use your pump and supplies should be available for some time - how long is an important answer to get.
I would be upset as well. You got the rug pulled out from under you. I hope you can get in touch with people who have some answers.
Hm. Tandem’s offer is good for warranties expiring 9/30/19 and earlier. Now I’m more curious about Animas’ support for users who got a new pump in the last two years.
I believe you had it accurate in your previous post:
“Customers who choose not to transition to a Medtronic insulin pump under this program can continue to use their Animas insulin pump and should be aware that effective September 30, 2019, Medtronic will not be able to supply Animas cartridges or customer support for Animas pumps, so you may want to consider alternative therapy options.”
As long as a distributor can continue to provide supplies and somebody is comfortable running as basically out of warranty then they can potentially make the choice to run the pump until their insurance will cover a new one. Tough choice for T1 patients (and/or their parents) and a very â– â– â– â– â– â– move on the part of Animas and Medtronic.
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@Tim35 I agree it is worth the contact to Tandem. I actually reached out to them a couple weeks back when I realized that her insulin requirements were creating a need to change every two days at least because I didn’t know that there were different reservoir sizes. I guess I didn’t realize she used so much insulin in a 24 hour period, this year has been a huge learning experience to say the least. When I reached out to them they were only doing the 12 month instead of 24 month and she told me that the only option we had (since we were just out of the 30 day return window) was to try to get a medical necessity if she uses more than 100 units a day, but she doesn’t use quite that much.
At this point though like I said a call is certainly worth a try. I am actually concerned too over the lack of FDA approval for the replacement option.
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@Lorraine When I spoke with Animas last night they said since we go through a distributor (insurance requirement) that they will not facilitate a return. I kind of got the impression that had we went through them they were going to let us return it.
The way I understand it is that if your warranty is up after 9/30/19 then in May 2018 they will give you a no cost 630g. However I hate getting used to this pump (first pump) only to get used to another that I never would have chose. Anyway, I guess it is what it is and I tried to get a return, but that is life I suppose. Medtronic has said they will provide support and supplies until 9/30/19 and then I guess at that point we will switch when we are out of supplies or we have a pump malfunction.
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Now I understand why you feel stuck with Medtronic. The offer from Tandem seems much less palatable even for those to which it applies bc of the $999 outlay.
So does this mean your warranty is only until Sept 2019? At that point will insurance cover a new pump?
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@Lorraine No Medtronic has said that the 630g that we get will remain under warranty until our warranty is up in 2021. So I get the impression that insurance will not pay for a new pump until 2021.
@finny81 - If you are going to run past your warranty, it is quite likely that distributors will continue to have cartridges and infusion sets available for quite some time.
However, I would suggest to stock up on the Ping battery caps and insulin covers. They are relatively cheap. Get maybe 6~12 sets that you would keep in reserve for after the Sept 2019 date as I am not sure if these would be obtainable from a distributor.
Make sure you are getting four boxes of cartridges and infusion sets every 90 days (10 units per box). Do not let them only give you 1 box every 30 days. Tell them your doctor wants the site changed every 2 days so you need 4 boxes every 90 days. Many people find a site works for 3 days so this would let you slowly build up a bit of extra supplies that could come in handy.
(Woops. I forgot you mentioned your child’s insulin requirements mean a 2-day site change due to insulin reservoir size and usage.)
NOTE: Do NOT go longer then 3 days on a site just to try and build up supplies. This is a long term BAD idea from a medical point of view. 3 days MAX on a site. If any questions on that - consult with your Ped Endo !!!
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This is messed up. 
Hoard supplies.
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