Hi everybody just recently found this site and it seems like there is a bunch of knowlagable people here so I though maybe you guys could help me with a dilemma I am looking into a pump but cannot decide on which one to choose so I was looking for some insight into this issue. I was wondering about resivour size since I am a teen and might be changing insulin doses alot and stuff, also I like the fact that some are waterproof because I am an outdoorsy kind of person and like to be active so, any thoughts…
I’m not sure, but you could try contacting each of the companies and meeting with them. They could go over the pumps with you (how they work, etc.) and I’ve even heard of some pump companies letting you “test” the pumps w/ saline for a couple of days.
I didn’t really have that opportunity, and even thought I love my MiniMed 722 w/ CGMS, I wish I had checked out the other pumps more carefully also.
My endo had a few different ones for me to look at and his nurse gave me the lowdown on each. I went with the minimed. I wish it had a carb database but that’s mostly bc I stink at counting!
The Ping on the new Animas pump would be nice and the carb database. But I would not be willing to give up my CGMS. I’m hoping by the time it’s time for me to get a new pump, Minimed will have incorperated some new stuff into their pump.
Minimed pumps aren’t waterproof but I am like Cara, I like the CGMS with the pump so that I don’t have to carry another piece of equipment around my waistband. The Animas is waterproof, I am not sure about the Cozmo. Minmed has the 522 and the 722 each has a different size reseviour. The 722 holds 300. That is the one I use. I can usually go about 4 days before I have no choice but to change or add insulin. If I have a good infusion set sometimes I will keep it in longer if I am getting good absorption. I went with MM because they were the ones that really helped me fight my insurance company to get me approved. Took me 2 years to get approval and MM spent probably 6 months of that 2 years fighting with me to get it. Minimed is supposed to be coming out with another pump that is for type 2 diabetics that will hold 700 units of insulin in the reseviour as well as a pod like system. Both of this information came from my CDE. She said something about the pod possibley have the cgms sensor integrated into the pod but I am not 100%on that one.
I’ve tried, worn, or at least played with all the pumps on the market. I got a lot of insight watching youtube videos about the various pumps, looking at CWD (children with diabetes), this site here comparing pumps, Bernard Farrell’s diabetes technology blog, and speaking with the different reps and my CDE. Basically, I figured out that EVERY pump on the market is a great pump, but that you have to find the best selection of features that matter to you.
I think the suggestion that you speak with company reps is a great one. Each one will certainly do a hard-sell and tell you why you need theirs, but then you will have seen them all and know which way you think you want to go.
I love my current pump, which is a Cozmo. I stand by that Minimed was great for me for the 8 years I was with them. And I stand by that Animas (with the Ping) and Omnipod and their upcoming negotiations with Dexcom are awesome and exciting. You just have to decide which you like the look of, feel of, and features of.
Hi Brian, the OmniPod sounds good. Having a young son (7), we opted for the Animas one (we have the 2020, ping would be better I guess) because it is waterproof (12 feet for up to 24 hours supposedly) and it had the smallest basal rates increments (which is probably of no help to you 
).
We hesitated between the Cozmo and Animas. But knowing that people tend to forget he wears a pump and want to, let’s say, throw him in a pool with the pump and all, the waterproof thing won! I am sure that the others are good also. For the cartridge, it is only 200 units though, and Cozmo is 300 I think. Minimed, I don’t know. We have found in our case that the quality of insulin in the cartridge seems to lessen after 3 days (we start seeing higher bg even if the site is super and there is no bubbles in the tubing). I don’t know if that is the case for all the other pumps or even insulin brands.
For the size of the pumps, they are all about the same size, not a lot of difference. We buy Minimed 522 pouches for our Animas (i don’t recommend the plastic window type pouch from Animas, we scratched the screen and had to change the pump because of the lack of protection)…
Good luck in your “shopping”
Call all of the pump companies and have a rep come visit you so that you can play with the pumps and the CGM. Call your insurance company to see if they even cover CGM.
One thing that sold me on the Cozmo 1800 is the fact that if they do a hardware upgrade to the pump they will send you a new one at no charge. All other pump companies had a sliding scale of what they would charge for the upgrade. Also the infusion sets on the Cozmo are not proprietary. (I have allergies to adhesives.)
I had the best customer service with Cozmo. They have also been fighting with my insurance company for about 2 years now. I am still waiting on the Minimed rep to see me after I contacted them about a month ago. We have an tentative date for possibly next week. (This is not very reassuring.)
I just got my Cozmo 1800 in July and I love it, Unicornzzz, but I have heard that their policy on upgrading for free has changed. I haven’t looked into it personally, so maybe it’s not true. Worth checking on though.
Similar to Cody, MM was the only pump that was “in market” with my insurance. I hadn’t heard too many bad things about the MM, they all seemed to be isolated issues or more user preference issues than actual mecahnical/service problems. I would have shelled the $2500+ out for another pump if I felt it went abovce and beyond what the MM does but was not wowed by anything else. I love the MM and have had great success with it thus far. Just my 2 cents.
The impression I’ve gotten has been that it’s a case-by-case basis, the case being the upgrade for the entire population of their customers. The most recent upgrade was free based on the decision of the management, I’m guessing primarily because it was all programming. Nothing huge changed in terms of what the pump can do, they just added more software features. I want to say that some of the current supply of 1800 pumps are actually refurbished 1700 pumps with more software. They may have made minor changes to the electronic parts inside, maybe adding a bigger chip; I’ll bet, if they did, it was something that could be done by people without extensive technical training. Otherwise, it would have been too expensive to do for free for everybody.
I do want to say the “free” part was based on customers completing the process of upgrading by a particular date - if they didn’t, the upgrade was no longer free. The upgrade, however, has added enough features that other pump companies have yet to implement that it will be a while before they see the need (or have the push from other companies) to upgrade their product. When you’re looking at the different pumps, I would also ask the timeframe for upcoming upgrades - what is the anticipated release date, what features will be added, etc.
Hope this helps!
Sarah