I was fast asleep this morning at 4:30...then the long beeeeeeep started on my pod, which had been on for 2 days, (left arm, front) this is the 5th (thats right...Five) pod from the same carton! The pDM just read "pod error....change pod immediately" I know I complain about this thing alot and I have decided to discontinue using the pod as soon as I get through all the pods I have in storage...and I stop receiving new ones due to failures, but that just seems to go on forever!
I’ll be replacing my insulin pump later this year and am interested in your experience with the OmniPod.
How long have you been using the system? What percentage of pods have gone bad on you? Does Insulet customer service treat you well and easily replace the bad pods?
Did you have insurance pay for your OmniPods? If so, will your insurance allow you to now switch to another pump system? I know with other pump systems I need to stay with one system until the warranty is up. My current pump warranty period is four years.
Sorry that your having so much trouble. Diabetes is hard enough on its own; adding another layer of pump troubles is an unnecessary complication.
I’m interested in your response.
I'm sorry you're having a rough time of it, Steve. I just started on the OmniPod recently and I love it. After 25 years of MDI, the control that I've achieved literally overnight, coupled with the ease of insertion and use of the pod is astounding to me.
No lie, I can't get over how easy of an adjustment it's been for me and how good my numbers have been after a year long struggle with fluctuations from hormones.
While I haven't experienced any pod failures yet, if and when I do, I plan to look at it like it's just part of dealing with technology. I have the same sorts of issues with my Dexcom and wouldn't give it up for anything.
The way I look at it, compared to the struggles I was having with the peaks and valleys of Lantus before I started on the pods, pod failures would just be an inconvenience to me. I'm not minimalizing your frustration, because I can feel how frustrated you are, but *for me*, compared to the alternatives, I still think OmniPod is the best thing ever. I wish I had made this move years ago.
I think we each have our own level of tolerance for pump/pod mishaps. Mine is particulary low and that was a reason that I was advised not to go with Omnipod when I started pumping and I have no regrets. Others can handle pod failures and just change and move on.
Maurie
The worst thing about a pump/pod failure is the interrupted insulin delivery with the consequent high blood sugar excursion. I can tolerate this scenario to a limited extent. If it happens once per month then that's too much for me. Maurie, I agree that it boils down to one's own level of tolerance. A few times per year is my tolerable limit.
I spend enough of my attention and personal resource dealing with the imperfect insulin dosing regimen that is today's state of the art. I need my insulin delivery technology to perform successfully a very high percentage of the time. In my 25 years of pumping insulin the MiniMed/Medtronic and Animas brands have performed well.
I have read all the responses here and couldnt agree more. I had to take a spell and try another pump, so for 3 mos I was on the anamus "Ping". I had myriad troubles due to (primarily) the tubing. So, I must say the pod is great for not having any tubing! But, as my experience goes, I would NOT recommend the Omnipod to anyone...and I have been on it for as long as it has been available (since 2005). I have been experiencing a rate of (on avg) 20% failed pods per box.
2 out of 10 per carton, until recently, as noted, in my most recent carton I have had far more. That is exactly why (given the aggravation of being wakened so early in the am lost insulin, wasted test strips, etc.) I am switching BACK to MDI as soon as I exhaust about a years worth of pods. (no sense in wasting even MORE $$, right?)
I have mentioned that an Insulet sales rep contacted me and tried to get together for lunch (he was just interested in seeing why I was having so many difficulties with the Omnipod) but when I went to the designated lunch spot...he was a No-show! He contacted me later that day and emailed a "I'm here...where are YOU?" (3 hours after the meeting time...which was 12pm or 1pm (we created a window seeing as he had a few meetings that day, and did not want to put pressure on the meetings) He then sent me a carton on Pods (he claimed that Insulet had changed the mfg. process to address the frequent pod failures and complaints) however, I started the new carton of pods the NEXT DAY and had a pod that failed to "double beep" after the insulin had been injected! (This is the NEW BOX of NEWLY DESIGNED pods!) I am assuming at this point that there is NOTHING NRW and they will still experience a 20 - 50% failure rate!
Is it the pods, or the PDM? I've heard of PDMs going bad and causing some really weird results.
If you're that frustrated with the pods, why not just stop using them now and save yourself the aggravation? Why are you waiting until you use them up since they're causing you so much frustration? Just saying. I mean I'm assuming I'll eventually have some bad pods but I haven't yet.
A good question.....the fact is that I HATE MDI's. So, until the pods are used up, I will deal with the aggravation.
It is the pods, my PDM does funky things every now and then, but I know it is the pods.