I fill to the 85 minimum using Humulin R-500 which is 5x the potency of normal (100) insulin. I always 'waste' at least 15-23 units, even going to the max time (79.9 hrs). I know there are issues/problems filling beyond the max of 200, wonder if I could fill it a bit less. I ask because the r-500 runs about $800 a vial (20ml) and lasts 2 months. I run out of insurance (part D) after 3 vials and would love to squeeze of few more days out of a pod. I can get the insulin using Part B and it would cost $160, and on a fixed income that really hurts. On average, I only use 17 to 18 units per fill and this would help with costing. I may try to use the 100 and change every 2 days, but need to price out the cost of the number of 100ml vials needed, and if my Medicare Advantage would cover the 2day pod issue. There are always changes to coverage come January (normal, nothing to do with the ACA). Any feedback is welcome.
Suzanne
From what I recall the 85 units fill point is the "on" switch to turn the pod on so it can communicate with the PDM. That is why you get the two beeps from the pod when you fill it, any less and the pod won't turn on.
Yeah, based on my tdd I should be filling my pod with less than 85 units, but I fill to just above the minimum line. When I first went on the pod, I had a lot of issues and it was probably because I was really trying to conserve insulin by getting as close to the minimum line as possible.
When I can, I'll run the pod to 80 hours and use up as much insulin as possible.
Many users I know pull as much "leftover" insulin out of the deactivated pod with the new syringe (wiping everything down with alcohol)before they fill to the 85 unit mark out of a vial. Once you pull all the "leftover" insulin that you can get into the syringe, pull the plunger to the 85u mark then carefully push the air space into the vial until there's only a tiny bubble at the base of the needle before you pull the "new" insulin into the syringe in preparation for loading the pod. Once you've filled to the 85 unit mark, push all the air you can back out of the syringe before filling the pod.
I'll pull insulin out of a pad that fails soon after startup. I'm not so sure I would want to mix insulin that has been been at body temperature for3 days with fresh insulin.
Andy T1 59 years Omnipod's first customer