Anyone using new Omnipod?

So, i started on Omnipod this morning...this is a whole different ball game on the pump..wow. My pump nurse said he would call me before he left for the day and to email him with BG's and questions, which I did. Not only did he NOT call, he did not respond to my email. I'm so frustrated right now. I think my basal rate might be too high, I'm having to eat to keep my BG's up. I'm gonna wait until all my bolus burns out..but how do I change the basal rate, if I'm at .4 should I change to .3 and do we do a temp. suspension before changing basal rates on pump? Guess I'll call omnipod too.

Thanks!

I don't know the Omnipod settings, Sarah, but reduce it by the smallest possible decrease. Remember you are changing it for 24 hours. No need to suspend. Also, keep track of results because your goal now is to start seeing which time zones need more and which need less, rather than having it the same all day and night.

Yeah, that first 24 hours on the pod, any pump I imagine, is a bit nerve-wracking. I was constantly low because of the residual Lantus.

I'll echo Zoe about adjusting down the basal but will suggest basal testing ASAP once your long acting does burn out.

I know it’s new to you, but I think it’s important to realize that you are far more capable of making intelligent decisions regarding your own settings, etc than any nurse is. They may have specific training with the device… But you’ve had years of experience managing your very unique condition and they have only spent, maybe, 1 hour of that experience with you. That being said… Of course be consrvative and make small adjustments, then allow plenty of time to really get a feal for what they accomplished or failed to…

I don’t mean to imply that their input is not hugely valuable… Just that one should never feel afraid to make intelligent decisions without their blessing

thanks...but frankly, no...i have no idea how to adjust my basal rates and to what...have no idea how these adjustment increments work, what they mean, etc...and not years of experience doing this either...going on a pump is completely different from MDI's and I have NO clue as to how this all works. Wish I did...I will eventually, however.

Sarah, if you read your pump manual you will see the smallest increment by which you can increase or decrease your basal. If you are too low from your basal, I suggest reducing it by the smallest possible amount and then seeing how you're doing for a couple days.Start keeping careful records of when you're too low so you see what "time zones" need tweaking. I also recommend you get the book "pumping insulin" by John Walsh. If you are not comfortable doing this now you can wait for your doctor, but that will get old after awhile. I recommend you work on learning how to tweak your doses. This is a 24/7 disease and even the best endo isn't there 24/7. Relying on them to call/e-mail you back before you make any changes will get old fast.Adjusting to a pump is hard, but we've all been there and learning to tweak your own doses is part of the picture of being on a pump.You know more than you think and while adjusting to a pump is a learning curve, if you learned MDI you can learn this too!

i'm working with a pump nurse and my expectations are for them to follow up, as they're supposed to do...that's what they're paid for and what i'm comfortable with during this MDI - pump transition and don't want to read this from a book right now. I am very insulin sensitive too. the 'temp. suspension' is for the omnipod, as I believe one has to do that while making any changes when pod is active. i let all my bolus (food) burn out and I seemed OK by bedtime. think it probably was levemir still on board. woke up to 105. what i typically need to bolus 1:5 in the morning on MDI for breakfast (and always with a spike), i did a 1:12 this morning on pump and NO spike, in fact it dropped me a little bit. This is very different...but think I'm gonna love it. I knew my levemir basal wasn't working correctly. thanks.

Sorry that your nurse never got back to you in a timely manner. Looks like you figured out that, with the Omnipod, you cannot make any changes to your basal without temporarily turning off your basal program.

It looks like you understand the big advantage of pumping over MDI. The only practical advice I can give you, at this point, is to really take the time to lock in your basal rates over an entire 24 hour period. That means basal testing which requires extended periods of time spent fasting to isolate your basal requirement.

My trainer was great at helping me understand how to punch in numbers and she gave me some great insight into what numbers I should be punching in to get me started. For all practical intents and purposes, however, I was on my own after that, even though she made herself as available as she could. It was just a lot easier to start punching in actual numbers on my own, once I got a feel for my own requirements.

Hang in there, Sarah. You'll learn quickly. There are lots of people here who can help you too. Hope you have a great day! :)

Once you are on OmniPod for a while, one thing I've done so that I don't have to suspend my basal delivery to tweak my basal settings is that I have two basal patterns set so that I can switch over to one basal pattern and keep getting basal uninterrupted while I make changes to the primary basal pattern then I switch back. That may not make any sense to you right now and I wouldn't worry about it now. You'll pick up *tricks* that work for you as you learn.

OH, thank you so much S&N. A bit smoother today, spoke with pump nurse...gonna do some basal testing. I know there's a lot of adjusting on this transition...but, I'M HAVING NO MEAL PEAKS. OMG, this is fantastic. I actually ate REAL CARBS for lunch 22 grams, didn't bolus for protein lower I:CR and no spikes..I'm waiting for the spike and it ain't coming. :) Maybe I can finally eat and put some weight on. I love my POD! THANKS!