I have the 630G and have been waiting forever for the new one even though I’m supposed to be on the list. My sensor which I stopped wearing over a month ago is always going off and when I test my blood sugar it gives me a different number . Customer service reps love saying 1) I’m doing something wrong. 2) it’s a jumping off point NO it’s not if it keeps cutting off my pump , it’s off more than it’s on. 3) if you don’t calibrate in the time they want it’s sensor failure. I’ve had it , I stopped using tjis pump and I’m just waiting for new insurance to get a Tslim and Dexcom sensor hopefully this works better. I’m throwing this Medtronic 630G in the trash.
2 Likes
Lol I was just about to say that I never really have problems with my medtronic sensor when I hear beep beep beep and look down to see that I’m being told calibration not accepted blah blah blah. It’s 1 am and I’m up for a flight in 6 hrs and I know where this error message is heading. Grrr.
2 Likes
I hope it works out for you. Sounds like a good combination that is only going to get better as Tandem releases their updates. I assume you are getting the Tandem X2 and Dexcom G5?
Tim35 yes I am getting that combination as soon as my insurance kicks in. I’m type 1 diabetic but I also have PCOS which makes me insulin resistant. I’m having a hard time controlling my sugars while also being incredibly weak from blood loss. I am hoping I can find something to help me cause all of this has caused me to have major depression.
1 Like
Allyj-
I hate it and I am so ready to get rid of this. I have boxes of infusion sets and sensors that I’m going to give away because I can’t be bothered anymore. I will give myself manual shots till I can get the Tslim.
My doc has me on Invokana for insulin resistance. It’s working too. Ask your endo if that or something similar can work for you.
I’m hoping now that I’m back to working out, I’ll phase it out eventually. However, for now, it helps!
Sorry to hear your experience has been negative. I’d reach out to them. They need to know that their support is crap, at least on the Tier 1 level.
I had a call with someone from Medtronic today. That call went well considering I’m not wearing their product anymore. However, that level of care should be consistent no matter who you’re talking to. This is why I just LOVE Dexcom.
Who can we petition at Tandem to get moving on their closed-loop system? (I heard they’re not in trials yet, so it’s going to be a LONG wait, unfortunately.)
Oh, bummer.
This is why I had to retire the 670g for now. I need a CGM system that works consistently. Medtronic sensors just seem too prone to error.
@Regina, how long since you were diagnosed (I am assuming you are a T1?)? Did you endo propose putting you on Invokana or did you have to ask?
Loved how you told the 670 story!
1 Like
I was diagnosed in college, and am definitely a T1. My doc suggested it. (There is a reason I make sure I always get diabetes treatment from a teaching hospital; the docs really are at the top of their fields as they’re driving the research and keep up on the studies.)
We previously tried something else…Victoza, and I had a BAD reaction after a few weeks. That was 86ed immediately by the urgent care doc.
I’ve responded well to both Victoza (but for the reaction) and Invokana.
1 Like
The information here has me very reluctant to try the 670 even tho’ I am on the list.
I began using a Dexcom six years after diagnosis at age 49, and remain a certified pump neophyte, having always been MDI. Although I did not want to start the Dexcom because of expense, I have come to appreciate its more-on-than-off accuracy, the flexibility of restarting the sensor if time does not permit replacing, and continued functionality if calibration is delayed.
Over the last six weeks I have discussed pump therapy with my endo, including the many life quality “improvements” the 670 literature purports to provide. Still skeptical, I managed to overcome the anxiety of learning the new technology and asked to be placed on the (now 50,000+) wait list - and was told to expect pump shipment sometime in September and hopefully “sensor production should be matching demand.”
The OP’s experience discussed here leaves me feeling as though Medtronics’ 670 push is more about meeting investor expectations and sales; why else launch a product made up of components without ensuring their availability or the adequacy of trained technical support?
I really don’t want to discourage people from trying it. I do want to set expectations especially for people used to the level of service that you get with Dexcom.
I’ll add that I’m going through a stressful time personally as I’m searching for a new job and am dealing with some change in my personal life. All of that to say what broke the camel’s back for me was the added stressor of dealing with a company that isn’t used to being held to high expectations. Dexcom has never failed me when it comes to support. I’ve called them in a good mood, and I’ve also called them when I’m in a bad mood. I’ve never had a support rep get snippy with me the way that Medtronic rep did. I’ve never had two Dexcom sensors fail on me back to back. I’ve never had Dexcom mess up the shipping address for my supplies. I was already salty that it had taken so long to see a nurse to get set up. She was great, but every other step in my experience working with them has been less than ideal.
They’re doing their best now to communicate, and that’s nice. It doesn’t do a lot of good now that I’m not wearing the 670g anymore.
They either so large that either they don’t care about having subpar service or they don’t have it in their DNA to put a premium on making sure that people using their products have nothing but a positive experience. I think it’s the second with Medtronic, and they need to fix that. When I hang up after a Dexcom call I’m so impressed with how good they are.
The 670g technology is amazing, and, for that, I think it’s worth it to try.
We’ll see if Medtronic going to invest in resources and training to make sure when they onboard all of these people to the 670g that it’s better than the experience I had. For the sake of everyone going on the 670g, I really hope so.
1 Like
Maybe just me, but it does seem that the latest Medtronic product may have been rushed into production. Anybody looking to use this should at least check and make sure they will not encounter any “surprises” after they are already committed to this pump for the next 4 years.
From Medtronics web page (rep posting on behalf of Medtronic):
“The target is 120 mg/dL and is not adjustable. We designed the system this way in the interest of getting the product to market more quickly (having multiple options would have added a lot of time and complexity to the clinical trial).”
“we cannot discuss the use of this product for women who are pregnant. We do not have clinical data to support use of the MiniMed 670G system with women who are pregnant at this time.”
“the FDA did not include people living with type 2 diabetes in the labeling for the MiniMed 670G system.”
“If you want to continue to see your daughter’s blood sugars, we recommend the MiniMed 530G system.”
“The MiniMed 670G system is approved for people with type 1 diabetes ages 14 and up.”
“the MiniMed 630G system is only approved for those who are 16 years and older. The MiniMed 670G system is approved for those who are 14 years and older.”
“the MiniMed 670G system is not approved for those who are on dialysis.”
“both the MiniMed Connect app and mySentry reside on incompatible radio frequencies from the MiniMed 670G system.”
“that is correct there are two insertion sites. The first one is for the infusion set which needs to be changed every 2-3 days and the second is for the sensor which needs to be changed every 6 days.”
This right here. I think they really wanted to be first to market on this, and now they are. My feeling is this isn’t ready for prime time quite yet. I think they’ll iron most of this out. If you can deal with the crazy sensitive sensors, the failures, and calls that have to go with that, do it.
Wearing a CGM and pump isn’t a problem. I’ve worn both a Medtronic pump and Omnipod with my Dexcom. It’s having a sensor so sensitive that when you have a high carb meal it freaks out vs. just doing what it’s supposed to do: track your glucose level. I’d still probably be wearing the 670g if it weren’t for that second failed sensor coupled with a really crappy customer support experience.
1 Like
How it should be done…
I just had a failed Dexcom sensor. Don’t you know that call took just under 15 minutes, and I didn’t want to strangle the support rep. In fact, she was just as awesome as the other Dexcom support reps.
Go figure.
(Note: I also realized that I should never loosen the cap of my Skin Tac bottle because I have a habit of shaking the bottle before applying it. Good that I have Uni-solve handy.)
Oh the mental picture is going to have me rolling on the floor the rest of the night!!!
We switched to Skin Tac Wipes because the bottle was too much of a pain - and potentially messy.
It wasn’t a large spill as I figured it out pretty much immediately, so bad after I realized I had a box of Uni-solve wipes. 
I have so many questions…
Is there anyone who has tried this setup who was on the previous generation pump?
I’ve been using medtronic sensors since they came out, and I just can’t for the life of me figure out how they can pin a closed loop on the randomness of the reaction to the sensors.
While they claim it’s all user error, it simply isn’t. You can see sites warming and falling. You can chart them as they fail as well as warm. Sometimes they’re dead on day 5 and other times they’re only just getting really nice and stable by day 6, and can easily sustain a second run.
Uh… I just don’t know about this. I was hoping the 3rd generation sensors would be more accurate and less prone to failure, and it sounds like they’re just somehow rehashed exactly the same thing yet again, for the third time… No doubt doing what they did with generation 2 and using the FDA’s allowance that it can run for 6 days instead of 3 to effectively double the cost from the previous generation (they used to sell in boxes of 10). Then boxes of 5…
Irony was, those first gen sensors ran far better in the gen2 sensor pump, but as soon as I switched they would no longer sell them to me 
Because of this, I’m really shy to just upgrade and hope for the best.
Really it made me distrust medtronic enormously, and I’m still having trouble getting over that sales angle side to them.
For those of us not fully covered, we could re-run our sensors. Those gen1 sensors could run for an outrageous length of time.
The second ones, ironically while tested for 6 days actually had a half life less than the 1st.
What is the full life of the sensors?
Can they be re-run? The nature of medtronic makes me think they’ll build in a system that won’t allow the re-running of a sensor more than once to maximize profits. I know they can argue safety aspects, but I’m a grown up, and often it feels like I know this hardware in a real way beyond they themselves do, as they are only allowed to be by the book.
As such, I can’t call up medtronic and ask them any of these realism based questions.
Do they offer any stability advantages over gen2?
I can’t currently view the cost of them either, as I’m not a registered user of that setup…
I would just love a realistic poor person with not the best coverage opinion of the pump. 
Rob.
I have no idea. I’m more Dexcom loyal now than ever. As the 670g rolls out, you’ll hear more stories, both good and bad. I’m just not the one to deal with bad customer support right now especially when it comes to my health. Dexcom has it on lock and my numbers on MDI, while not perfect because I’m diabetic, are pretty good. My a1c was in the low 6 range last it was checked. The one thing I learned from wearing the 670g for those three weeks was that I was being too aggressive with corrections. With the 670g I had to ride it out, so I’m replicating that now. Sure enough, those lows I was having are gone now.
Hooray!
What alarms me is my endo said the Tandem team isn’t testing their closed-loop system yet, so there is going to be a wait. It looks like Bigfoot Biomedical kicked off a trial last year: http://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/newsflash-bigfoot-closed-loop-clinical-trial-begins#1 It looks like they’re local to where I am, the SF Bay Area: https://www.bigfootbiomedical.com/ That gives me some hope and the info in this article looks good as does the smartphone interface next to that pretty Dexcom G5 CGM. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that they’re still moving forward with that.
1 Like
Yeah, Competition is key here.
The older medtronic gets the more it feels like im dealing with comcast.
So you don’t know if you can re run sensors?
And the cost of the sensors?
The charging while changing sensors sounds iffy to me as though its pairing them to avoid reuse.
I dont have a problem if this is based on safety, but for a tech as twitchy as their continuous sensors are, this has not been the case in the past. Its purely profit driven.
1 Like