I am a new animus ping wearer and love it. I can not wear an omnipod. I would have to put on a new pod every 21 hours. So it would do not good for me to even get one. Could you imagine the pods I would go through? It would be useless for me. Plus the tiny little tube on my pump does not bother me at all. It has tons of features on the pump and remote. Easy to hook up and un-hook.
I just had a search on google and all the sites that came up regarding a bolus wizard were for the medtronic paradigm,
i think that other pumps could possibly have that feature on it though but i cant be sure sorry
good luck with your demo!
Hi there,
All pumps do the same job. its how you use it and get the best out of it. I use Medtronic Minimed and im happy with it.
Bottom line you will not regret having a pupm.
Good luck.
hi sophie,thank you//odessa brown
With the exception of course if you use a lot of insulin. Then you might want to be careful. Like with the pod, you would have to change your pod every day. My instructor told me there is no way I would of been able to use one even if I did want to. Pumps are great though. Even though I don’t have my basals set right yet. Work in progress.
Hi Karla…
Here’s my 2 cents worth. I investigated both Medtronic and Animas pumps. Both reps were very helpful, both came to my house and let me put the pumps through their paces.
Personally, my BG’s have, usually, been controlled well enough with my pump (a Cozmo) that I don’t find a need to go to a CGMS system. It’s just another site to change (and my “real estate” for sites is sparse, since I’m a thin 62 year old guy…grin).
I’ve decided to go with the Animas Ping, as the menu system made more “sense” to me, coming from a Cozmo pump. The Medtronic menus were harder for me to read (probably partly caused by my poor eyesight) and the steps required to go to different menus were not as intuitive as they are on the Animas.
The Animas Ping screen is VERY easy to read, through the screen on the remote meter leaves a lot to be desired).
The software that comes with the Ping also does an excellent job of graphing your glucose readings, and showing bolus data too, with pie charts that show how much of your bolus is made up of basal insulin, correction insulin, carb coverage etc.
Finally, one big consideration for me was that I be able to upload/download meter settings via the computer, as it’s easier for me to do things this way because of my rotten eyesight. It’s a breeze to modify the Ping settings (and SAVE them too) this way.
Check out both Medtronics and Animas pumps and get the one that seems best to you.
…Joe
Now that I’ve gotten over the Medicare payment issue, I looked at the waterproof issue further. As I said, I sail a lot and get soaked frequently. I have also gone overboard and had to go in after someone. I read the post referencing me to a page from Medtronics relating to water resistant vs. waterproof. It makes sense but mentions coverage for water intrusion under the warranty. I’ll have to disect the warranties carefully for Animas and Medtronics. My endo wants CGM and BC/BS will cover it. Since only Medtronics offer that now and I have rapid swings, it makes sense.
I was approved for the Animas and they told me that the CGM was coming in 2009 or 2010. I asked how I would convert and they told me that I would have to pay for an upgrade - an amount as yet undecided. They estimated $399 to $999! Since they would not tell me when the CGM would be released, I a concerned that I’ll have the pump 3-6 months and then have to pay out of pocket or get in an endless battle with BC/BS to cover it with the outcome in doubt. My CDE and endo want the CGM and are exclusively Medtronics fans. They have never even seen the Animas or the rep! My feeling is that I have to operate it. Where I need help is setting the basil rates.
I put he Animas order on hold and told them not to ship it. I’m going to revisit the Medtronic and CGM after I am satisfied that they will warranty it if I take a plunge.
Ther Animas will be the one IF they will upgrade me to CGM and not with a big charge.
I intend to trial them both at this point. I tried the Omnipod for three days and HATED it! It kept waking me up and felt awful on me! I’d stay with syringes before I went with the Omnipod.
I also have a problem with the capacity of the Animas. My CDE has to figure out if the 200 unit resevoir will carry me for three days. The rep questioned if it would. If I need the larger resevoir, Medtronics wins.
I have only used Animas for the past 10 yrs. Now, I have the 1250 and looking at upgrading. Animas has been great to work with in the past. I really want a cbgs, so I am checking into MM. I wish Animas would say when their systems will be available because I don’t want to wait too much longer or I may go with MM. It is a hard decision to make.
Hi Tom,
Not sure if you know, but pumpers use less insulin for their basal vs MDI, so your basal amount will drop around 20%, so maybe a 200 unit reservoir could cover you 3 days?
one caveat I’ll throw out is that CGM effectiveness really varies from person to person and from brand to brand. Some people get poor results from one and useable results from another, so I’m not sure how you should factor CGM into your pump choice. Obviously an integrated CGM pump is convenient and MM is the only one right now, so…
A long-winded way of checking out CGM would be to take advantage of money-back guarantees on the standalone Dex and Nav to see how well they work for you and all you pay for are the sensors. Even just 5 or 7 days will give you a good idea if CGM is for you. (Not positive, but I think Nav has money-back guarantee. I know Dex does.)
I would bank on Animas charging an upgrade fee when they integrate but I think it is most waterproof.
Funny how life is, you’ve been on MDI for so many years and now this!
Hi Jeff, I’ve been off the site here for a week but am in agreement with your comment on the pumps. I saw my first demo on Thurs. It was the Animas. The rep drove from Houston to my small hometown (165 mi.) to meet my doc and to demo for me. I loved the Animas and it was the first time I’ve seen an insulin pump in person. I also plan to see the MM but have to drive to a city and take their Carb Class and another class and then the teacher will demo for me. They were real supportive before I tested for the pump but now have been really busy and can’t seem to demo for me. They actually asked me to come to Houston but Beaumont is a city an hour away and I can get one of their classes there on the 5th. I look forward to seeing their pump but the lack of service is bothering me a little. The town here is small and there is no Endo but my family doctor has offices in 3 towns and has 4 patients on pumps and I think they are all MM so I am not sure about there being no Rep to demo for me here. I’m sure once I see the MM and ask my questions I’ll make the right decision for me. As for the CGM, if Medicare would pay for that I’d pick MM in a heartbeat but that isn’t an option for me right now. Good luck with yours and I will be happy just to be on a pump at all.
Thanks Joe. I saw the Animas the other day and liked all the features you mentioned. I will see the MM on the 5th and if I’m not mistaken, both pumps have the ability to download and upload info. I believe MM does it on a website called Carelink while Animas has software you use to do all that then email it to them. Either way works for me. I loved the Animas and will make my decision after I see the Medtronic. I looked at pumps a couple of years ago and my choice then was the Cozmo that you were using. Too bad they are not in the biz now. It was a nice pump.
Tom, I am with you on several issues. I got to see my first pump Thurs. It was an Animas Ping and I loved it. Of course, I have nothing to compare to other than a Demo OmniPod that I have not even put on. It really isn’t the right thing for me for several reasons and I’m a bit concerned about all their occlusion problems. I think it’s great for the younger set who are more active if they have issues with tubing but not right for me. Anyway, I see the MM on the 5th and then will made a decision. I have only Medicare and they won’t go for the CGMS yet so that won’t be my deciding factor but it will matter to me when Animas plans to have that available. If it costs what you say then I might not go with Animas but I’d have to pay either way because I can’t have it now due to Medicare. Thanks and good luck.
I have experience with 2 brands of pumps. My first one was a Disetronic H-plus which I loved because after living with Type 1 for 40 years, any thing new was a blessing. I have had 2 Medtronic Minimed’s in fact I just got a new one this year. I think any pump is a good one as long as you have the training and education re: your Diabetes. Pumping without proper education will not work well.
Hi Again Karla…
With the MM pump, you use “Carelink” to upload your readings from the pump to their web site, and then you use that site to interpret the data. The neat thing about “Carelink” is that it’s now wireless. You just plug the “Carelink” dongle into a USB port on your PC, plop the MM pump near it, and follow the prompts to transfer data.
You can also get a piece of software from Medtronic that will let you download and upload your pump SETTINGS using your PC. HOWEVER, it will ONLY WORK WITH WINDOWS XP.
The EZ Manager software that comes with the Animas saves everything to your PC…and allows you to print, change, and upload settings back to the pump. The software will alsow pull data from the Ping meter and display results.
Both the pump and the meter require the use of a USB port and a infared device (dongle) to read the pump, or a cable that plugs into the meter.
In my opinion, the reports and graphs provided by the Animas software are more extensive and useful than the somewhat limited results given by the Carelink system.
…Joe
Karla,
TeJay again, The infusions set have never been a issue with my experiences. I used two Medtronic pumps and one Animas. The Medtronic pumps sister CGM does have some issues with their sensor and the fact that their sensor is only good for 3 days is a concern. Most users keep it on for longer than the 3 days. I just started on the Dex 7+ system and have had mixed results. The first 2 sensors I used for over 14 days each. The next sensor quit after 6 hours and the next quit after 2 days. The company is great about replacement as long as you alert them when you have trouble. In fact I called on the fisrt one and the guy told me that once you get the ??? screen there’s a real good chance that it will eventually fail so don’t wait. The first 2 sensors never missed a beat for 14 days and for that I was thrilled. I understand about the insurance but believe me even with the trouble I’ve had with CGM’s I still highly recommend them. The DEx 7+ system is wonderful and really makes a big difference with control. The CGM alerts you when you’re high or low and the pump makes it easier to make the adjustments on a 24/7 basis. Best of luck and if I can be of any assistance please don’t hesitate to e-mail me.
TeJay
Paris,
I want to thank you for taking the time to write this in-depth review. I am going to tell the Animas Rep about it so she can read it (she’s diabetic and a member I think) and see what features people are commenting about. As for me, many people have responded on this thread and I am so grateful as I truly wanted the opinions. However, I believe your comparison helped me more than anything at this point. I am now qualified with Medicare and have seen the Ping demo and am planning to see a demo on the MM. Being at this point, all that is left is for me to make a decision as soon as I get my last demo. That’s why your comparison came at the perfect time. I thank you so much. I’m a bit in the dark about the insulin reservoir choice as I am on Lantus and a 70/30 mix so don’t know how much Humalog or Novalog I’ll need exactly. An Endo put me on Novalog in Oct but I had a problem with it and switched back. I do still have my sliding scale he gave me and based on the amount I was using I can sort of figure the new insulin amount. Only thing is he based the Novalog on my still using Lantus for basil control so I can’t get the exact number. I thought you could add insulin to the Animas 200 ut reservoir if it wasn’t time to change the infusion site. I thought you could add enough insulin to get to the site change but maybe I did not understand correctly. Anyway, I’m betting that if I don’t need the larger reservoir, I’m very close to needing it. We’ll see and I’m not letting that one factor make my decision. The customer support factor is important to me and it seems to vary by location. Right now, Medtronic wants me to come to them to see their pump and Animas came to me and met my doctor and then met with me. I liked that a lot. I’m not getting much in the way of support for seeing the MM. I suppose that’s just a problem I’ll have to sort out for myself. I do look forward to seeing the pump though. I loved the Animas and am anxious to get a pump selected and working for me. I have extremely unstable BG and it has taken it’s toll on my body. I can’t wait to be a pumper. Thanks again for the excellent review.
Karla
Joe,
Thanks for the info. It helped to clarify to me about the software and the differences in Carelink and the loading and email that the Animas software uses. I understand it better now. Since I’m no longer working and have the time I don’t feel it matters about the fastest way so maybe the better reports are something to consider. As long as I have a way to get the info to the CDE who will make my adjustments with Animas and to whoever will make them with MM, then I’ll be happy. The Animas Rep explained the difference in the way theirs works as opposed to Carelink. I guess they both supply the cables or software or whatever you need. I have a laptop and I use XP but think I will need to buy an extra hardrive. Been planning to do that anyway. Thanks for the help. I appreciate all the comments and opinions I’ve gotten here. I think with all this info I’ve received and after seeing the other pump, I’ll have a pretty good idea of what I want.
Karla
Paris… the Ping Remote Meter (obviously) holds all your BG readings, and does a very good job of breaking down your glucose data giving averages befoe and after meals, overall averages, graphs overall averages, also by meal, or time of day. I also like the fact that you can deliver a bolus using the meter remote, without having to take the pump off your belt.
You’re absolutely right that there is no way to see what your BG reading is on the Animas pump, but if you use the Ping meter for 99 percent of your bolusing and “BGing” then that’s no big deal.
The only time I DON’T use the Ping meter is when I go out to eat in a dimly lit restaurant, as the meter is too hard for me to see under those conditions (I’ve got crummy eyesight). I use a One Touch Mini meter to grab my glucose reading under those conditions, and it’s a breeze to enter it in the Animas Ping Pump with it’s big bright screen.
Like you, I had a bit of a problem getting used to the EZ manager Max software, but once I got the hang of it, it’s pretty slick. You’ve just got to remember to NOT have it “scan all ports” when working with the meter or pump. I’ve never had an issue with communication, as long as I remembered to:
- set the port to the one used by the IR dongle before trying to upload/download.
- Make sure the pump was in “suspend” mode.
- Make sure a menu screen was lit up.
The thing that really gave me fits was getting the hang of remembering to “open” my previously saved settings file so I could make changes and save it under a different name. Seems very simple when I explain it this way, but for some reason the way the PC software screen was laid out, I kept missing this step, and wondered why none of my previously entered data was there when I looked undeer the various tabs in “pump setup”.
…Joe
Joe,
Did Animas give you any software training or did you have to wing it?
Karla
I had to “wing it”. However, I’ve been told that Animas does a good job with phone support. IF you decide to go with the Ping, and you run into problems with the software, I’d be happy to help via e-mail or here.
…Joe