Hi, new to the forum here. I’ve been pumping for about 5 years now, and my Medtronic warranty is up, actually last October. While I like my Medtronic and have no complaints, I really find myself liking the Tslim pump a LOT. Thinking about getting it now that my warranty on my Medtronic is up. What are the likes and dislikes of the Tslim by those using it. Thanks.
I like mine. I won’t use any of the others because they don’t protect against overdose of the cartridge. I don’t like that is so slow to bolus and do things like that, but that is the reason it is safer so I’ll live with it. It also has a max bolus amount which is preventative of bolusing too much- I guess maybe other pumps have that too.
I like that it can give tiny doses, the touch screen, it’s pretty easy to naviItgate etc. It looks nice and you can have numerous basal rates set into it. I like the whole temp rate system which I use all the time. I just do most of my basal changes that way since I change so much from day to day, although lately I did change some of the set basal rates also.
Thanks. My blood glucose is pretty stable, I only currently have two rates on my Medtronic. I HATE the CGM with a passion, so that is not a big deciding factor for me in staying with Medtronic or making a switch to another pump. I found for me CGM to be more stress inducing due to all the constant alarms and for inaccurate readings. I just didn’t get that much benefit from it personally, not for the headache, and added cost. The one factor, I do wish it came in slightly smaller cartridges. My Medtronic holds 180 units and that tends basal/food/any corrections to fit my needs perfectly over a period of 3 days. Is there anyway not to completely fill the cartridges, maybe only fill it to 200 units? I’m really kind of excited about making the switch. It’s been around for a few years now, and overall seems to have pretty decent reviews.
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I can’t remember how many units is in my tslim is it 300? You can fill the cartridge with whatever amount you want to, but it has to be more than 50 I think for it to function. I usually fill it with more than what I need just in case. Tslim is a stand alone- I use mine with a dexcom, I think some of them will communicate with newer versions of each etc. But not for shutting off insulin if you go low at this point. The cartridge is a plastic bag inside the plastic case and it needs to be changed every three days for that reason because the insulin will degrade faster.
Thanks for the info. My medtronic holds 180 units, that usually lasts me 3 days but would be nice to have a “little” spare. I hate the CGM. I’ve tried using it numerous times, I’ve just never personally gotten much benefit from it. I suppose if my blood glucose was really all over the place maybe, but it’s pretty stable and consistent. I do wish it would communicate with my meter though. I do like that aspect with my medtronic. But small feature to give up, its not a deal breaker for me. I talked to my diabetes educator at my endo’s office about it. Overall she said it was a decent pump but not a lot of patients yet are on it at my Dr.'s office. I like the rechargeable lithium battery. My AAA batteries seem to go dead really fast in my pump, and strange since I don’t have things that could alarm going off. I don’t know why it seems to suck the power right out of the battery.
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I have been using MM pump for 18+ years, recently out of warranty and was in same situation. I checked out the T-slim with Dexcom, since I currently use Dexcom CGMS. I used MM CGMS initially, but switched to Dexcom in 2011.
One thing I did was to download the T-slim app to my i-pod touch, and was able to get a feel for how different it would be from MM. I’m glad I did that. As some have mentioned, there are a lot of buttons to press to get certain functions, including a 3-touch sequence just to unlock the screen. Since I usually directly enter bolus amount on MM w/o using wizard, it took me much longer to enter bolus with T-slim. I have heard other reviews too, and found a few other things I didn’t think I would like about T-slim. So for me, I decided to get another MM Revel 523. Same model I had, so no change at all. Before trying out the app, I was leaning towards the T-slim, or trying to get a trial unit. Have you tried the app, or had a hands on demo/trial for the t-slim ?
With my MM, I can load full 180 cartridge, and can last me a week. I change infusion site every 3 days, but do the cartridge only every 6-7 days. That was another reason I decided to stay with MM.
I’ve been using the T-Slim G4 for a few months now. For a bolus you can enter the amount of carbs and/or your blood sugar and it will calculate your bolus amount. Additionally, you can just enter the amount of units you want. That is at the top of your bolus screen. That feature may not be available on older T-Slims since so many people seem to think that you can’t just enter units. You also have a quick bolus function on it that you can set to either carbs or units. I really like the T-Slim.
The t slim should be charged everyday- it helps the battery to stay healthy.
Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes I downloaded the app to my iPhone, and have played around with it some. Overall I wasn’t turned off by the 1, 2, 3, function to unlock the pump, wasn’t a huge deal to me. The one thing so far I have found that I really wish it had, but doesn’t seem to is the transmitting the data from your meter to your pump automatically. Once again for me not a huge deal, but that is a handy feature.
I’ve been using the Tslim for a little over a year now. It is my first pump so I can’t compare it to anything else. However my biggest complaint is it does not reverse correct a bolus unless your bg is below 70. So if you’re afraid you might go low you have to enter 69 or less to compensate. Kind of dumb if you ask me such a simple thing to fix you would think.Other than that I’m happy with it.
Thanks for all the feedback. I’ve contacted Tandem…my warranty is up on my medtronic and it was giving me issues the other morning when priming the tubing with no delivery. It SEEMS to be working ok now, but being out of warranty, I don’t want to mess with it possibly being on the verge of a malfunction and not being under warranty. Tandem was very helpful with the customer service, so so far I’ve been pretty pleased with the process. Question for those using Tslim, what infusion sets are you currently using? Has anyone used medtronic QuickSets with Tslim? Medtronic seems to be pretty proprietary though. I’m thinking about the t:90 infusion sets.
The t:90 sets are the same as Animas Insets (similar to Medtronic Mios). Different box & name, but the sets are identical. Medtronic sets are not luer lock so they won’t work with t:slim. My daughter switched from Animas a year & a half ago.
It’s my understanding the newer t:slim does have a reverse correction. It’s not an issue for us either way. We simply reduce the bolus when needed.
As for entering a bolus by units, the quick bolus works well (using the button on top of the pump), but it doses in half unit increments. IIRC, one of the improvements on the newer version is the ability to enter boluses by unit right on the screen.
My daughter is quite pleased with the t:slim. I’m happy if she’s happy since she has to wear & use it.
Got approval today from insurance for my Tslim. I dont THINK i need to get approval from my secondary, but they are checking that out. Usually as long as primary approves it, secondary coverage is coordination of benefits. But anyway hopeful I may have it by end of the week.
I switched from Medtronic to T:slim and overall am happy with the switch. Medtronic seems a bit slow to evolve. I use my T:slim G4 with the Dexcom CGM as the glucose readings show on my T:slim so I only have to carry 1 device. The Dexcom has better reviews than the Medtronic CGM and the I usually get accurate readings; also, each Dexcom set is lasting me over 2 weeks. The Luer-lock dongle is a bit less elegant than the medtronic but not an issue; the touch screen is modern. The power button has broken twice but Tandem has replaced my unit overnight.
I am LOVING my Tslim. I do agree the luer lock thing is a bit involved, but its been doable. Got through my first solo cartridge change with no problems. I LOVE the touch screen and how easy it is to find your info…and the duplicating profiles so all you have to do is just edit your basal is AWESOME. My basal needs are decreasing with warmer weather, so that was really handy to just be able to duplicate without having to update all my profile information. I love the T-connect software too. Its nice having a system that plays nicely with my Mac too. Totally a girly reason but I love all the different colored t clips you can get, hahaha I used my purple one today. Have purple, pink and blue, in addition to the standard black one that came with it.