Just recently ( in the last 3 weeks ) I have had 11 pod failures occur. This seems extreme to me and I was wondering what y’all are seeing as far as failures? I’m close to going back to MDI as I have lost a lot of confidence in the pod, and now wonder how it made it past the FDA…
I’ve only had 2 failures in the past 4 months so no problems for me. I’m sorry you’re having such difficulties. I hope things work out for you even if you have to go back to MDI.
Same with me…I have had a few failures but nothing like your experience. I would be curious to know if there is any correlation with length of time with D. Failure to prime would not be effected, of course, but I am wondering if long term injecting might cause less viable sites for the pod and more occlusions. Lots of variables, I know, such as pod placement and activity levels. How long have you been using insulin?
What do you mean by “failures?” I ask because occlusions are not what I’d (or Insulet) consider a failure, just bad luck or poor placement.
Personally, I’ve been a 'Podder for about 3.5 years and have never had more than 3 or 4 occlusions or pod failures in any month. Most of the time I have way less than 1 per month.
Most of the failures I am getting are communications errors, and some when I fill the pod with insulin it will not activate. Occlusions will happen but this failure rate is dangerous.
Wow, that sucks. Maybe it’s your PDM going bad. Have you talked to Insulet customer service about that failure rate? If it were me I’d try to talk them into exchanging it.
What do you mean by “failures” ? Occlusion messages? or running high for no apparent reason? I used to replace a lot of pods after running high after a pod change. Now, I check very often during the first few hours after the change & use needles to correct if it seems the pod isn’t working. I’m now thinking that, for me, with a site that has poor absorption it will take 4/5 hours before the pod begins to function properly. Sometimes this guessing game leads to a roller coaster for a several hours. I’ve been type 1 for 32 years & on Omnipod for 4 1/2 years. Although I asked for guidance from Insulet, my CDE, & my endo the most helpful resource for me was this forum. Reading all the stories gave me the psychological energy to keep experimenting with possible solutions & accepting the frustrating, if not frightening imperfections in the management of this disease. Good luck.
Agreed. I am not talking about occlusions. Just this past Sunday, I had a pod that had been on less than 12 hours and it just started to squeal like a stuck pig. I spoke with customer service and they explained how to use a paperclip to make it stop. Communication error. I grabbed a new pod, filled it with insulin, and it never activated…another call to customer service. Got another pod, filled it with insulin, this one activated. Let it prime, put it on and all was good. I stood up to toss the packaging out, took one step and it started to squeal again…another communication error. These are the failures along with pod alarm failures that I am talking about.
Like to see everyone’s response here, others are saying 3 a month. My daughter is SO SET on omnipod, even with the concering failures. We have not decided for sure yet! Would be nice to have a formal response from the company about the plan they have in action to minimize failures. My endo said yesterday it is still " an experimental pump" He did concede he is the only out of his group NOT prescribing ( of four endo’s) Let’s do a poll!
Also how much of an issue are the absorption issues? My kid is newly diagnosed, so will that be less of a problem for now? Where is the DATA on this??? I’d like to see more troubleshooting tips from the company here??
I would think that frequent “communication error” could be just 1) a PDA going bad.
Other potential reasons for that are:
2) If you’re in a room with lots of electronic equipment turned on, which would interfere with the wireless communication.
3) If you wear the pod on the back side of your body and hold the PDM in front & close to your body.
As far as filling and not activating, with how many units of insulin do you fill it?
I’m sure it’s frustating. I wish you the best.
the good the bad the ugly. my t1 daughter is 15 and is on her 3rd yr of omnipod. Like our endo tells us omnipod is just a machine things can and will go wrong. I think of all the errors, all the exuses, all the wasted insulin. Everytime u have a problem, there never really seems to be a good reason. Its very frustrating as a parent and for our daughter, but so is carb counting, and supplies for outings, vacations, and just her visiting friends.Alarms with pod at school, dropping low. I tell my poor baby we all have stuff to deal with. Unfortunately this is hers. Shots are an option, but she sticks with omnipod. Other pumps have tubing, she’s says no. Other products will come, but I’m sure they will all have some problems. Gotta go pack for vacation now, god lets pack back up just in case omnipod fails , and it will, but, LOL
there is no vibrate alarm huh? wonder if that’s a feature for their new upcoming release? How many failures do you see a month? curious?
YES. In the last month I have had 5 or 6 failures, pretty much the same things you describe that you’ve had with yours. I have not called them yet because we’ve been on vacation the last week. This is the first time in a year on the pod that this has happened. I have to wonder if there’s a bad batch of pods out there? Once I started using ones from a different box it seems to have stopped. crosses fingers
My failure rate, either occlusion, failure to prime, or any other unknown reason is closer to 1 every 3 months.
I think that I am the “veteran” pod user on TU…might be wrong and if I am I apologize to the true vet. I have been on The pod since it came out in 2005 and I experience a consistant 40% failure rate. I also find this totally unacceptable, like “Brooklyn”, but I am at a loss as to what to do about it. I am in the middle of the process to switch to the Ping, and I am hoping that Anamus will be a more reliable option. The Pod is just costing me way to much in lost insulin, pod replacements (although Insulet does a pretty good job of replacements), the biggest pain in my ■■■ is the number of bg strips I have to use when I have a “bad” pod…enough of my sob story! Good luck and PEACE
In talking with them, I found out that the PDM I have is so old that they do not manufacture them any more. They are going to replace it with the “new” PDM currently shipping. Sure hope it helps.
good! Nice to hear!
Mike,
I’m sure sorry about all the problems you’re having with the Omnipod. I guess I’m one of the luck few. I have been on it for almost 4 years and I’m very happy. I just had a pod fail during priming last week and that’s the first one I’ve had fail since I can’t remember when. I’m rapidly approaching Medicare age and dreading the day when I can no longer get Omnipod but have to switch to a tubed pump. Best of luck and let us know how the Ping works out.
Linda
That makes more sense. I hope that improves things and resolves the communication failures. But you may still have some of the other ones: occlusion, etc.
As far as filling and not activating, with how many units of insulin do you fill it? You have to fill it with at least 85 U, if I recall. So if you’re filling it with an amount close to that, then it’s possible that it doesn’t sense it sometimes.
We have been using omnipod for our 5 yr old dtr about 9 months now. One month we had a 50% failure rate in one box. Failure rate = pod alarm for whatever reason NOT an occlusion. I don’t know what would have happened with the other 5 unused in the box because I insisted that Insulet take them back and ship me a new box even though they assured me it would be almost impossible for the unused 5 to have any problems. REALLY? We experience a 10 - 30% failure rate each month (for the month of July we were at the 30%). All of the failures have happened w/in 6-24 hours of activating the pod. Only one did not eject the cannula. Never have we had one alarm during priming. I’m sure that will happen tonight ;). We have had only 2 occlusions (which I am NOT counting in the failure rate #'s) since we started and I could find nothing wrong with the cannula or the site (like a bump or a knot). However, we have had high bg and I check and the cannula is completely bent but never an occlusion alarm… We went on vacation to Disnelyand in June. For 9 days my dtr walked around with bg in the 200’s for no apparent reason coming down each over night to normal. Insulet sent us a new PDM and said I should be using Energizer Max in the PDM because they see this problem a lot with people who use other batteries although they cannot dictate what batteries their customers buy or use. I WAS using the Energizer Max. I can’t find a different brand of Energizer anywhere anyway!!! BG came back down to her norms with the new PDM… They have replaced all the failed pods with the customary “did you use room temp insulin” “did you use a room temp pod” “did you pinch up the site” “what is the expiration on your insulin” “what brand of insulin do you use” “is your insulin opened less than 30 days” “what was your dtr doing when the alarm occurred” but it doesn’t make up for the lost insulin (which I am not pulling back out to deal with air bubbles etc and another pump alarm…). I have contemplated switching to the Animas Ping but hate the thought of my dtr dealing with the pump hanging off her pants etc… My husband is against anything but the omnipod (very anti tubing). That being said, when omnipod works (like it has the last 3 days) it is AWESOME. FYI to another responder who asked about A1C results being higher than you would assume when the avg bg on the PDM record would suggest something much lower…we have the same problem. You could have knocked me over with a feather when the first A1C after starting the pump went from 6.something to 7.4…