I've been wanting to try OmniPod and have a doc appointment in a couple weeks to get set up with a week's trial BUT the good folks at OmniPod sent me a "dummy" pod without insulin or cannula to wear to see if I liked the feel of it. (Did anyone else do this?)
I received it in the mail yesterday, so stuck it on last night and so far have had no issues. I've worked out (sweating only a little), slept, and taken a shower and the thing is stuck on good. I put it on my tummy, on my left side, but a little higher than where I would normally do shots (ie: where they HURT). Hopefully that will be a good spot when I get a real working OmniPod. I'm nervous to try the backs of my arms, and since I sit at a computer all day, I'm nervous to try my back or love handles too. But I guess I won't know until I try!
I'm going to test and see how long the adhesive stays good for. Then I'll have one question about it handled. I'm not usually allergic to things like that so I'm hoping it'll be just fine.
Did anyone else have a test period like this, and how was it?
I did the same thing. With the demo pod, I put it on the back of my arm. It did not bother me at all, and now with the real pods they don’t bother me either. You’ll like it!
I used the test pods also. My doctor gave me several and when I met up with the sales rep she too gave me several. I was afraid to work out too hard when I was testing them because I was afraid it would come off. I've never had any issues with it just coming off due to sweating which I do a lot. You will love the OmniPod system once you get on it. I love the convenience of the system, it's made living with diabetes so much more easier. Good Luck :)
I've been on the OmniPod for almost 3 weeks now and absolutely love it! I didn't do the dummy pod but I did do a saline filled pod through my CDE. I had the PDM that went with it so I could play with all the menus and settings with only saline in the pod. That really helped because I was already comfortable with the PDM when I went live with insulin.
I've been experimenting a little with sites and so far every place I've put it has been fine. I work at a computer all day too and have a pod on my love handle area right now with no problem. I haven't tried my arms yet but I will eventually - that's my favorite spot for my Dexcom cgm sensors.
When I'm choosing a site, I take the old pod that I just took off and stick it on different places until I find the spot I want. I'll even lay down on the bed to make sure it won't bother me sleeping (I got that tip from someone here!).
Good luck! I hope your experience with podding is as positive as mine has been so far.
I'm curious about whether my doc and the OmniPod rep will have me start on saline first for a weeks trial.
I'm kind of worried about getting in the habit of wearing the pod and doing a shot. The shots have been such a habit for so many years that I don't accidently want to double up!
Do you think they'll let me do a trial on real insulin?
When I started, a mere 6 weeks ago, I started directly on Insulin. I did wear a couple of the "testers" for a few days a month or so before to get the feel of it, but when I starte, it was the real deal - no saline. I've had very few problems, other than a few pod issues that were resolved by customer support quickly, and have dropped my A1C by 1.7 already - I do like this thing.
Regarding positioning, I work in an office, and have no issues with it anywhere, so far, anyway. My favorite spots are the arms, which in the past, were never my favorite. Good luck, and I'm sure you'll find it less obtrusive than it looks.
Thanks everyone, for your comments and support. I'm off to the new doctor tomorrow and will hopefully be able to get this ball rolling--paperwork and stuff in to the insurance company.
The saline trial I had was only 3 days over a weekend to try out the pod and play with the PDM. I really didn't bolus and input grams of carb during the saline trial. I hear you about the fear of doubling up.
When my CDE was putting the saline pod on me, I made her show me the saline vial to make sure it was not insulin. Then I still felt weird about injecting insulin while bolusing saline so I just skipped that part and played with the other functions.
My CDE told me that they don't let everyone go live with insulin right away. I think it has something to do with how comfortable they feel you are with operating it before they turn you loose with it.
UPDATE: I'm on my second test pod (they gave me 3 to use for about a 9 day trial). Yes, it's real insulin. So far, things seem pretty good. Still getting adjusted to not having the Lantus in the background to cover small carbs like coffee creamer. There's a definite learning curve and I have only had a couple lows (46 and 50) but was able to treat them ok. The first 24 hours were pretty steady (before I started on a full basel) but now things are swinging a bit more.
I had to change out the first pod a day early. It may have been bumped a bit too much, the cannula looked kinked and I could see something in it--air bubble? insulin? I couldn't tell. Are the cannulas even long enough for someone with, say, more than a little bit of fat on their tummy??
I didn't get any error messages, but my sugars were running a little too high for comfort, so I went ahead and switched it out.
Today I think the adhesive is itching a bit more, and while its not a huge pain, it definitely has presence. Still ignorable, but I think I'll need some of the sticky alcohol wipes that I used on the first pod.
Hubs keeps asking if I can update Twitter/Facebook from this thing (pdm).
Congrats on going live... It took me a couple of days to get sugars flattened out, but things are pretty good now. I'm still fairly new at it, so still checking lots, and fine-tuning the IC ratios and Basil values, but getting better all the time. Never had itching problems yet, though, so can't help ya there a whole lot. I don't use anything special - I just change mine 20 minutes after showering, before breakfast, and use a standard alcohol swab to prep the site. So far, so good.
I've been on the pods for 6 weeks now and just now feel like I have my basals set right. I started out using the pods only on my tummy so I could see through the cannula window but I found that certain spots on my tummy worked better than others...scar tissue I'm sure.
I finally got brave enough to try the backs of my arms last week and the absorption is so much better there. Works like a charm. The tricky part for me is putting the pod on the back of my arm so it's not to either side. I had one too far to the side and hit it against a door frame. Looking at it, I could see the pod was separating from the adhesive near the cannula and I could smell insulin so had to change it.
It's similar to when I first started my Dexcom..learning where on your body gives the best results and learning the little quirks that make it work for you. Keep us posted KCCO! :)
The insulin is supposed to go into fat, so a little extra shouldn't hurt a thing. I found early on that I sometimes had a pod that itched -- sometimes really itched, but I find that is less frequent now. I actually would have a rash occasionally upon removing a pod, but I guess my body eventually got used to it. That hasn't happened for a long time.
I'm on my second trial right now. The first one didn't go so well, as I wore the pod on the back of my arm. All was good in that I didn't even notice it was there, which ended up being bad as I had knocked it off my arm by the end of the day running into things. Now I'm trying on my side and it's working quite well. I'll probably call my doc to start the process next week of going live with the pod. Kinda looking forward to it now, after the second trial is going much better for me. I still like the idea of wearing it on my arm, but will probably look into those sports bands to hold it on a little better if I continue my clumbsy ways.
I'm sure everything will go well. I really like the underside of my arms - seems to work very well there. I heard the upper butt works well, and I finally tried it there the last two times (once each side, about 4 inches below the beltline and over to the side a bit) - strangely, it is now my fave - it seems to absorb well, stick great, I can sleep on my back front or sides, and it feels invisible. There's certainly lots or new body real estate to experiment with. Good luck on going live.
