I have to agree with Dick regarding reps. When I was researching pumps last spring it was actually the Medtronic reps/literature that had negative almost derogatory comments regarding Animas, Omnipod, and Dexcom. Animas, Omnipod, and Dexcom reps were all very respectful of their competitors in contrast. I have had past dealings with Minimed reps where they also were very respectful in how they contrasted their features against the competition. So I think something like this is going to vary from region to region and with the individual reps rather than a problem that’s specific to one particular company.
I think S Woodward was talking more about the Artificial Pancreas and not just integration. There are other fingers in this particular pie. Who knows when that will come about and what it will look like and who will be first to bring it to market.
My primary experience with MInimed integrated CGMS was with the 722 and just had a brief trial with the Revel. Didn’t solve my problems/frustrations at all and I felt the software upgrades weren’t even worth the price of the pathway upgrade to get the features of the Revel. I had hoped my out of warranty pump would continue to function till Minimed’s patch pump was available or the new sensor came to market but it was not to be. I’m happy with my switch to Animas though and I’m ecstatic and how much better my experiences with Dexcom are compared to Medtronic’s CGMS. I think this is an area where personal preference makes a huge difference. They’re both good systems and have their pros and cons. What suits one may not suit another.
One last comment regarding integrated CGMS that I found totally surprising. I actually found I much prefer having the CGMS data on a separate receiver rather than on the pump itself. Because of how I like to secure my pump the data is much more accessible and therefore I actually am more likely to do something about it.
I also agree that a trial or as much hands on as you can is a good thing. I was very happy my endo had all the pumps or was able to pull strings to get me the trials I wanted. It made the decision a lot easier.
I’ve used DEX and MM both for a couple weeks at a time. Dex wins hands down, 10x better. I know two med students who quit wearing their MM sensors because they were off and just turned into an annoyance.
Aha, Dick, now you have had a blond moment! You said that you and your wife were Dexcom users and upgraded for $200.00 each. I know that you meant Cozmo, but I doubt that anyone else did, and didn’t want a bunch of people calling Dexcom to ask for the $200.00 special, lol.
Actually, the FDA is involved in Abbott’s problems – I was told that by someone in Abbott’s corporate office last year when my Navigator broke. I knew that long before I ever talked to anyone at Dexcom about Abbott’s problems. I recently had a guy contact me thru my blog about his issues with Abbott and he was also told there were FDA problems by someone in the corporate office. I guess you know something that the people in Abbott’s corporate office don’t know.
Agree with Kelly about the FDA and Abbott. There were issues with some of their staff not having the degrees that were required to do the jobs that they were doing for one thing. Abbott is a mess, and I am so happy not to be relying on them for the CGM anymore. I don’t even trust that the strips for the PDM will be available because fewer and fewer durable med places carry them now. I was told that they don’t make any money on them from one place that I called.
I love my MM. It works for ME. I have had lots of success with it. I calibrate it when very steady BG and it is usually spot on when compared to my BG readings. Love the predictive alarms (similar to Dex arrows) and it has saved me from some bad lows that were coming. The sensor insertion isn’t bad for me but I don’t know different. Haven’t had a gusher from the sensor insertion as others have. I also use Tylenol frequently (as I have an allergy to Motrin) and therefore the Dex woud be completely useless for me everytime I took the Tylenol (which is a few times a week at least). I use my sensor for at least 6 days - just restart it at day 3. And I LOVE that it is integrated into my pump and I do not have to carry around two devices. If I had to , I am not sure I would use CGMS. I forget my cell phone leaving the house, and would certainly have issue remembering the receiver all of the time.
If you don’t answer the predictive alarms (which are not blaring by any means, but I have woken up from the audio alarms) with a certain time frame, I believe 5 mins, it will vibrate, and this wakes me up, becasue I keep my pump clipped to my waistband of my shorts I wear to bed.
My daughter was sleeping through the alarms, We tried a baby monitor and also a karaoke machine with the microphone next to the Dex. Neither were loud enough. Now she is wearing it in a Spibelt and feels it when it vibrates. Finally, we found a way to make it work for her. I would often hear it and she didn’t, so would have to go and wake her up or test her and treat the high or low.
Mary, I keep it on the nught stand and it rattles right next to me head so i hear it on vibrate. I have heard others that place it inside a metal bowl to increase the vibrating noise. Anything under the covers (dexcom or minimed) I never hear
We have tried everything, a bowl full of pennies, etc. A metal bowl will cause it to become disconnected. It is right next to her on the nightstand and the speaker was right behind her head, but she still didn’t wake up. With both doors shut and the doors are solid, we can still hear it and she cannot. Good thing that she is a sound sleeper, or her own snoring would wake her up! I thought that she would give me a hard time about wearing it, but she hasn’t. I was going to look into a bed shaker that they use for deaf people, but that set up is pricey and I wasn’t sure if it would work because it is not like an alarm clock.
The Navigator was loud, but it would continue to alarm, there is no way to change the alarm times like there is on the Dex. I found her sleeping with it in her hands before, because she would be shutting it off in her sleep basically.
Mary, you may not get to this point, but I guarantee a bed shaker alarm clock like the Sonic Boom will work. You can place the vibe unit under the mattress, not even directly under the pillow, and it will still wake anyone. 'Course it will lighten your wallet because you also have to get the “baby cry signaler” microphone to pick up the Dex alarm and transmit it to the alarm clock and on to the vibe motor.
She did sleep through it with it in a Spibelt once this week, so if that keeps happening, I may have to go that route. A friend’s son sleeps through his all of the time, and he has seizures with lows, so she is looking at a solution also. Where is the best place to buy these things, and how many pieces would that be, just two? Any idea what that will cost? Thanks for the info, it doesn’t do any good if it they don’t hear it or feel it vibrate.
I got 2 pieces online (forget where exactly): the Sonic Boom alarm clock that comes with the vibe unit and the “baby cry signaler.” You can buy them directly from Sonic Alert at sonicalert.com or try Amazon which would probably be a bit cheaper when you add in shipping. The signaler plugs into a wall outlet, so you place the Dex somewhere near it and it will pick up the alarm and send through the house wiring to your clock which triggers the vibe motor. Sonic Alert makes several alarm clocks that have the bed shaker but you need the one that can receive signals from the signaler, so model “SB1000ss.” If you think a strobe light or flashing lamp will wake her, you might be able to forgo the alarm clock and just get the “Universal Sound signaler” that will flash a lamp if the Dex goes off. The bed shaker is guaranteed to work, so you might want to just go with that–you can set it to continuous or pulse, and either way, no one can sleep through it.
If a wall outlet is a bit far for placing Dex near it, you can try using an extension cord to put the signaler closer to the Dex on the bed or nightstand.
Thanks for this informative post!! That is a lot of info but confirmed my suspicions about the Revel having a different gizmo. I’m trying not to read up on it too much as I’m gonna wait until my warranty expires in 2012 to get the Revel. Or maybe over the summer as I have a long race in October and, depending on how the longer runs go, maybe a data improvement, even a small one will help? The insulin shutoff feature on the Veo isn’t that big of a deal for me. Sort of like I’m not that into the artificial pancreas as I think that it will just be a pump w/ some fancy features?
Thanks for the explanation Don and thanks to Dick for the links. I had been looking at specialty stores for the deaf and was just overwhelmed with information and not much detail. The items that I was looking at were much more expensive also. She slept through a low last night again, so twice this week! I need to download her Dex and see where I need to change her basal.
Don, did you get this for the same purpose or for another reason? I am going to order one for her right now, so thanks so much guys!!!
