Hey Guys-
I am seriously considering getting a pump. That said, there seems to be Omnipod (no tubing, but may fall off) versus all the other regular pumps. My problems is I know nothing about the different brands. If anyone has actually tried more than one, please let me know why and which one.
Thanks-
I appreciate your recommendations and take them WAY more seriously than any doctor’s.
Well, let me start by saying that there are MANY opinions about pumps and I hope you get a lot of them. However, in the end, the decision is ultimately yours.
I have tried the MiniMed pumps and the Omnipod. Before the Omnipod, I liked the MM. It was the first I tried and it gave me freedom I didn’t have on MDI. Both my MMs were great pumps. I had some issues with customer service with MM. Everything that happened with my MM pumps seemed to be my fault with them and I got fed up with it. I didn’t like the tubes for more reasons than one and was almost ready to go back to MDI because of that.
Then, I tried the Omnipod. Now, I have only been on the Omnipod for about 1.5 months, but so far I love it and wouldn’t go back to MM or MDI. I have had a couple of pod failures. Now let me explain failures. Mine have happened during initial startup of a pod which I can handle. I have not had any failures while using one, therefore I have had no complications from it. I have simply used a new pod and called Omnipod. Omnipod has always been very helpful and had no problem replacing the pods that failed. If I had needed them to, they would have sent one immediately, but I had plenty, so they will send them with my next scheduled shipment. I have found so much freedom with the Omnipod. I don’t get tangled in the tubing and I don’t have to find a place to put the pump on clothing that doesn’t really have a place to put it. The Omnipod is bigger than the insertion sets of the MM, but that is all you have to find a place for. As far as I’m concerned, it is much more discreet than the MM and I love that.
Pumps in general give you much better control if you use them the way they are meant to be used. I hope you find a pump that works well for you and helps with your control. Take everything into consideration and find what you like and can live with. Good luck!!!
Wow. I got off the minimed and went back to syringes last summer. You’ve almost convinced me to try out the omnipod. Did your insurance cover it? Was it expensive?
I also have used both the MM and the Omnipod. The thing I love about the Omnipod the most is the automatic insertion. I had so much trouble inserting infusion sets for my MM and tried several different types. The omnipod has reduced a great stress for me. Besides the problems inserting the infusion set the MM was a good pump. I had one replacement sent after a failed pump and the week before I was going to start my Omnipod the 2nd MM pump died as well. Both pumps I had by MM lasted about 2 years. I don’t know if this is common or if I was too rough on them. I can’t say that I would never go back to MM because I do not know what will be offered in the future nor do I know the future of Omnipod… But I can say that I absolutely love the Omnipod!
Yes, my insurance covered it 100% so I’m not sure how expensive it really is. But, I do love it. I guess I should have said I wouldn’t go back to MM right now and never back to MDI. MM will have to come up with something pretty good, though to bring me back.
I was a MM user for years - it broke, I tried Animas as a trial for 3 days, and have been on omnipod for 2 weeks. Mr. Omnipod is coming home with me next Monday when I go to the Endo.
I was against Omnipod at first, but I’ve had nothing but pleasure with him these past 2 weeks. I love the no tubing, being able to have my meter right there on my PDM and best of all, I can sleep without strangling myself since I apparently move all around according to my better half. He said one night the pump was at the foot of the bed and I was curled up in a ball at the head of the bed with the tubing wrapped around my ankle. In addition to this I’ve switched from the MM CGM to the Dexcom CGM and it seems to stay in place better for me. In the future there is talk of it being added to the Omnipod. I can’t wait for that! 
I have only used Disetronic pumps for 18 years. Their customer service is stellar. The reason why I would never,ever switch is because you get two pumps. If (I should say When) your pump goes kaput, either from a rare electronic error, accident, has a crack in the housing you didn’t know about and then you jump in the pool, etc, you simply switch to your second pump. There is no need for a backup plan to go on shots until the company can send you a new pump. In 18 years, I’ve never had to go shots. Read these stories here about how TuDiabetes members have had to handle “pumps gone bad”. I have always used Minimed infusion sets with my pump too. Whichever pump you choose, keep us close when you start using it. We will be here for you to ease any fears.
My insurance paid for just about everything for my Omnipod, too. But, I do know… that the PDM’s full price is $800 (significantly lower than the other pumps’ prices of $4,000 - $6,000).
If your doctor tries to sway you from the Omnipod… here’s why: They probably don’t have many patients on it, yet.
When I was still in the ICU at diagnosis, I was talking about pumps. Later that week, I met with my CDE and asked for information on pumps (lol). They were suprised that I was going so fast at it… but I knew I wouldn’t want to be doing injections for no reason. A few months later, I had an Omnipod. I did the trial on it, and was going to do a trial on other pumps, too, but I was so pleased with the Omnipod, that I didn’t want to try anything else! I basically have nothing to complain about with the Omnipod.
Anyways, when I was talking about different pumps with my Endo and my CDE, they didn’t have much to say about the Omnipod, and weren’t really advertising it as much as the others. When I started to question if they “didn’t suggest it”, or something, they said that they simply had very little experience with it. Too bad! I got it, anyways!
I don’t want to push anybody into getting an Omnipod… but… at the same time, I kinda do (lol). It’s just an amazing piece of technology. And, I can’t wait until Omnipod comes out with the smaller pods and the CGM. That’ll be awesome.
Lane, I also wanted to share that I’ve never had a problem with the Omnipod “falling off”. For me, it stays on well. And, for those who can’t keep it stuck to them well, there are extra sticky adhesives to use. Oh, and also, I would say that one of the biggest differences between Omnipods and other pumps, is that you HAVE to change it every 72 hrs (or sooner). For other pumps, you’re supposed to change it every 3 days, but it’ll keep working after those 72 hrs. For the Omnipod, you must change it after 72 hrs, because it turns off at 72 hrs as a safety. So, I just make sure that I change it at the same time every 3 days (either in the morning, when I wake up (take it off before I shower, put a new one on after i get out) or I’ll do it before I go to bed. With that said, good luck with choosing the best pump for you… because that’s what it’s really about!
I have a Minimed 715 and before that I had two earlier versions of the Minimed pump. I have been pretty happy with the Minimed, until I looked at the Cozmo pump. It does so much more than the Minimed pump does. I encourage you to look at all the pumps with an open mind and choose the one that best fits your needs and that has the best features to allow you to acheive the best control. No pressure. GO COZMO!!! Well, maybe a little push towards Cozmo.
www.cozmore.com
I failed to mention that I have not had any trouble with my pods coming off either. I had more trouble with this out of my MM than I have with the pods. And, it actually lasts 80 hours. You have an 8 hour grace period after the alarm in case you are caught out without one to change it. My trainer told me this.
I have been on medtronic minimed 722 for about 3 weeks and so far so good, my trainer was amazing and my endo supported the pump therapy of my choise but strongly suggested minimed
Hey. I was on the minimed for several years, but just didn’t like it, so I went back to syringes. I keep seeing people recommend the OmniPod and the Cozmo. I was wondering, what exactly do you like so much about the cozmo? What does it do the minimed doesn’t?
I am pro-Cozmo after six months on it. I used Minimed pumps for 8 years before that. The Cozmo has several features that even the MM Paradigm 722 does not.
Hi Lane. I’ve been on the Minimed 715 for several years and I’ve had no problems with it at all, it works great for me. The only drawback is that it’s a little larger than I’d like, something smaller would be preferable. I don’t know much about the Omnipod, but after what I’ve read others saying, I’ll have to do some research on it.
I agree that this is a personal decision and it is so difficult when you are new to pumping. Look at your lifestyle and the features of the pumps and try to match from there. For example, if you swim alot, you might want the Animas or Omnipod as they are waterproof. If you are going to get CGMS then you have to really do your research. Do you like CGMS over another? Do you want it integrated with your pump? If you want integration then you have to go with Medtronic.
I tried sample pods for the omnipods and kept knocking them off. I am a bit clumsy and walk into things I really wanted a waterproof pump and I liked the color screen of the Animas pump and the food database since I was new at carb counting. I went with the Animas 2020 last spring and just upgraded this month to the Animas Ping. I love being able to bolus from the glucose meter and not have to touch the pump. It allows me to wear the pump in my bra with no worries and no tubing snags since the tubing is under my shirt.
See if your endo or the pump reps that work with your endos office will let you try a pump out. My endo’s office wouldn’t let me take one home but I was able to play with all the pumps in her office, that really helped me out. Contact Omni Pod for sample pods to see how they feel on you.
Good luck!
I don’t have experience with multiplebrands of pumps, but I still thought I better share about our OMNIPOD experiences. My son is 3 1/2 and was diagnosed just before his 3rd b-day. We were on MDI until Jan 19, 2009 and have ben using the Pods every day since. We absolutely love it.
We get way more control over bolus amounts since his injection pen only had 1/2 unit increments. The pod can deliver a bolus as small as 0.05 units. Wow! Also, the BS monitor is integrated into the PDM so we don’t have to carry as many items around. Customer service has been fantastic! Also no problems to report of pods not sticking, but one girl we met in an endo waiting room did say she had problems in this area.
We have had a couple problems with pods failing, and even our PDM failed on us once. We had one pod fail because of a static electricity discharge. Another failed for no good reason (there was a communication problem between the pod and PDM). Our PDM broke one day with a software corruption. THe company overnighted a new one to us at no charge, and our local Sales Rep came to us immediately after I called him and gave us a FREE PDM to keep. So we now have a backup in case of any problems. Fantastic customer service !!!
Even though, we have had a couple issues, I WOULD NEVER GO BACK TO MDI. I love the OMNIPOD product, and we will be using it as long as they keep making them.
Also, after each pod is removed, and prior to disposal, I open them up and take out the batteries. They are still good, and I can use them in several of my kids toys. There are 4 of them in each pod, and so I keep a jar of the batteries just in case an electonic book of ours fails or the little motorcycle guys headlights stop working. LOL! Recycle I say!
Hi ,
My son has had a cozmo for four years. Since our warranty was up we gave the omni pod a try because of the no tubing. We LOVED it the first week. After that you couldn’t pay me to have him use it. We had 10 pod failures in 3 days and a period of 4 hours during the night when he didn’t get insulin and the alarm did not wake him or us. They felt that we were doing all the right things and did not know why it the pods were occluding . They were going to send out a rep to see of she could figure out the problem. I decided against it ,just felt I couldn’t trust it and didn’t want to deal with problems for four years.
We are now trying to decide if we want to get the new cozmo or try the ping or minimed. I will say it seems like cozmo has a lot of new features. During our 4 years the pump was replaced about 5 times. The meter breaks a lot. It was our first experience with a pump ,it truly changed our lives. Our son has down syndrome and HE learned how to do everything for himself except change the site. This just could not have happened with MDI. We are thankful for the progress that has been made since he was diagnosed as baby 16 years ago.
MInimed seems more basic from what I can tell , I think there big feature is the CGM. We are waiting for the ping rep to come on monday. Hoping that will be the “one” for him.
Good luck to you.
I went with the Animas Ping. This was based on many things, not the least of which are everyone’s kind recommendations here. Been pumping for 2 weeks now. It’s still not perfect, but getting alot better.