So did everyone get the e-mail about not using the “new” test strips from Insulet? They indicated we needed to use the old ones and to contact Abbott if we were having trouble getting the “old” ones. I have been using the new ones and I have had no problems, and personally I hate the old ones. They were so much harder. What is everyone going to do??
Yep, got it…I’ll use the old ones for now. The old ones suck applying a droplet on the side of the strip!!!
I didn’t get the email either. I like the new strips. I did get the lite ones on accident from Rite Aid, but when I went to get them “fixed” I still got the new butterfly ones, just not lite. I guess it’s an FDA issue and I’m not going to kill myself to get the other ones.
The e-mail just said the new strips, it did not specify the lite strips, but the ones I have been using are the “new” butterfly strips but they are not the lite version and they seem to be fine. I think I am going to stick with them for now.
I am glad I am not the only one that thinks they suck! Before we switched to the omnipod system we used an Aramark meter and I loved it, it literally took the smallest bit of blood, it was wonderful for a child! So needless to say when we switched I was not impressed. But the butterfly ones are much better!
I agree - I kind of thought that way to - I just wanted to see how everyone else felt. Thanks for the input!
I agree. My old meter, prior to using the Omnipod, had you apply a drop to the top of the strip and it absorbed it. These Freestyle strips blow, it’s like you have to smash the side of it and force the blood in. Just a terrible design.
Oh, and I also received the “lite” strips from Sav On pharmacy by accident and they don’t work with the Omnipod…yay.
You would truly think the industry would “have it together” more than they do, I am actually quite suprised how much of a problem this seems to be. It really alters ones confidence with the whole system!
Didn’t get it. Currently using new ones parallel with old ones.
Just recently received my test strips. They’re the new ones with the butterfly. My granddaughter has the Freestyle Lite meter; and the new strips for her meter state that they are for the Freestyle Lite meter—mine don’t have that distinction.
You are using both - so is there a difference?
I didn’t receivd the email, but I just finished using a box of the new “Butterfly” strips. (Not the Lite version) and they worked fine. I started the OmniPod, last month, with a box of the originals and then my 2nd box ended up being the new “Butterfly” strips and I’m now on my 3rd box which are again the original version. I could not tell any difference in readings between the 2 types. My numbers are a whole lot better overall on the OmniPod system. (Been using the back of my arms). Can’t wait to see what my A1C is like at my next appt in December.
Cheers,
KCO
If anyone would like to see the email, message me and send me your email address. I’ll pass it along. Not like it’s gonna get you excited or anything 
Hear hear…Jwatson! I just cant believe how horrible this “introduction” of something new and improved was! It was a debacle! A leteral Kerfuffle! (look it up, it is a real word…means goat $%^@). I am just using the butterfly strips, as now Liberty Medical (Wilford Brimley…strip supplier) does not carry the old ones anymore! (they finally told me this after sending me (mistakenly) 3 cases of the butterfly and I had called them 3 times asking them for only the old style…called Abbott, and they told me there are some suppliers (ie Liberty Medical) that only have the new ones in stock…just needed to be vigilent in my search for the old as they are still “out there”, sorry, I have too much to deal with already! I dont need to go looking around for a Pharmacy that carries my necessary medical supplies! The Butterfly strips seem ro work fine, and I was told by an INsuliet rep that they actually are fine, it is just a matter of FDA approval before Insulet can actually say so publicly!
I am using the new strips. I tested them for a day by testing my BGs with the both old and new strips and every test was within tolerance. They are much better than the old strips!
I tried calling the person at Abbot that Insulet sent me to but never heard back from them.
I did not get the email, but had contacted Abbott last week. I have been having tons of errors with the new strips and false readings. We’re talking 16 errors in a row one morning! I spent several hours on the phone between Abbott, Insulet and Medco. Abbott was beyond unhelpful! I kept getting transferred and nobody could understand what was going on. I ended up reading a message to the person at the call center from Abbott’s public relations director regarding the situation. Still nothing. Bang head against desk. I was told that only certain pharmacies would distribute the “old classic” strip, but they would not tell me which ones. They did agree to send me some replacement test strips in the meantime.
Has anyone heard what their going forward plan is? So not looking forward to carrying around yet another device!!!
Great news everyone! The new “Butterfly” test strips actually cure type one diabetes! The old ones don’t 
Coool! What do you do, take two with a glass of water? or do we have to inject them into ourselves using an old BD syringe? Are you sure about this?..or is Abbott going to launch an easier cure that wont work for Omnipod users?
It’s only been a couple of days and here’s what I’ve noticed:
95% of the time the butterfly strips are lower than the old ones.
The variances are largely de minimis when the readings are lower (in range), the variance grows numbers wise when the bgs are higher - it can be significant, resulting in a change of action.
There were times when Caleb said he felt low and the old strips had him in range and the butterfly ones had him just hitting the low threshold. Last night I corrected a high based upon the old strips and he went low after - though there’s a million reasons why that could have been.
So…
I’m not sure what to conclude. I want to believe that the new ones are, like I’ve heard, more accurate. If that means his high readings are consistently lower it will likely translate into an eventual change in his correction factor I would suppose.
Overall the differences were within the acceptable margin of error for test strips which I think is 20%. Not acceptable to us, I know, but to the FDA.
I’m gonna stop the experiment and see what happens. It’s hard to know which way to go when you don’t know for certain which is right. I will say the variances are not much different than what I saw when I compared the old Freestyle strips to Wavesense strips and for whatever reason I’ve bought into Wavesense’s claim that they are more accurate, so maybe the butterfly ones are more accurate too.
I can be easily influenced to believe what I want to sometimes.
I just got the e-mail today (11-06-10) which is weird since my last name begins with “A” and I am usually one of the first people to get notifications when mass emails are sent. My physician, responding to my complaints about having to run to the pharmacy all of the time, wrote my strip prescription so I get a three-month supply… about 700 strips at a time! I never looked at them until I ripped open the first box and noticed that I had the orange-label “butterfly” strips. I have used them for a few days and have not noticed a great difference in the glucose readings from what I normally got with the old strips. The bottom line… if I need to adjust a bit to the new strips, I will do so. If these are “new,” then tearing my hair out looking for the “old” ones is going to be a futile effort three months from now. I will adapt. I noted that Insulet did not say there was anything wrong with the new strips or that they did not work accurately with the PDM; they just do not have the FDA’s blessing yet.