I read about the OmniPod, and i found it interesting because it was a wireless, tubeless, waterproof pump. How has the OmniPod worked for you guys?
It’s the best thing I ever did. It’s easy, painless, state-of-the-art device that freed my body, spirit, and mind from injections all day long. You change the pod once every 3 days and just tell it how many carbs you’re going to eat and it calculates the bolus. It takes a few weeks to store all the information with your doctor and his staff… after that, it’s a breeze. Once I put it on I forget it’s there, I don’t feel it at all. I can’t say enough about my OmniPod. I recommend it (obviously) very highly. Good luck to you. 
Janet
Now i cant wait for my supply of Novolog pens rto run out. This pump is amazing…
You can use the novolog pens to fill the pod. I do it all the time!
I switched to the OmniPod last summer after 20 years of tubed pump therapy, and I easily rank the OmniPod with the best innovations in Type I treatment since I was diagnosed with T1 20 years ago. My top three “game changers” during the last 20 years are the OmniPod, fast-acting insulins (Humalog, Novolog, Apidra) and CGM.
Pump therapy is fantastic, period. But the OmniPod offers several tremendous advantages over its tubed competition, namely: (1) the freedom of not having a tube, which I cannot overstate (2) completely waterproof so you never miss insulin in the shower or while exercising, (3) simplicity with very few parts, (4) automated cannula insertion, and (5) freedom to easily attach to more places on the body, such as the arm.
If you have any questions, fire away.
I cannot rave enough about the OmniPod.
I am new to the omniPod and pumping in general but it has been a life changing thing for me. It’s looking like my A1c is going to drop from 7.5 to below 6. If you are an active or athletic person this is the ideal pump to use.
This group has been tremendously helpful in making my decision to go with the Omnipod and has been a great source of support since I started using it.
Im athletic in the summer, when i can swim. In the winter, im hardly ever active
I never thought of filling my omnipod with my pen. The pod comes with it’s own needle and syringe but if I ever had to fill it with my pen I’ll certainly try it.
Thanks.
I so badly want to get on the Omipod but my practitioner tells me no. Oh you will have to change to pod out ever 2 days with the amount of insulin you are taking now. I have told him welll I am having to change my infusion sites right now every 2 days so what is the difference ?! Just a little bit frustrated lol.
I use the minimed 722 and my biggest pet peeve is that when I stand up the next thing I know is that the pump is hanging off of my waist band from my jean and swinging around my legs. I’ve tried a belt and that is not much better. It’s not like I am new to using insulin pumps. My first pump was the Auto Syringe or the big black brick in the early 1980. My last insurance co said no to approving the Omnipod but I do have a different insurance co but have’nt dared to call them up and ask. Sigh…
Hi Joanna,
I’ll tell you exactly why your practitioner doesn’t want you on the OmniPod… It has nothing to do with your discomfort. It’s just a bit more difficult for the doctor to read once they upload it to get all your readings. They’re used to the older pumps and they just don’t want to deal with learning this one. How do I know this you ask? My doctor told me in the beginning this wasn’t his choice but I went with it anyway and I told him “please let me decide that”. Once I wore it for a few months I couldn’t understand what his problem was and he FINALLY told me the truth! It’s the technical part of it for THEM, not the patient so if I were you I would get on the OMNIPOD as soon as possible because I think it’s the best pump ever made and I’ve been on it for over a year. No tubes, no pain. I LOVE IT!!! Good Luck!
You still have to use the syringe that comes with the pods; DON’T try to use a pen needle, as the size of the pod needle is made exactly to correctly fill the pod reservoir.
The only difference between using a pen versus a vial of insulin is that you don’t inject air into the pen before withdrawing the insulin.
Joanna,
Don’t forget that your physician works for you; you are the boss, he is the employee. Too often we forget that.
Actually, it’s really more of a partnership or cooperative than a boss/employee relationship (well, at least it should be); but the patient should not forget who has veto power and the final say in all decisions.
Thanks for that information. I don’t think I’d ever use my old pen to inject the insulin because like I said, the Pod comes with its own. I love ALL the education on here.
I like your style Eric. We so often take our physician’s word as “God” which can sometimes be quite detrimental to our health. Don’t get me wrong… I have the finest doctor in the world and his staff is amazing. They saved my life and are always there for me but they’re human also and don’t want to work any harder then they have to.
Don’t forget people, that you can try the OmniPod for a time and if it doesn’t work for you, you can return it. The company is quite flexible that way.
I was the first patient in my Endo’s practice to get an OmniPod. The clinical specialist I worked with at Insulet set up the software for my Endo and worked very closely with all of us throughout the process of getting started. I did have have to show the nurse how to download the data the next time I went.
One thing you could do is offer is to print out the reports they need yourself.
I love my pod. I am so over MDI. I almost went with the Animas pump because the PDM was so easy to read. Realizing I am a total Klutz, I changed my preference to the OmniPod tubless. I was making the decision last summer when OmniPod was upgrading to a new PDM and my CDE had the older model. Once I saw the new PDM it sealed the deal. It was much easier to read than the older one.
I was not pressured by my Endo to pick a specific model. He did pressure me to go on the pump because I was in such poor control on MDI. I went for “Pump 101” with a CDE at St. Peter’s hospital in New Brunswick NJ. The CDE explained the features of each type of pump without recommending a specific one. I was under no pressure to choose a specific model. Like I said, I am such a klutz, I could see myself ripping out an infusion set by catching it on a doorknob or something else, so tubeless was the way to go for me. I have never knocked off a pod, but I always wear them on my abdomen under my clothing so they are somewhat protected.
Even though I got over injecting in public places like restaurants, it is much easier with the pod. I still have to do a finger stick to determine my BS levels and (in a restaurant) guestimate the number of carbs I am going to eat, but the bolus is a piece of cake (if I could just eat it). I just enter the grams of carbs and approve the calculation by the PDM. No alcohol pads, no needles no measuring the dose. And probably the best part is having the basal dose to keep me stable.
If you need to know the number of carbs in the food at a restaurant, just go to “Food” on the PDM, “index” and look for the food you’re ordering… it gives you all the information you need to “guestimate” the amount of carbs.
I would love to be able to print out the reports but I only have a MacIntosh and and software is incompatible. Oh well.
Janet,
Please make a point to bring this up any time you speak to an Insulet employee or representative. I’ve tried to open a channel with them that would give me, a professional software developer, some information that would allow to build a Mac-compatible program for reading the PDM data and generating reports. So far, however, I’ve gotten nowhere; they don’t seem interested.
The more people who complain about no Mac-compatible software, the more likely they are to pay attention.
You so right and thanks! I’ve been thinking that right now I am changing my site for the MM 722 about every 2 days he did say to me that I would have to change the pod every 2 days. Next time I see him I am going to ask him what the difference is ?!