When priming a new pod, it began to beep nonstop and then stopped priming. The PDM told me to discard and prime a new pod, which I did- then, that one started to beep nonstop during priming! I called customer service who witnessed me prime two more pods that also began to beep nonstop! He told me to prime one more. Just before that, I moved to another room and removed all old pods from the room like the ones already in the trash. It primed successfully!
At least he fed-exed me 4 new pods to replace the failed ones for free!
Things to consider when changing pods:
(1) remove all old pods from room
(2) use room temp insulin
(2) go to a room where electro-static is not an issue
Not that these are the cause of pod failures, but they are factors to consider.
I have had two pods fail to prime in the past 6 months or so. Both times I was away from home and my pods had become unattached. After having the second pod fail, I realized that I had been in a ladies room both times to apply a new pod. A member here told the story of having a pod fail in Target and going through 3 or 4 pods with no luck in the rest room. It occurs to me that ladies rooms night have poor reception and might not be a good place to use a PDM.
Perhaps whatever room you were in at home caused the same result.
I believe that interesting detailed story was from our resident story teller–Spooky. I think that her problem may have been that she was in close proximity to her other pods. Her delightful daughter saved the day.
I had 10 pods fail last month the same way. I think it was a bad lot. When I received my new shipment of pods the proplem stopped. I think the pods were just defective. The error code ended with 64. Mine were from a lot number beginning with 357…
I didn’t want to use Spooky’s name without her permission…I remember thinking that her daughter pulling a pod out of her little purse was the cutest thing I had ever heard.
When I first started I went through 4 in a row. I had all my supplies in one room and didnt realize that deactivating one or starting a new one was affecting the others. Then I stored one a month or two later in the PDM case. My thinking was that if I was ever not at home and needed to make a change I would have one with me. Well as I’m sure you have guessed that one didnt work either. So now my game plan is NEVER be in the same room with a new pod when I stop the old one and NEVER start a new one in the same room with the unused stash. Oh! and never carry one with me in my case. :-0 Instead I just carry a syringe and insulin. So for months now the plan has worked perfectly. Hopefully it will continue that way.
I’ve always carried two extra pods with me in my purse (that also holds the PDM). I have had a couple fail while priming, but not nearly enough to think that it’s caused by proximity to other pods or the PDM. The ones that fail fail either due to 1) not being handled carefully enough before filling (either by me or the shipper) or 2) poor manufacturing. They always come in a whole box that 7/10 or something fail in. I’ve probably had 2 or 3 of these boxes in the last two years and I’m convinced that there’s nothing we can do about it other than treating the pods carefully once they are in our possession.
Every pod that I have carried in my purse, and/or in the Omnipod case has failed during priming. My opinion is that they are not tough enough to handle being stored anywhere but in a closet. Which is a bummer, because you cannot carry an extra with you! Anyone ever successfully started a pod that had been carried around for awhile??
Yeah, I carry around 2 at all times. One I carry in my Omnipod case and the other I toss into my computer bag. The only time I had two fail during priming was when I was home. They came straight out of teh box…
Yes - we have though I try to replace the pod with the one we carry in our “diabetes bag” so that it is never carried around for a really long time.(only 3days - or 6 days tops)
That’s a good point! I have a rotation where the one from my Omnipod case goes on my site, the one from my bag goes into the case, and a fresh one from the box goes into my bag.
This is what I usually do too. With that said I had a couple I through in my school bag in September that I just got around to using two weeks ago and they had no problems.
Me too. I always have two with me in my purse and rotate them out with my supply at home. Again, the only trouble I have had with them working was in very enclosed spaces away from home.
The situation shouldn’t be life threatening if you have your proper back-up methods with you. It’s alarming so you know there’s a problem and can fix it. Yes, I hate it when I get a couple failures in a row but it’s not hard to pull out a syringe and give myself a shot or two before I can get back to my supply bins at home. I assure you that Insulet is doing whatever they can to stop this as each pod that fails this way they replace and it’s a $33 or so loss for them. Yes, it is a pain, but no, I don’t think it’s life threatening or that there’s a need to report to anyone other than Insulet.
Please don’t go to the media! Insulet is a little corporation against companies like Roche and Medtronic. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t tell Insulet when there are problems - I would imagine they have a pretty big R&D program working on our issues - but no need to spread bad press.
Believe me, I feel your pain when we experience “issues” with the pods. When they fail due to technology, it is super frustrating. When they work, they work Great! I, personally, hope to never have to use a “traditional” pump.
I’m not saying that changing a pod in a bathroom is an issue, just because you’re in a bathroom. I have no problems changing pods anywhere in my home. I am thinking that an inner sanctum like the lady’s room (where my 2 failures occured,) or a fitting room in a typically constructed commercial property does not allow for proper reception. I had an Insulet customer service rep tell me that sometimes the PDMs are like cell phones in that you might have to move around to get better reception.
I don’t know if this would possibly be the case in this instance and if it would apply to your child’s room…
My daughter had several episodes like this one in July 2010. We lost about 5 or 6 pods while priming. When we talked to Insulet they recommended using room temperature insulin (which we always do) and filling the pods very slowly. Since then, Teresa really takes her time filling the pods, very, very slowly. She has not had any more problems like this since. Either it was a batch of bad pods or there is something to filling them slowly.
Rebecca, I agree with you totally. If you always have a backup and deal with things responsibly there should be no life threatening situations. We are dealing with mechanical parts and that means there could always be a problem. It would be nice if we lived in a perfect world but unfortunately we have to deal with glitches once in awhile. But I agree Insulet does their best to correct the situation so leave the media out of it.
