Hi all…last time I posted on here I was 100% enthusiastic about my Medtronic paradigm pump…
not so much now. Last weekend my pump malfunctioned and my reservoir reduced from 170units approx to 124.5 units. There was no warning or indication other then low sugars and a need for emergency services…
I was on a 1 unit for 10g dosage so you can imagine how fortunate I now feel - I cannot trust my pump now, so have returned to MDI. An investigation is taking place - but I don’t expect much back from this after others experiences.
Just wanted to update you all.
I’m extremely emotional, and contemplative…but I will mend…thankfully.
That’s why I chose Animas for my daughter they seem more reliable. Give them a call and see if they can help. Or have Medtronics replace your pump with a new one.
I feel very fortunate that I tested when I did. A usual Sunday night I would have been in bed an oblivious - but I was on holiday (typical) and away from home (even more typical)…doesn’t bear thinking about…
Thank you so much xxx I won’t be able to pump now - my hospital say no more funding is available and I refuse to have an exact replica of what I had - I wouldn’t be able to trust it
I know everyone is saying jump on the Ping, but I was getting too much insulin with the Ping also – not to the extent you did, but it was still spitting out more insulin than was being accounted for. I also went back to MDI. MM does have a history of problems like that. Google Stephen Krueger – FatCatAnna wrote about him here & on her blog at Diabetes1.
If you are around magnetic fields or close to an electric motor or other types of electric fields that could happen. Basically all an insulin pump is a small servo motor attached to a control board. Most electric circuits could be effected by magnetic fields. Medtronic sent out an advisory about that years ago. I only know because it was mine that went nuts when I was at work.
Yeah, I don’t think you should just jump to a PING because of a Medtronic Malfunction. All insulin pumps have had these problems and unfortunately we become victims of the broken hardware. All I’m saying is You cannot trust PING either if you cannot trust medtronic same goes for that annoying Omnipod system everyone complains about :-/ just be careful and I’m glad you are ok.
Some people use cgm and not the pump. Have you thought about getting a Dexcom? I think if I did not already have a pump, I would start by using the cgm without the pump. And perhaps not use the pump. Though I have never had any real problems with the MM pump in 11 years.
I had the opposite happen (my pump stopped delivering insulin though it told me of no occulusion/issue and I wasn’t paying super close attention to remaining insulin in reservoir). Through a day…basals and boluses were not being delivered though I was telling the pump to and the pump said it was. I ended up in DKA for 2 days.
I changed over to Animas. I completely distrust Medtronic, and felt little comfort in getting a replacement of the same defective product.
From my experience with Medtronic that is pry the 1 in a million pump that went bad. I would go with another pump for awhile, but just run saline for a couple weeks. Then if it happens again, you’ll be ok and if not you’re good to go.
Wow! This must be terrifying! I’m glad you caught it and were able to recover from this!
I certainly understand your fear of going back to a pump, particularly a Medtronic pump. (I use a Medtronic, by the way). But in the world of manufacturing, everything is built to a reliability factor: 99.999%, 99.999995% or whatever. There is always a small chance that something can go wrong; though usually there are backup mechanisms built-in to catch those, so if the pump overdelivers, a second part would sense it and shut it off. I can’t say going to an Animas or any other manufacturer would be different.
Having said that, I would assume (and we know what happens when you assume) that every pump goes through a battery of tests before it is released. Stuff like priming/rewinding multiple times. Delivering a preset basal/bolus (of saline into some sort of container for measurement) for a week. It would be nice if they did something like that, and included the test results matching your specific pump’s serial number with the pump itself. So-called “factory-acceptance-tests” are standard practice when high-cost or safety-critical materials (radios, locomotives, fire alarm systems) are used in US Government contracts. You’d think that the medical community would do the same.
Kari, I’ve had this happen to me a few times (though not ending up in DKA; that’s why I test for keytones at the sign of an unexplainable high, over 300 mg/dl). Non-delivery of insulin can be as simple as a leak in the reservoir/tubing connection or a bent/broken cannula. The pump knows if the motor is trying to deliver insulin and is encountering resistance. If the pump is just shooting insulin into the air, rather than into your body, it has no way of knowing.
I am so happy that you are ok now…call me paranoid but this is the exact reason why I have not yielded to the pump just yet. I am afraid of a unknown issue…If I ever tried it however I would like to get a CGM also or its a no go!
Wow, luckily it worked out. Bad enough that it happened but having no explanation for it must make it hard trust it. So it delivered 170 minus 124.5 = 45.5 units?!?!! Does the pump log list an event (s) corresponding to this?
