My daughter just started on the new system this week. So far, she has used 3 pods and all 3 have failed. Hope this is not going to be the norm. She shifted back to the old pods for a week or so. Anyone else getting a rash of pod alarms?
1 error in 2.5 boxes. Fill with less than 200 units, put pod to the right and touching the pdm while priming, all the stuff you prob already know to do
Thanks for the reply. She is doing all those things. Maybe just an unfortunate first string of pods.
I'm on the new system as well. I had one fail this morning at almost exactly the 24-hour mark (24 hours and 4 minutes of use). I was not bolusing, nor active at the time.
I called customer service and it's an internal error. They're FedEx'ing me a new one and asked that I FedEx back this one. The rep noted that they are experiencing more failures with the new pods and are working through the issues and that they don't expect this to be an ongoing issue. I also had several communication errors with this pod that I haven't experienced before (with PDM within 12 inches of pod).
I'm new to pumping altogether and have been having several issues thus far, I hope it smoothes out soon so that I'm not regretting this decision to pick omni over medtronic. :)
I havent had a failure yet. I am on my 7th box. I have torn 3 off working out. I have had two that had a delay during the insertion. But after a few minutes the needle retracted and everything was fine.
I did at first, but my success rate is much better now. The <200 units seemed to have cleared up my priming issues, and I had A LOT of those at first.
My daughter is on box #2. We have not had any bad ones yet.
I was wondering if that was common. Sometimes i notice the POP like the needle is inserting, then a secondary pop... It feels a little strange, but the pods haven't given me an error.
Same as Piki... son is on second box of new pods and no problems yet... yes, I realize I just jinxed him! But, on the last box of old pods, 4 of the 10 alarmed with various errors. I think sometimes there are just bad batches. Insulet was good about replacing.
I have used 80 pods 2nd generation and had 9 pods replaced. I started with the third PDM last week. Most Pod failures are occlusions (6). The PDM replacements are because of "Stuck key" errors.
I never had any priming errors.
Ok it always happens at the wrong time but I do not want to change back to MDI. Still happy and hopping it will be better in the future.
I was new to pumps as well as pods when I started in April. First month was very frustrating-had almost an entire box of pods fail. Here are some of the tips I was given and since have had very good results:
• Position: When applying pod to front or back abdominal area make sure it is positioned horizontally with needle away from spine
• Make sure to pinch up the flesh or skin area nearest the needle when starting-this helps insure it goes into the fatty tissue.
• Make sure the insulin is at room temp when filling a new pod. They said if it's a new vial from the fridge let it sit out for at least 30 minutes.
• After activating a new pod I do a unit of "start up" insulin just to prime the pod. Seems to help keep BS spike after applying a new one.
That's all I can think of right now. Will post more if I think of anything else. Not sure if these will be helpful to you but they seemed to really help me. The alarms have not been an issue since trying these tips
Hmmm, I am still waiting to be switched to the new pods, and with all the failures being reported, I'm not really upset at being at the end of the line anymore. I haven't had an old pod fail in the past 8 months!
Colbaugh, we had a similar experience with the delay, or failure to insert. My 4 y/o has been on the new pods for about 10 days and our VERY FIRST pod did this. It never made the popping sound and I didn't see the pink slide on top. You can imagine our disappointment, after we had been soooo looking forward to the new pods! The PDM didn't detect any problems and proceeded to the confirmation screen, but I deactivated the pod instead and called support.
In the meantime, my daughter peeled the deactivated pod off and the cannula deployed in the process. Weird! But it definitely did NOT insert, as she felt nothing and there was no puncture in her leg. I made the support guy stay on the phone with me while we put another pod on and I confirmed that it worked.
If this ever happens again, I'll wait a bit to see if inserts. Was a "few" minutes as in 5 min or closer to 10?
Two more
Do not fill the pod with more than 200 units, not max, on the syringe. (See photo)
PDM and Pod should be adjacent and touching,either in or out of tray to ensure proper communication during priming. (page 49 manual)
Make sure that you fill Them to 195 Units of insulin and That will Help
I have not had a failure since then
I had 4 out of 10 in the first Box
I'm in the opposite situation. After going many months without an issue, I'm on my last box of pods and had 3 fail. I'm ready for the new ones which should be arriving today.
My recent issue with the new pods isn't with them actually failing but with them turning into bleeders and had one leaking insulin. My last 3 pods had to be removed early due to these issues plus high BG. I never had this happen with the old ones and I've been using the new gen for 2 months. I'm taking a break right now, using my alternate tubed pump and am not certain when I plan to switch back for fear of more of these issues.
I have been on the new system for just over a week, & am on my 7th pod. I had 4 pod errors - not sure the reason. All were on not quite 24 hours - and most occurred within a few minutes of a meal bolus. I have been an Omnipod user for over 6 years. The old system had errors - but not 4 in just over a week. And to make matters more frustrating, when you call Omnipod to report an error - I have been on hold for about 25 minutes each time. You would think that during the transition they would staff additional customer service.
I'm just starting day 7 of the new pods and just installed pod #6, yeah, I know, that math doesn't work. Well, I've experienced some of your same problems. I've now had 4 out of 5 alarm out. 2 during a bolus and 2 while sitting or standing completely still. 3 of them lasted a little over 12 hours and the 4th last right at 24 hours. I only got full use out of one of them. That also means I've lost 9-1/2 days worth of insulin already, U-500 insulin that retails for over $800 a bottle, and I just got my last refill the day I started the new pods! You know my insurance isn't going to be understanding when I need a new bottle a week and a half to 2 weeks early. Insulet gave me an address where I could send my receipts for the insulin I bought and they'll consider it case by case for reimbursement, HA, that should only take a couple of months! And top it off, I've spent over 2 hours on the phone with customer service reporting the alarms. They say they'll send the replacements and a return pack so I can send the bad ones back, but I've already had that 4th alarm and haven't even received the return package for the first bad one yet. Oh, and by the way, I've had the communication problems as well, not near the range of the old pdm, I usually have to get within 12" of the pod. Of course they say it can happen with a new product, but isn't that why the spent soooo long in development?? I'm a mechanical engineer, and have worked in manufacturing for many years, and I know what kind of testing should happen before you ever put a new product to market, to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen. I'm afraid I may have to go back to my Revel, even though I hate the tube. Maybe this is why Insulet let me keep my old pump and didn't require it as a trade in. Hmmmmmm.
Just starting box 3 with 1 alarm while priming so it IS possible to use the new ones without issue.