With my wife getting a new job that covers diabetes supplies 100% so I am seriously thinking of switching doing some research and it seems to be a toss up between the Omnipod and Minimed Paradigm for the benefit of CGM. Any thoughts on these. Its a big jump for me. any feed back or thoughts would be welcomed.
Hey Jim
I just JUMPED in to the pool ,and I’m going for training on the 6th of Dec. I went with the MM and was approved for CGM sensors…lots of work to get here and TOTALLY overwhelmed. This site has seen me through it all .
Does the MM sets you up with alarms when you go low,or high so you can address the issue ??
I’m in Canada so the MM. VEO is now avalible here.Same Paradime pump but also suspends the basil and bolus if too low.
I intend to start a thread of NEW new pumpers and it seems there are quite a few plugging in this month.
Donovan
I have neither, but most everyone here prefers Dexcom for CGM. Lots of inaccuracy with MM according to posts.
My endo is pushing the MM, the tubing kinda scares me but it might be easier then having to show the omnipod to security at work every night.
I think the tubing does bother some people, but I am okay with it, I get the shorter length. I like that my MM is all one piece, so I don’t have to worry about “losing” the part that allows me to do boluses. I think the best thing to do is try to “trial” both and see which one you like best. Sometimes you can do this through an endo or call the company and you can likely meet with a rep. IMO, the CGM is well worth the effort, especially if it is covered by insurance. I have the Minilink CGM but do hear better things about Dexcom. My main issue with Minilink is insertion is a b*tch, at least to me. It does take some time to get used to dealing with the CGM and with practice, my accuracies have gotten better, although this still can be a frustrating issue at times. Overall, it has been a great tool for me and I really miss it when I am not wearing it.
If I were getting something today, I would definitely check out animas with the dexcom.
After 15 years of MDI I jumped in with an OmniPod and Dex CGM. Best thing I have done for my diabetes ever! I have the lowest A1Cs of my life and better hour to hour, day to day control. Plus it makes my life more flexible. I held off on the pump because of the tubing, even with multiple friends telling me it wasn’t a big deal. When I found the Pod I knew it was the option for me. It isn’t that big and goes unnoticed most if the time. I don’t have to worry about what to do with my pump while sleeping or showering.
I have the dex and love it. I am waiting for approval of the animas ping as it will eventually be combining with dexcom. Plus I have heard lots of issues with MM CGM and pump.
The deciding on which pump was the easy part for me. The hard part was what color I wanted my pump to be. Each pump has its advantages and disadvantages. I would contact each pump company and have them show you each of the pumps before making a decision. I did not realize that there were so many major differences between the pumps until I started doing the research myself. Your doctor may not even know all of the advantages and disadvantages of each pump.
I wanted more bells and whistles on my pump than what the MM offered. I also did not like that the infusion set were proprietary. The Omnipod was just scary to me at the time. It was so large.
The tubing is not that major of a thing for us that use a tubed pump. I like the fact that I can move my pump as needed depending on what I am doing. I just tuck the tubing in my clothes and away I go.
Hey, Jim!! I’m an OmniPod user. I also use the Dexcom Seven Plus. I’ve heard that the Dexcom is more accurate than the MM. OmniPod and Dexcom are working on an integrated CGM/Pod but the date for that keeps getting pushed back. My biggest concern was tubing. I avoided pumping for a VERY long time because I was really icked out at the idea of ripping out an infusion set. The OmniPod took care of that issue for me. Now that I’m a bit more familiar with the technologies, I might have gotten over it. I like the pump over MDI for a whole bunch of reasons. My control has gotten really good (much of that has to do with the CGM but the pump has been very helpful). The pump allows you to get a bit more exact with your insulin dosage. You have a certain amount of additional flexibility with the pump. I would really encourage you to investigate the CGM and pump. I’ve only ever used the OmniPod so I can’t speak to the benefits of the MM. Even if you don’t go with the pump right away, I would get on the CGM really fast. It’s a powerful tool and it has helped me avoid countless lows. Now that I’m pumping I am mad at myself for being such a butt about it.
And there are lots of successes with the MM CGM as well - depends on the person as with any product. I have lots of success with my MM CGM and it is VERY accurate for ME. Dexcom wasn’t even an option due to frequent Tylenol use for me. I love the all in one unit integration - one piece of equipment was very important for me as well.
I started on the Minimed w/ CGM and now use the Omnipod and Dexcom. I much prefer the tubeless-ness and the Dex has proven to be a lot easier to use and more accurate.
MM pump pros: IOB calculations (I’m obsessed with the fact that I think Inselet calculates active insulin inappropriately)
MM pump cons: not waterproof, tube (which can cause large bubbles in the line and then you don’t get insulin), 1995 interface design
MM CGM pros: receiver is integrated into pump, only takes minutes to restart for a new 3-day session
MM CGM cons: you have to tape down the transmitter, the needle is freaking huge (which always made me bleed), accurate only about 70% of the time for me
Omnipod pros: tubeless (yay!), waterproof, no need to whip something out of your clothes to bolus
Omnipod cons: when you lose a pod due to occlusion or ripping off accidentally, you lose the whole she-bang (MM would just be an infusion set)
Dexcom pros: easy to insert, transmitter is well attached to tape/sensor, 7 day session
Dexcom cons: takes 2 hours to start up when re-starting for a new 7 day session w/ the same sensor
Hope that helps. Most likely you’ll be happy with whatever you choose, should you do so.
My endo, who also has T1, chose the MM pump and CGM for himself as well…
Thank you for the replies
JIm, I just switched to a pump and LOVE it! I actually opted for the Animas Ping because the remote offered me discretion in using it (don’t have to whip out the pump) and it’s water proof (I like to swim). My second choice was the Minimed but I had been told by my CDE that the CGM wasn’t reliable and you would still need to test. I actually prefer the tubing because it allows me to move the pump location depending on what I wear – the omnipod seemed was too stationary for me and seemed large.
Hi Jim: I highly recommend getting a pump. I have been using one for 12 years now, and I would never go back (I have the Animas). I did get the Medtronic/Minimed CGM (the Guardian) but it was so wildlly inaccurate most of the time that I stopped using it. I will eventually get a Dexcom.
Kimberly you are right the Omni Pod does not calculate IOB the same as MM or Animas. It does not track IOB for the Carbohydrate you have entered. I have never understood why as this would assume you perfectly count your carbs. I have found a work around though. Figure out what your dose is suppose to be and then exit back out and put that dose in under just a correction (do not tell the PDM you want to eat carbs only correct). You will not be able to give an extended bolus this way though.
Research all pumps carefully before deciding. Animas also has a pump, the Ping, with a remote. Even with tubing, you could hide the pump under your clothing and use the remote to bolus, so you would not to access the pump publicly. The Omnipod has, at times, had batch of bad pods lately. It has been on the market a while and they have fixed yet another problem they had with their pump a few years ago. Minimed had problems with quick sets more than once. We prefer the Minimed pump. But greatly prefer Dexcom cgms. Dexcom will communicate with either Omnipod or Animas. We woud chose the Animas if Minimed does not come out with a better option when our warranty is up. Tubing has not really been an issue. Omnipod is also going to reduce the size of their pod. Because I had read of problems with Omnipod twice, if she wanted to try it, we would probably go with another pump and buy out of pocket. Omnipod is much less expensive than the other pumps; it is the pods that are expensive. If we choose a pump, it has to last four years before they will replace it.
I understand that they are giving the option for IOB that calculates ALL IOB and not what is covered by the carbs entered. I find the current method to be prone to me making mistakes. I’d rather know exactly how much is there – if I misjudged I want to know how much is active so I know if I have to take in some carb. Of course, when this hits the market has been somewhat of a moving target.
In saying the following, I am figuring that you haven’t done any pump yet.
- Any pump is better than MDIs.
- I used two tubed pumps for years before going to tubeless. (The Cozmore pump which is out of production and the Animas Ping, which I did not like as well as the Cozmore.)
- I much prefer tubeless, Omnipod (started several months ago), but that is a personal opinion. I suggest you check with MM and Omnipod and see if they will let you test drive them for a week or two before you purchase one.
- I have used CDM in the past, Dexcom Seven and highly recommend them. I am not on one now since, unlike you, my insurance is crap and I can’t afford it any longer.
- I would start with the pump for several months or until you are totally comfortable using one before I started CGM. You might get overloaded with all the “stuff” you have to learn from the two at once.
- Since you insurance is 100% buy extra supplies and and send them to me.
Let us know what you do and how you like them/it.
Yeah you could say you are going to change the Pod daily!! I had an insurance company who kept screwing up my order once. They kept sending me enough infusion sets to change daily. I tried correcting them twice but they kept sending me them that way. I ended up getting 2 years worth of for $120. Since I tried correcting them I didn’t feel bad about it either!