I have been using the omni pod insulin pump by insulet for the last 1.5 yrs. I have a 50-70% failure rate with my pods, ranging from occlusions ( most common) to an assortment of other errors. I am curious if anyone else has had the same problems and what fixed it. Also since the last round of 3 consecutive errors/failures I have taken a “break” from the pump & my sugars have actually improved.
Thanks, I’ve tried mulitplie pinch up methods, as well as different ways of cleaning the site. I’ve met with the local reps but the errors keep coming.
I didn’t have a lot of occlusion alarms on the Pod, but I did have a lot of static alarms. I tried wrapping the PDM (the PDM would alarm as well needing to be reset) in dryer sheets, and spraying my clothes with static guard…but nothing worked. I would get alarms multiple times a week at the worst of times (lunch at work, walking in/out of my house or work…while driving etc. etc). In two weeks, I believe I had 8 alarms all resulting in lost Pods and the PDM being useless as I had to reset it and it wouldn’t provide bolus information until hours afterwards.
What fixed it? Honestly, switching pumps (I know not the answer you are looking for!). In all honesty though, the one issue with the Pod is the fact you are stuck with ‘one’ infusion set (the angle). Because of that, not everyone is going to do well on it. With other pumps, you are able to try different infusion sets until you find one that works with you. You simply can’t do that with the Pod.
I hope some resident ‘Podders’ jump in and help you out futher.
Hi Daniel…been a podder since the end of January this year. At first I thought that I had made a serious mistake in choosing the OmniPod…didn’t even make it to my 3 day follow-up/pod change appointment. I had an occlusion and was left with changing out the pod myself. Long story short, I finally got so angry after many many failures, that instead of pinching up, I pushed down the window end of the pod… That was back in January…since then, I’ve had only two actual pod failures…no more occlusions!!!
I originally started pumping with the Omnipod because of the tubeless feature. I was very excited when I finally started to use it. However, I had the same issues you are having. I had a VERY high failure rate with pods,occlusions, site infections etc. There would not be an error alarm often that anything was wrong. Many times the cannula would come out just enough so I wasn’t getting the correct insulin or pods would just malfunction for strange reasons. I followed everything I was taught by my educator as well as working closely with the Insulet reps and there was still constant issues. I was always stressed out to go out anywhere in public because I was afraid a pod would fail on me at a bad time which they did on several occasions. Then before I knew it my sugars had sky rocketed and I almost ended up at the hospital several times because of it and I never experienced that in all my yrs of MDI’s before that.
I really wanted Omnipod to work for me but the frustration of having to constantly call Insulet with issues with the system made me decide to switch to the Minimed. I have been extremely happy with MM and have had close to no issues with it since I started it about 2 yrs ago. I had worked very hard with my insurance company to just cover the Omnipod because it was so new on the market at the time and they said it was still considered experimental. My Endo was hesitant for me to try the Omnipod because it was so new and said he didn’t like his patients being “guinea pigs” with something new like this. He recommended the MM originally and said I should wait until Omnipod was on the market a few years first and they worked out any possible issues they may encounter with it. Now I wish I had listened but at the time I had already made up my mind about trying the Omnipod. So after being denied two times already my insurance finally agreed to cover it after my third attempt with letters from my Endo, Internist and myself. So I didn’t take giving up on the Omnipod lightly at all! When it worked I thought it was wonderful. It gave me a glimpse at least at how great an insulin pump is when it works properly and I got my A1C down for the short time I was on the Omnipod which was slightly less than a year. I know I could have brought it down even further if I didn’t have all the issues with it.
I agree with Dave that I hope you don’t give up on pumping because of the problems you have experienced with the Omnipod. I would look into trading it in on another pump as I did if you have that many issues with it. It’s at least worth looking into! I would not go back to MDI’s if I didn’t absolutely have to!
I think that trading/switching pumps is what’s in store for me. Thanks for responding.
I’ve actually thought about looking into animas. I’ve used one touch meters & strips in the past & like them better than freestyle (which is what omni pod uses). It’s mostly up to what Insurance will cover. thank you for responding.
The tubless feature is what got me interested with omni pod as well, thinking it would allow more freedom. I think that I’m going to look into the animas depending on insurance of course. I also had to fight with my insurance to cover the pod as well and the only ever covered 70% which turned out to be approx $100.00 +/- out of pocket every month. Thank you for the input it’s greatly appreciated
I am a proud omnipod user but I agree with Dave------switch to another brand of pump. This type of insertion is not working for you. But don’t give up on pumping.