Omnipod 5 uses more insulin?

I am only on my third pod, but so far my insulin requirement per day is 20% higher than it was using Omnipod Dash! I wonder if the stylus is little shorter and insulin is not being absorbed as well. With Dash, I was getting a full 3 days out of every pod, but with all 3 of the Omnipod 5s, I’ve either replaced after 2.5 days or had to supplement with injections at some mealtimes. Using the same settings for IC ratio as I had the Dash, I found that I had to bolus after every meal. Getting less than 3 days is real problem because the only good time to change a pod is before bedtime. This is because any bolus within 6 hours of startup just doesn’t work efficiently for me. I don’t want to replace every other day, that’s too expensive!
I still have a bunch of Omnipod Dash’s and when I compare them to the 5’s, they are slightly thicker.

Does anyone else have this problem?

3 Likes

I just went back and looked. Compared to a year ago on Dash, I’m using about 10% more insulin on average per day. And my BG numbers and Time in Range etc are roughly the same. Not sure why the insulin usage went up but it did.

I’ve always been close to the limit of 200 Units/3 days. My endo prescribes one pod every two days which makes it OK to change out a pod before the 3 days is up. I don;t experience any trouble with bolus after startng a new pod…they sometimes seem to work better than on a 2 day old pod.

You need what you need right now.

What country are you in? Do you have insurance coverage? How high are you getting before you feel that you have to bolus after meals? Have your TIR, GMI (average glucose) and SD inproved or worsened from before? Are you paying closer attention to your daliy numbers?

TDD will vary with health, including the effects of stress, weather, and activity, and subtle changes in behavior.

Any change of life support technology is also stressful until you acclimate to it. The last month included after effects from the holidays- a time known to be stressful for most people.

Unless you find that you continue to use more than the Omnipod 5 can hold for 3 days at a time, I wouldn’t worry about it. Worrying about it won’t reduce that need and may may it worse.

My average TDD has risen on the average by 10% over the past 3 months as my stress level increased, but on weeks when I’m very relaxed it has been lower than it was previously. When I’ve been injured my TDD rose amost 50% from incident through return home after surgery.

So I wouldn’t be concerned-yet. And using syringes for boluses is cheaper than using more pods.

If you have a chronic problem with boluses within 6 hours of insertion, it’s the “depot delay” effect. It may be caused by underskin trauma worsened by using a site too close to a recent one and/or too thin an interstitial layer.

Both Omnipods use 9mm cannulas which prenetrate 6mm beneath the surface at an angle.

Taken to the extreme, using syringe MDI for all insulin infusin is a LOT less expensive than pods, since both are covered by the same type of insurance with similar percentage co-pays.

I chose to deal with the inconvenience of a tubed pump partly because they and CGMs get better coverage under Medicare Part B than pods do under part D, and partly because of the 300 unit capacity that I thought I might need, and partly because of the clinical trail and the hybrid closed loop algorithm.

1 Like