I’m brand new to Omnipod. Wearing my first pod since 10 am this morning. So far, it’s working!!
My question is this…how many of you pod or pump users bring a whole set of back up insulin, pens or syringes with you everywhere you go, just in case of a malfunction? Obviously, I would bring a back up set of supplies if I were traveling but do I need to be carrying this stuff in my purse at all times? Do I need to keep prescriptions going for quick pens and all that other stuff?
I’m interested to know how other people plan for back up and emergencies going forward.
It depends on how far away you are from your home.
If you are going to the grocery store and can get back home in 15 minutes, no need to have extras with you.
If you are going to be away from your house all day, and it would take you 4 hours to get home, bring a spare pod! Or at least a backup way to take insulin.
Another thing you can do is just carry a syringe with you.
Why?
Because a pod is basically a vial of insulin. In an emergency, you can take insulin out of the fill port of the pod with a syringe, and inject it.
I’ve done that before when I had a pod malfunction.
I bring the following items with me almost everywhere I go.
Current plus the next vial of insulin
3 infusion sets for my pump
1 infusion set auto-inserter
2 spare pump reservoirs
2 pump batteries
4 doses of Afrezza + inhaler
Glucose tabs
2 CGM over-patches
Blood glucose test meter and about 50 extra strips
Spare syringe
I may in the minority but here’s my thinking. If I take the elevator down to the lobby and then the power goes out, there’s a building fire, or an earthquake which could leave me without access to my diabetes supplies, my small kit would tide me over. The effect of being without the kit ranges from an inconvenience to medical emergency.
My kit measures about 6"x9"x2.5" and fits in my daily carry shoulder bag.
When I travel out of town, I bring a backup pump, extra pump supplies, and basal insulin.
The supplies are small, don’t weight much, and their absence creates unnecessary personal stress and possible medical problems.
i usually keep a set of back up supplies(extra pod, dexcom,insulin) in my car, and my work community refrigerator…usually tresiba or some sort of long acting insulin, as well as lyumjev…i definitely do not carry it on me, but if you have to, carrying pens and an extra cgm is worrh it to me
As a general rule I have an insulin pen in my purse with some pen needles. I also have a small CVS advanced glucose meter and strips. I have been using Omnipod for 11 years and have not needed to use these things but my endo gives me sample pens for emergencies just in case.
Pods fail occasionally and, when they do, you only have a few hours until your BG has climbed to DKA threat levels. Usually (for me) the failure involves the cannula dislodging or loosening enough to let the insulin escape, unbeknownst to the Omnipod software or me. If you are busy when the pod fails, you might not notice until you’ve already gone an hour or two with no insulin. At that point a routine pod replacement will be too little too late and an injection of fast acting will provide a more effective correction dose.
The old Boy Scout in me says “Be Prepared.” I usually have either a syringe or a fast-acting insulin pen and tips with me whenever I leave home on wheels (bike or car) and a whole lot more if I will be gone overnight.
I have a “go bag” of diabetes stuff that I take in the car anytime I’ll be more than a few hours from home, or if for some reason I couldn’t/wouldn’t want to get back to the house in a few hours. And that has EVERYTHING. Backup pump supplies (plural), Dexcom sensor, insulin, BG meter kit w/spare batteries and strips, glucagon, more sugar, etc…
For the most part, though, I just carry a sugar stash and syringe in my bag. Every pump I’ve been on, including Omnipod, you can suck insulin back out of it with the syringe and manually inject. That’ll buy me 2-3 hours of extra time comfortably, and up to 4-5 with high BG but little to no danger. Double that timeline if I reuse the syringe, which I totally would. (DKA starts setting in when you run out insulin to fuel your metabolism, not necessarily when BG is high.)
Of note, I’ve never once needed my backup plan, but I’ll never take that for granted. I’ve got the kinda luck where I’m only keeping disaster at bay BECAUSE I’m prepared for it.
It’s all in my purse
BGM back up for my CGM
Baqsimi Does older Baqsimi work??? It’s a powder and might cake
Quick Glucose fix (Vegan gummy bears)
Lasting Glucose fix, Nut Bar works best or cookie
Afrezza when I remember to grab it, it can’t go unrefrigerated long.
Another pouch with
Pod
Pen needles
Syringes
Alcohol wipes
Insulin Pen that can be used for a pod or MDI
Did I forget something lol???
Now the things is, life would be simpler with just grabbing a pen and plopping it in my purse. I’ve had a few pod failures, but I’ve knocked off my pod a few times and I’ve had a few MRI’s that my replacement pod was waiting for me in my purse after. I’ve had pods that just aren’t working for me as well and added a shot. So all that stuff has been handy to have around several times when needed. But just a pen worked before I had pods and it’s smaller.
And for the last 5 years I now live on an island with one major road that gets shut down easily by one accident. You can stay stuck for 4 hours if your timing happens to be bad. Although back in Calif we were stuck on a major freeway for over 4 hours by a traffic fatality until they could slowly manage to get a path to feed traffic off. But 1-2 hours happens often enough here. So even short trips anywhere means going to the main road, so my purse and supplies go with me.
I have been on the OmniPod for 15 years, and I have had the Pod fail on me less than 5 times. I wear a CGM, so I always have an extra blood monitor in my car. If I am within half an hour’s travel time (car or bike) from home, I usually will not take anything with me other than glucose tabs. If I am an hour or more away from home, dropping a small baggie with a spare pod, an alcohol wipe, and my current vial of insulin, along with my controller into my purse or bag is all I take. Longer trips, of course, mean more supplies, but I do not generally haul a whole drugstore with me, and I have been fortunate that I have never had problems.
Wow, all these posts have really got me thinking! I have been on Omnipods for about 2 months now and have not been carrying more than a Humalog pen with me, sometimes not even that. The pod box says “simplify life”, but not really. I have pulled off one pod accidentally, and had another fail because the adhesive paper folded under the cannula when I put it on in the evening. I woke up with higher than usual BG. Both happened at home though, so easy to apply new pod. Overall, I have liked the precision of the omnipods. I use them on manual and I like customizing basal rates throughout the day. Much better keeping in range than long acting insulin pens. But to carry around extra insulin pens seems wasteful, since they can only go about 28 days w/o refrigeration and may not even be used. The idea of carrying a syringe to extract insulin from a bad pod seems like a good way to avoid having to carry a pen or extra insulin. I have always used pens, so pardon my ignorance, but can you use the syringe that comes with the pod to inject into your body?
I would not risk that for two reasons. First, the markings on the “fill pen,” are very inexact, and since I am sensitive to insulin, I would fear that I am not getting an accurate or small enough dose for my needs. The second reason is that since that pen is NOT MADE for personal bodily injection, the needle is thick and probably not the right size to comfortably go into the skin. I suppose you could use it in a dire emergency, but carrying around a tiny, single insulin syringe that also can draw insulin out of a not-yet-empty, malfunctioning pod makes much more sense to me.
