Posted this elsewhere on the site but not sure I put it in the correct place. My apologies for being redundant.
Can someone clarify for me. I have seen conflicting info on this site and others--and from Insulet Customer Care. Does the Omnipod calculate insulin on board to recommend a correction for a food bolus? I know the system only displays IOB for corrections but an Insulet Customer Care rep told me the system does calcuate the insulin on board for a straight food bolus (no correction) and may recommend a correction at a later BG--it just doesn't display the IOB. So for example, let's say my daughter's BG is right on target and then eats 30 carbs and takes 2 units of insulin. 2hrs later--with a 4hr action time--her number is high--does the pump recommend a correction based on the assumption that she has approx 1 unit left? Or, just like when we did injections should we ignore the high BG until the 4hr window has passed? I had one Insulet rep (CDE) tell me that it would not show any insulin from the food bolus because it assumes you dosed correctly and matched to the food. However, when we test, the pump does recommend a correction if the number is out of range--even in the 4hr window. I had another Customer Care rep tell me the pump did estimate how much insulin was used based on the action time and would suggest a correction--but would not show the IOB in the actual calcuation (unless there was a correction amount in the previously recommended bolus).
For the Omnipod, food boluses are not included at all in the IOB, which means if you are high 2 hours after eating, it will suggest a correction for that number b/c it doesn’t know that you still have IOB for the food that caused the high. This is, to me, the most annoying feature of the Omnipod and I think it is just wrong. Minimed shows you insulin left from your food bolus, and if there is enough left to bring you down, it will not suggest a correction. When I asked my Omnipod rep about this, she said that Insulet thinks their way of doing IOB is the correct way. I told her it wasn’t.
wow im glad i read this im getting the omnipod soon and going from a MM several years ago i just “assumed” it would have this feature im kinda bummed that it dont i mean its not a big enough deal for me to not get it but its just annoying…
CLARIFICATION: Finally got a consistent answer from Insulet. As they have stated many times, the OmniPod only displays IOB for the correction amount and assumes you correctly dose for the food. The IOB calculation is based on simple division (in the user manual, buried in a section in back). If you put in a 4 hour insulin action time, the pump will divide your correction number by the action time amount (e.g. 4unit correction divided by 4 [hours] equals 1unit used each hour). I believe some of the other pumps may use a curve to calculate how much insulin is used (rather than assuming a stright line usage --which of course is not how the insulin is really be absorbed). We are now ignoring any corrections that are suggested during the 3-4hr period–just like we did on injections and are seeing better numbers. Thanks for all the replies. Sorry to send you off in the wrong direction.
Things must have changed because I believe it does use IOB and makes that correction. You can find the info when you search, there’s a pdf from Omnipod available that explains it but I can’t copy and paste it here for some reason.
Barb, Just wanted to let you know that what the person said before in the clarification post is correct. The Omnipod does not consider insulin on board except for the portion of it that was a correction dose. It will give you a full correction, even an hour later because it considers that what you bolused for the food needs to be used for that food. It has been a problem for us a couple of times when Melissa hits 160 or more an hour after eating. If she puts that number into her pod, it will give a correction and she will go low.
If you want the pod to use IOB, then you have to enter the full dose as a correction. Some people do that with kids, but it would be difficult for Melissa to manage to copy the number and then go back and tell the PDM that she was not going to eat now. Then you would enter the dose, and it would be tricking the pod to consider all of the insulin.
