Today just after I entered the data to bolus for breakfast, there was this loud long beep. It almost sounds as if your ear is ringing (if that makes sense to anyone). My Omnipod meter gave an error that an occlusion. It had only been 1 day since I changed this pod, so needless to say I was upset that I had to change the pod out.
Has anyone gotten this error and if so, is there a way to clear it out without changing the pod out?
I get occlusions from time to time. Usually I know itās correct because the area actually starts to ache a little. Sometimes I think the podās just being dumb. Thereās nothing that you can do (that Iāve found anyway). Insulet also refuses to replace them as the pod is working correctly, itās unable to deliver insulin so it alarms. Itās frustrating as anything but I donāt think thereās really anything you can do.
My son gets these every now and then. Often after he has hit the pod, but sometimes just out of the blue. The pod has to be changed because it cannot deliver as it needs to.
I get them all of the time!!! that is why I am so ready to change to another pump! I dont know why it happens! and no, you have to change it, there is no other way that I know ofā¦
An occlusion is a blockage and it effectively ruins the pod. You can get occlusions on a tubed pump, too, and have to change everything out. You wouldnāt want to continue to use an insertion site and/or tubing after a blockage. The pod is designed to deactivate as soon as it detects an occlusion and you cannot reactivate it.
I had a similar experience a couple of weeks ago. The day after I changed the pod, there was a continuous beep (similar to what you described). However, my PDM would not connect to the pod and it was not clear what the error was. Is there an error message displayed on the PDM when there is an occlusion? Iāve been trying to figure out what happened.
There are a great many reasons that a Pod will error out. The only one Iāve found that Insulet will not replace is when the PDM says there is an occlusion. Insulet does replace Pod Errors. Whatever happened to yours seems to have also resulted in a communication error. If you call them Insulet will usually replace these as well.
You will see a message about an occlusion when it has detected one. If you look in the 'my records; section on the PDM it keeps an error history and you might be able to tell from that. In the years that my son has been using OmniPod, we have had a couple of ābeep of deathā situations where we get no error. It is as if the Pod cannot connect to the PDM, cannot register the error and just doesnāt know what to do. However, in the over 1000 pods I figure he has used this has happened in less than 5. It is a pain when it does, though. At least when the PDM detects a communication error, you know what the problem is.
Thereās no way to clear the error. It means the cannula is stopped up, and the pod must be replaced.
I had this happen twiceā¦ it was after i SLAMMED my pod into the wall (wrestling with a friend). I think that it has something to do with the radio on the pod not working right. The pod wakes the PDM up ever 20 minutes or so to update it on whatās going on. I guess if this fails for some reasons other than the PDM not being in range, it just screams.
The other time was moreā¦ odd. I was setting up some wireless mics at my school for the band, and when i turned on one of the receivers, the āPeakā light came on and the RF light came on, even though the transmitter was off. Thinking it was just a glitch, i unplugged it, turned the transmitter on, and then plugged it back in. Same thing. Turned the volume up, and it was just distorted staticā¦ then my pod started screaming at me and it wouldnāt communicate with the PDM. Maybe interference? When i replaced the pod, the mic worked fine, and the pod worked fine. -shrug-
Its a pain and it happens when fluid (or to be precise, blood, returns up the cannula) I am new to this but think its to do with the amount of movement the Pod has because its loose. If I cover the Pod with tubigrib it doesnt seem to happen. Just a thought.
Gos
It will happen from time to time if you get some dried blood in the cannula. If the pod is only a day old Iāll pull the reaming insulin out of it into a new pod.
Update. After I change my pod, it seemed as if the pod wasnāt pumping. My sugar seemed to go up after bolusing for correction and not eating anything. So I called insulet and explained the issue that I thought my pod was not pumping. The rp led me through a series of questions about settings, readings, etc and told me that they would replace it. So I went on to tell them about the occulsionā¦ they atually stated that they would replace that pod as well but he also made sure to tell me that Insulet no longer replaces pod for occlusions, but would āthisā time since this was my first time calling.
Since my original post I hve not had any issues. Soā¦ Iām still pleased with my omnipod. āNO MORE TUBESā
There is a bit of a learning curve to the pod. We had occlusions in the beginning. My best trick is putting some double faced tape under the pod where it sits on the adhesive patch. Sometimes your pod will pull away from the white patch and it errors as an occlusion. It works great for us!
It might be that the error on the first pod stressed you out a bit and thatās why BG went up. That screeching alarm for an occluded pod would send anyoneās blood sugar up! I love the pod by the way, just being honest.
When I change my pod my BGās always rise. When I put on a new pump I will do a small bolus just to get some insulin flowing. If not I usually get high BG and it takes a while to get them down.
Occulusions do happen w/ all pumpsā¦ sometimes it is blood in the canulaā¦ or other timesā¦ the site just goes badā¦ maybe from movementā¦ or scar tissueā¦etc. These are frustratingā¦but they are not caused by a fail of the pod technology and it is very important that the pod alarms and shuts down if there is an occlusion. The other errorsā¦ that are from pod error are all replaced by the company.
Occlusions happen w/ all pumps. If it didnāt alarm and shut downā¦then THAT would be the problem. There are soooo many safety features on the podsā¦that sometimesā¦ these fails can drive you crazyā¦but it is better that they alarm when needed then if they donātā¦ my son had that happen onceā¦ .went 6 hrs and 15 mins w/out insulin before he went to eat again and then saw that the pod was deactivated. The company asked for that pod backā¦and is disecting it to see what the cause was. Omnipods are the only pump that must be shipped out and deal w/ so much possible problems in shippingā¦ you basically replace your pump every 3 daysā¦ other pumpsā¦ they ship onceā¦ and if it has issuesā¦then you deal w/itā¦ But I do know that they are looking into all ways to make them safer in shippingā¦ and over allā¦ my son is much happier than if he had a tubed pump.
Hello Jgos, just wondering if you are finding that you have as many occlusions with the new pod? I see that your post was in 2011 and wondering if you feel that the developments to the pod have decreased the number of occlusions and pod errors that you have receive?
Betty - The post you responded to is four years old. The last post that the person you directed your comment to was 2 1/2 years ago. Sometimes people from long ago do respond but not usually. You may be more successful if you just write your own post and pose this question to the current community. We have lots of pod users here.