If you have an alarming pod, just pry the plastic shell on the pod apart with a knife or screwdriver, and then you can take out the batteries and shut it up. I was able to stop one from alarming with a paper clip, but it doesn’t always work.
Would you do this if you didn’t have your PDM with you?
Yea, I’ve done that every time. The paper clip thing doesn’t seem to work.
Tiffany - Do what? take out the batteries? You should always have your pdm with you and when the alarm is going off because of a bad pod then the pdm won’t shut it up anyway. It’s the “bad” pods that you have to do something to, run it over with a car, use a hammer, take out the batteries, put it in the freezer to make it stop. Problem with the freezer is as soon as it warms up it will start again!
I was just wondering if she uses a knife or screwdriver to pry the shell of the pod when the alarm goes as an alternative to stop the beeping if she doesn’t have the PDM with her. It just seems like a lot of work, lol. I wouldn’t ever be far from it, so I could always get to it quickly if I needed to.
There are times when you can’t shut the pod up with the PDM, no matter what you do. That is when you pry it apart or throw it outside, lol.
Just to clarify - this is only before the pod is activated! If the pod is activated and talking to the pdm, the pdm should always be able to “shut it up” 
Tiffany - I don’t want you to think that the pods are little noise volcanoes ready to erupt at any time! Yes, there are alarms, but (after the initial couple weeks of learning curve) my unexpected alarms are slim to none. I still get notification on my low reservoir alert and pod change alert. Those notifications are a set of 5 of 6 little beeps (like a digital watch).
The last “screamer” I got was when the pod had fully expired (72 hours + 8 extra). I knew it was coming, I just ignored it until then as I knew I would be in a place where I could deal with it. I could have avoided the alarm by changing the pod at the scheduled time. The other one I got was the alarm while filling the pod. That means the pod is bad and not to be used - I am thankful for the alert! Yep, it’s a bit of a pain to pull out the insulin and use another pod, but Insulet will always replace those and I was doing my pod change at home - not annoying anyone but the husband and dog
I guess what I am trying to say is that the alarms have a good purpose and are not going to go off on you willy-nilly. Yes, there is some planning that takes place with scheduling pod changes and sometimes that interferes with my schedule. Then again, Diabetes has been intruding in my schedule for years now
I am an attorney who is in court virtually 5 days a week. The alarms have never been any problem of any kind whatsoever. I keep my PDA in my briefcase if it is needed.
We just had one last week that alarmed after she tried to give the bolus, which was right after the pod was put on her arm. There was nothing that we could do with the PDM to shut it off. We took it off of her and pulled the batteries out, then called and they will be replacing it. So, it can happen after the pod is in place if for some reason the pod stops communicating with the PDM. The rep from Insulet didn’t seem at all surprised or ask any questions or ask for us to send it back, so it must not have been something unusual.
hmmm! Those reps will say anything 
Mine promised that the any active pod would be able to be shut off. Either way, it’s never happened to me. Sorry for you all - that would drive me crazy until it could be silenced!
Well, I’m glad to hear that the alarms are not that out of control :). I hope that they won’t be a problem for me. If it is, I’ll have to deal with it at that time. It seems like everyone who’s been using the Pod is pretty happy with it. Hopefully I’ll have good luck also!
Tiffany, I wish you the best of luck! I will be trying my first pod tomorrow after 24+ years of tubed pumping. For some reason I’m a bit hesitant because of the difference in operations but, if this is all new to you, it might be a breeze. Please keep us posted as to how you make out.
BTW, IMO there’s nothing better than pumping. Again, best wishes!
We have run in to the same issue. My dtr has been using the pod for 3 months and her A1C went from 11.5 at dx to 6.7 in 3 months using shots and up to 7.4 in 3 months on the pod. There are times when I question if the pod is even working. This week we had unexplained highs (300’s) for consecutive hours unable to get them to come down and then a 48 out of no where back up to the 2-300’s. The next pod she may have almost perfect readings the entire 3 days. Of course you can’t see the reservoir to see if the insulin is being used and you have to rely on what the PDM tells you but again, I wonder OFTEN if it is even working and then all of a sudden is giving her a huge burst out of nowhere…scary. Also, we had 5 out of 10 pods in one box fail last month. Could have been more but I sent the 5 unused back and insisted on those being replaced. Contemplating switching to the Animas Ping.
Thanks so much! I wish you the best of luck! I’m sure it will be challenging to switch from one system to the next, but hopefully the freedom is worth it! You’ll have to post about your experiences! I’m so excited for you! How long did it take to get it once you filled out the paperwork?
That would be awesome! The adhesive for my CGM isn’t very big, and I think it’s painful to remove. I can only imagine the OmniPod will be worse because of it’s size.
That sounds very frustrating! I’m glad that they replaced them for you. Have you had a rep out to try and trouble-shoot the problem? I was talking to my local rep yesterday about people who have had problems, and he told me that one girl was having issues because of static electricity in her house. Apparently after she stopped dragging her feet, she didn’t have anymore problems. Just a thought. There might be something like that going on??
Just wanted to post here that there has been a recall of Unisolve wipes. I use the bottles so it is not on the list. It is the same as the alcohol wipes.REMOVE Universal Adhesive Remover Wipes, UNI-SOLVE Adhesive Remover Wipes, SKIN-PREP Protective Wipes, PERI-PREP Protective Wipes and NO-STING SKIN-PREP Protective Wipes. The affected product codes are 420400, 420471, 59420425, 403100, 402300, 59403125 and 59420600.
the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42651858…ious_diseases/
Oh goodness, it didn’t take long to receive the working pump/pod kit at all. They work pretty hard to get approval through your insurance and, once they do, they ship everything out. Of course, they will need to contact your doctor for a prescription but, all in all, I think it was only a couple of weeks for me. Then you schedule training with an Insulet rep. Good luck with the process! I’ll let you know how I make out.
HaHa!!! Static electricity… That’s the beauty of it, there are so many “variables” in their favor that it is NEVER the pod! Our endo who doesn’t care what pump you use, “just use one” says a lot of the pod users have the same complaints. Of course, there are some who don’t have any problems as with anything but he said it makes it hard for the user and the endo to make adjustments when you don’t trust the product and can’t see any trends to explain the issues. For the first 3 boxes we had no trouble at all for the most part. Kind of wish I had picked up that 4th box first with all the failed pods because I would have sent the product back asap and moved on. Good luck in whatever you choose. Even with all the problems it’s better than 4 shots a day…
Interesting. Thanks for the update!
Tiffany- Doesn’t bother at all, it has to be “just under” the belt line not on the belt line. The new tops that are empire waist and then flair out are perfect then you can wear it anywhere on you stomach and it will never be seen.