Tomorrow I’m getting trained on my Omnipod by my diabetic educator.
I’ve already had formal training on my 630G from Medtronic, so looks very similar.
I’ve already programmed it myself and have been using it for a few weeks or so, and so far I don’t have any questions other than needing help figuring out locations and making sure I’m inserting it right.
I’ve also noticed that the canula seems to be a bit wider/bigger, so it tends to cause sore spots?
I also don’t like that with the amount of insulin I have to take, I have to change it every 2 days.
Any suggestions as to what I should ask her that maybe I’m not thinking of?
I see this is from a month ago. How do you like the Omnipod? I’ve been using it for just over a year. It’s the only pump I’ve used. At first, I found it really difficult to have the device on me, but then I found better spots to put it and sleeping, getting dressed, etc became easier. I do get sore spots and find myself hitting it a lot. That’s ended up giving me some pretty painful sites and bleeding.
Have you encountered any problems like that? Where do you like to wear yours? I’m currently taking a pump holiday and doing MDIs. Not sure when it will end. But I do love the convenience of the Omnipod. I only wish it had different “profiles” so you could have different carb ratios for different days, not just different basal rates. It’s a bummer that the max is 200 units too. But then again, some days I’m ready to switch sites early. Now that you’ve used tubed and tubeless pumps, what do you think are the pros and cons of each one?
Thanks for asking. For the most part, it’s been pretty good. Glad to hear someone had similar issues, because no one is talking about them. I’ve noticed that when I take them off, they occasionally bleed, and the spots can be somewhat sensitive. They are also quite large, so while it is nice to not have a tube, it is too easy to bump at work while at my desk and that creates sore spots as well. I’ve also noticed the canula seems to be a bit larger than my 630G from medtronic, so the insertion spot bleeds more often and is sore more often than the medtronic ones.
Device wise I like how the PDM operates. I like, for example, how if you say suspend, it askes for how long vs until you turn it back on with my 630G. I also like the way it does the extended boluses.
I have not ventured beyond my abdomen. Sometimes I use the sides where there is little hair. Other times I shave my hairy stomach. Omnipod suggested I use skin tac or something like it to keep it more stable so that it won’t bleed as much or at all when I take it off. They say the sore spots and bleeding might be because of the canula wiggling around. Haven’t had a chance to try that yet.
I myself use so much insulin that if I use it for bolus and basal I’d be changing it about every 1.5 days. So recently I’ve been doing boluses via humalog pen, which makes it last the full 3 days. Unsure if I’m going to keep that up or not.
If you have any other questions, please ask. And if you have any other pointers for me, ask that as well.
I used Omnipod for about 5 or 6 years and was generally well pleased with it. I recently switched to the MM 630g because of Medicare coverage. (Omnipod doesn’t fit the definition of DME).
The pods are a bit awkward to wear because of their size and weight, but I thought that preferable to tubing. It was nice not having to disconnect in order to change clothes or shower or swim. I did accidently dislodge a pod a couple times, but I think I would have had more trouble with a tubed pump while working at physical labor, as I did.
I preferred wearing the pods on the back of my upper arms or on the outside of the upper thighs. Of course that may not work well if you’re very muscular. I did seem to have more problems with occlusions when wearing the pod on my thigh, but found it to be a good location if I was going swimming, for example, and didn’t want to advertise that I was wearing a medical device.
There are occasional problems with pods not working properly, which will try your patience, but Omnipod will replace them quickly if you call them. Keep their number handy. They will even reimburse you a limited amount for wasted insulin if the pod was very recently activated. (It’s not recommended, but you can withdraw some of the insulin from the pod with a syringe once it’s removed from your body, but you can’t get it all out).
Needing to replace the pod more often than every three days would be a real problem. I guess that’s the price you pay to not be connected to tubing. It was never an issue for me since I use no more than 40 units/day. I did have to use Skin Tac to insure the pods would stay stuck for three days.
All-in-all, I think Omnipod is a good option for many people. I would still be using it now if Medicare coverage wasn’t such a problem. However, considering the greater amount of insulin you use, I think I would prefer a tubed pump with greater insulin capacity. That being said, I hope Omnipod works well for you.
