Hello! First week on Omnipod 5! So far the nighttime BG’s have been a game changer! Perfectly steady all night!! (I’m a parent of a teenager w T1D and have gotten up in the night to either give juice or correct for many many years). This is the first week I’ve slept without interruption in sooo long! Also, so far the Activity Feature is SPOT ON!
Since we’ve only been using the 5 for a week, I understand the device is still collecting data and it will only get better with time. That’s what was explained to us in training.
We still have some HIGH numbers during the day when my kid forgets to bolus for carbs, so I’m not sure how that’s going to affect the algorithm. Anybody know?
Also, does anyone look at Glooko for any data insights? Glooko logbook is kind of meaningless now with the Automated mode. I’ve been so curious as to what the new pump thinks our basal rates should be compared to what we had them set at manually. Because in all the years of diabetes, I’ve always hated basal rates. They are never the same. I guess that’s the glory of this new pump! It won’t matter bc it will continually adjust! But I am curious for in the event we have to use syringes for some reason (like pump failure).
Anyway, thanks for reading and I’m open to discussion of others experiences, and any tips you may have. Thanks!
I’m on about my 15th Om5 pod and agree the consistent night BG straightline is almost too good to be true.
In daytime, I have given up on trying to overwork the algorithm by chasing post meal spikes or high BG. It seems to do great at maintaining BG levels close to the goal (in my case I chose the 110 setting, as low as it will go) but it does not have enough firepower to handle high BG caused by a forgotten bolus or anything like that. Instead of relying on Auto mode, I switch to manual for a correction bolus (my own calc with a lower BG goal than Om5) and keep it in manual until BG is back in range.
There has been a lot of PR about the pod algorithm learning how to optimize your BG management…for me I have flipped it around and say I am learning how to optimize my use of the Omnipod 5 algorithm. A few things I do: I use manual mode during meal bolus (this is the only way to do an extended bolus) and I keep it in manual until CGM says my BG is in range and trending the right direction. Then I switch back to Auto mode. I also do my own bolus calculations and don’t rely on the bolus calculator on the PDM. Something about the “Smart Bolus” calculator seems to not work well for me, have not put my finger on it yet.
As far as Glooko goes, I have looked at it but get more benefit by looking at the “History Detail” menu on the PDM. There does not seem to be a good way to fine tune a basal rate from the Om5 data, other than looking at Total Daily basal. The hour by hour basals in Auto mode are driven by the BG trend and not the time of day.
My 22 year old daughter just went on O5, 4 weeks ago. But her numbers have been all over the place. She has gone through the settings many times now with customer service but even at night she either goes very high or very low. Don’t know what to do. She lives 6 hrs away from us so we cannot help either. She doesn’t want my interference for obvious reasons. But I would appreciate if any one can give some suggestions . I will pass it on. Thank you.
She needs to run in manual mode. She needs to collect enough data (2 weeks of detailed records) so that she can set her basal rates appropriately. That’s a lot of work. A LOT of work, but nothing will function correctly and she will be in a dangerous situation unless she does this. She should run in manual mode until the basal numbers (periods of time where there is NO short term insulin in her system) look good.
We need long periods of time where we can evaluate if the basals are working. Those are intervals of time where there is NO meal insulin in her system, so we can see how the background/baseline insulin functions. The easiest place to start is with overnight data. Once the overnight basal rate is correct, she can move on to daytime data (which will be harder to get and she may need to skip lunch some days in order to see how that background insulin is working.
Start there.
P.S.
RULE #1.) Correction insulin takes 4 hours to get out of your system, so you cannot start collecting data on the basals if you have taken a short term insulin correction within 4 hours.
RULE #2.) You cannot collect data on basals if you have taken insulin for food within 2 hours. That’s what makes it tricky to check basals.
She doesn’t have to starve herself, or run high, but if she has not eaten or corrected, then she should be collecting data on how the basals are behaving. One test is not enough. We want to see how the basal behaves over the same time period on multiple days, then make adjustments in dosing. When she sees ‘flatline’ BG numbers, she achieved the correct basal.
@Sweetie, you sound exactly like me. That’s how I ran Loop, too.
@Wonder, this might sound harsh, but a pump sounds like a really bad, dangerous treatment strategy for her. I don’t know who encouraged this, but sometimes the Docs get kickbacks for selling tech. That’s bad. She is very young and probably very busy and sounds like she has neither the interest nor the basic skill set to operate this pump.
If she doesn’t know how to adjust her basals, then the pump is a loaded weapon. First, people learn how to live using injections, then a pump, then a pump with automated settings. She doesn’t sound like she has the skills to run syringe insulin yet. If feels like she skipped a bunch of steps in this process. She should be on here asking these questions, not you. I recommend getting rid of that pump and returning to manual injections for safety reasons. I suspect that somethings gone wrong with this situation. She might have a bad Doc. She might need some specialized training. Get her on here.
Check that her clock is correct. I’ve seen it happen many times before that the clock is off by12 hours. You think it’s 6 am but it’s 6 pm. Just rule that out
