Am I the only one having multiple pod errors? In two months I've had only 4 pods make it the 3 days. If it’s not an occlusion (without any outside interference from me) it's an error! I called Omni Pod and they were able to send me replacements, but the inconvenience and loss of insulin is too much! I’m sick and tired of having screaming pods interrupt my life. I chose the omni pod because it was the only pump without tubbing, but I’m starting to understand why my doctor advised me against it! I'm so frustrated! Am I the only one, having all these issues with Omni-Pod?
So....interestingly enough I had this happen to me about 6 months ago. I travel for my work so I was on planes or in meetings and the stupid things would fail. 8 of them failed in less than 2 weeks and I was starting to lose it. As if diabetes isn't enough to deal with we get to figure out how to have an entire back up set everywhere we go just EXPECTING our pump to fail.....Sorry, any way, it turned out to be a bad batch basically. Every box for that "lot number" or whatever, had a 80% failure rate at best. They sent me a new box but I just got SO frustrated that I switched back to my Animas Ping. I've been thinking about switching back and trying the Pod again but.....UGH.....I would call them and tell them to replace all your boxes from the same lot number (assuming all your failures have been from one number), and do it before you switch off the Pod. They know that they are criticized for their quality control so they are fairly sensitive to people's frustrations.....good luck!
Thanks Todd! I just got off the phone with insulet, and after yelling at 2 representatives, and being transferred to a different department, I finally got a manager on the phone who was very sympathetic and agreed to replace the box. I really hope that it's a bad lot number, because I'm about to go postal on Insulet Corp. Today I was presenting at work and I had a screaming pod from hell emergency. Like you said, as if diabetes isn’t enough we have to deal with this too! Anyway, unfortunately for me it's either the omnipods or pens until September 2012 when my insurance will approve a different pump brand! I originally decided to go with omnipod because it was tubeless, but now I'm starting to wonder if the animas would've been a better choice. Thanks again for your advice!
Yeah, unfortunately, you wouldn't be the first person to stop using the pod because of the many issues that people have to deal with.
I honestly don't know if the people who have these issues are the unlucky ones, or if the people who don't have these problems constantly are just the lucky ones.
Everybody seems to have to deal with issues sooner or later though and it is always frustrating. =/
No worries, we are/have been in the very same boat. I do have a Minimed pump you could totally borrow if it came down to it. I switched jobs a few times over the years and have a Pod, Animas, and Minimed 722. I do miss the tubeless, but I have gone nearly 22 years with hardly ever having a pump issue it made it too hard and too freaky to worry every time I bolused or moved that my pump could fail. Keep me posted, I'm curious how it goes for you. I may try it again if you do :)
Have you heard about the Solo pump,http://www.solo4you.com/?page=AboutSolo&ID=67&pageType=0 , it's supposed to come out later this year and has a thinner pod that can actually bolus itself without having the remote (pdm) at hand? The other one I'm really interested in is the tslim, https://www.facebook.com/TandemDiabetesCorp , while it does have the tube, it's like an iphone for menus and screens.
Anyway, sorry for hogging up your post with my babble, I guess I'm on a diabetes rant day :)
When Solo will come to market we will see if pod errors are due to bad quality control, cheap components used or are due to the patch pump thing itself. Cellnovo and the coming Spring Hybrid pump both choose to keep the separate infusion set, but focus on a smaller and lighter pump only controlled by a remote, so to carry the mini-mini-pump as near as possible to the set, with a short tube.
The Roche Solo could be a winner because the "smarter" part of the pod lasts 90 days, so it can cost as much as 30 times more than a pod and so employ higher quality components (ok, you have the set and reservoir to change too ...). But a patch pump is always bigger and higher than a set, and prone to move its cannula when hit.
I hope for omnipod gen 2 too, hoping for insulet to have learnt its lessons and have better engineered its device.
Best wishes in the meanwhile and keep us informed ...
I guess tube or tubeless is a personal decision based on your lifestyle. I don't notice my tubing. The pump company I chose is based on statistical data. I have seen Omnipod samples and don't care for it. In my treatment I need more than a 200 unit cartridge. Some folks like it and that's fine. The only complaint I have heard is the adhesion issue. My question to you is: how do you shower with that pod on?
Funny, I ran out of insulin yesterday and the pod alarmed....but I didn't realize it was the pod alarming, and we walked from room to room, trying to find the cause of the alarm. Finally I walked down to the basement, and my son in law figured out it was me alarming. Sad part is, the same thing happened about three years ago, I walked inside and outside, finally my grandson said "Gramma it's you." Guess I'm a really slow learner.
Sorry to hear you're having a bad streak with the pods. I've had 3 or 4 bad pods in a box in the past, but it's been a long time since I've had that happen. And I had adhesion problems in the past, but now they stick fine. And showering with the pod is really a non issue.
LMAO...so funny Sue. When I first got the Pod I threw it out and never deactivated it and we spent FOREVER trying to track down the incessant squealing!
Thank you for the information. I'm also looking forward to Generation 2 omni pod, when I was first pitched the omni pod system (2 years ago) they told me that they were already manufacturing the new smaller better pods! I'm still waiting!
I'm actually going to OmniPod from MDI and just received my starter kit Saturday. The local OmniPod trainer called this morning and she said that the "smaller better" pods are due to be released in the middle of this year if that's accurate; she said that they will be released to current OmniPod users first.
I'm hoping I'm successful with the pods because I'll go back to MDI before I'll go to a tubed pump - the tubing and infusion insertion are not for me.
Wow, thanks for the offer Todd. I looked at the solo link you posted, looks promising! You take care as well! Every time I'm feeling frustated, I sign on and feel better just knowing there are people out there that understand what I'm going through!
They told me the same thing, two years ago... i'm still waiting! But you're right, I hate tubing more than I hate all the omni pod issues.. which is why I keep coming back to it!
Sorry you are having to deal with so many pod failures at once, that's extremely frustrating. My son has been with Omnipod for 20 months (5 months after dx). We had a bad batch once, Sept. 2010, I think it was 4 from one box and a few from some others. We were very annoyed(half during school). Omnipod replaced them, they even replaced the PDM, that was damaged in his backpack last year(use a hard case now). I think we had 3 or 4 failures all last year. Things that we started doing different are (1) Get all air out of the syringe (2) Fill SLOWLY (3) Pinch up skin while adding a little pressure to the "nose". Pods are sensitive to static electricity, have had a few fail that way. My son exclusively uses his arms and thighs, because of preference and its one of the main reasons we chose Omnipod. We have always thought we made the right decision and since we also use Dexcom Cgms, we are looking forward to the integration and the smaller pods. Yes, the tslim does look real cool. Well hope this helps. Best of Luck. No shower issues either, unless there is baby oil on it because we plan to remove it. Get 2-3 weeks from his sensor too.
Thanks for the tips Emily - hopefully your tips will help me have a smoother time of it! I use a Dexcom already and one of the reasons I decided to go with OmniPod is that it feels very similar to the Dexcom (except for a tad bigger). I'm sure there will be a learning curve and I'm prepared for that - I went through a learning curve with the Dexcom and now love it.
