I’ve been thinking about getting an omnipod lately (im still on injections). I understand that pod failures is a problem with them. If i’m out with friends or whatever and my pod fails, what do I do? Do i need to carry extra pods with me when i go out? And do i need to carry extra insulin with me incase it fails?
Once it happened when I was out…I turned off the alarm, had a good evening, changed the pod when I got home and gave myself the Bolus I needed.
In the 2 1/2 years I’ve worn the pod, I have had maybe 5-6 failed pods.
You would do what any pumper should do - carry extra supplies, including syringes. (I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve read that all diabetics need to carry extra supplies with them.)
I’ve had a good run with the Omnipod, but the last time my pump ran out of insulin and needed to be replaced while I was at work, the new pump failed whilst priming. I had no extra pods. So, I tested my blood sugar, and delivered the correctional bolus via syringe. What I realized is that I need a cheatsheet with me on how to deal with basal via syringe (I think there’s a way to calculate how many units to inject every hour or so) until I got home.
While it may be inconvenient, this is nothing different from what any pumper should have with him/her in case the pump or (in the case of tubed insulin pumps) tubing got damaged. Best always be prepared!
I have a manbag/murse/carrier bag where I keep my supplies. I always have extra pods, insulin, syringes, Optiflex Flexifix, pocket knife, glucose tablets. My philosophy is that one should always be prepared to change the pod - whether because it expires, insulin runs out, or it randomly fails.
Short answer: yes. But there's almost always more to the story ;-)
If you had noticeable but unexplained highs (you bolused for a normal meal but have odd high BG afterwards) then it might be a site that's going bad (no alarm yet, but insulin is not doing what it's supposed to do), then it would be wise to either change out the pod then, or ride it out but also take a pod (and insulin) w/ you just in case. I typically do not carry a pod w/ me for normal "around town" stuff (when I'm over to a friend's house for dinner, etc).
However I do keep an extra pod and a syringe in my truck's console, and I also have the same gear (and a vial of insulin in my frig) at work in my desk. And if I'm ever going farther than about 25-30 min drive (so "out of town") then I'd probably throw some insulin into my PDM/test strip/lancet device carrier (to use w/ the spare pod I keep in my truck). So typically I may not have it "on" me all the time (like a "kit" of gear), but I do have supplies stashed close enough that I can get to the stuff I need w/o inconveniencing myself too much (like turning around on a trip or suddenly having to leave a location and drive 2 hours to get a new pod and insulin, etc). If I am travelling far out of town, then yes, I carry extra supplies w/ me (when driving/flying out of state, going somewhere overnight, etc).
That being said, I've only had to actually use the spare pod in my desk on 1 occasion. And I've never used the spare pod in my truck either.
Ultimately I think it will depend on your lifestyle...mine is such that I can stash extra stuff around w/o actually having to carry it w/ me everywhere. Others choose to carry extra gear on their person. Others choose to 'risk it' and go w/o extra gear altogether (and in most situations, all of us--no matter our game plan--are alright ;)
Hey there everybody,
My love of the omnipod is over.
I, unlike Dee, have had 4-5 pod failure while wearing them just in the last month. I have been a pumper for 10+ years now and on the pod for 2.
In 2 years I have had somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 pod failures, not due to occlusion, though I think Omnipod gets a bad rap on that front.
I was on a minimed prior and went for the allure of not being connected and the supposed integration with Dexcom. 2 years later on that front and Animas has released the Vibe in the EC and has it into the FDA for approval in the US.
I am getting off the omnipod and going to Animas. I frankly would have stuck with minimed if the CGM was not so inferior to the Dexcom. It may seem sort of like the tail wagging the dog, but that is how I am going to roll with it.
I like Bradford’s system. Extra supplies hand but not on his person at all times.
I also like Bradford’s last point. 
Soo do you carry extra viles of insulin with you? Right now i don’t use the viles and syringes, i just use insulin pens, they’re much more convient for me because i’m always on the go. I don’t know how i can keep a cold insulin vile in my car incase a pod failed.
I only carry a vial w/ me if I’m going to be away for a while or if I’m far away from home (the “more than 25-30 min drive” part from above).
I’d carry it the same way you carry your pens. Where do you put your pens when you’re out and about? I’m sure you don’t leave them in your car right? You carry them in your pocket or in a bag or in your GF’s purse or something right? I do the same w/ the vial I carry w/ me (if I were going to carry one). It doesn’t have to be refrigerated all the time (it’s more stable that way of course, but we also live in the real world and having access to a refrigerated environment 24/7 is not really feasible
So you’d just replace your pens (wherever/however you carry them and the pen caps) w/ 1 spare pod and 1 vial of insulin. And that’s it Pretty simple switch.
And of course if you were traveling far you’d carry more (just like you’d carry extra pen caps and pens in case something happened to your normal supply, etc).
I usually just carry the pens in my pockets because they don’t need to be refrigerated. Thats why i use pens. I wonder if i can use pens to fill my pod… like draw the insulin from the pen…
I think it should be possible to fill a pod with a pen.
While I’ve read a pumper should have a backup for if necessary, it doesn’t have to be vials and syringes - could be a pen. I’m sure someone with more experience with pens and pods can answer more authoritatively.
I’m sure in a pinch you could probably fill a pod from a pen. But b/c of the fine gauge needle (and depending on the length you prefer) on your pen caps, it may not work out very well (there may be physical limitations of getting the needle to engage w/ the port on the back of the pod, etc). I’ve not tried it myself, but I think others on here have before (and may have made it work?).
Tom I would suggest (if you decide to make the switch) to just use up most/all of your pen supplies before you transition to the pump. Then when you’re getting your doc to write the Rx for the pump, just get him to include regular vials of whatever type of insulin you’re using too. Of course if you had a lot of supplies left (lots of pens and caps) and you wanted to utilize them somehow, you could always carry that as your backup.
Yep, I used pens prior to the omnipod. When I switched, I still had a couple of pens left. You can use that insulin in the pod. To do so, stick the syringe needle with the pod into the pen and draw out how much you need. DO NOT try to put air into the pen first. They don’t work like that! Just yank you what you need an move on. I’m pretty sure that the pen needle will not fit into the pod to activate a new pod. And, seriously, who would want to crank out that big of a number on the pen dial?!?!
As for carrying supplies, I just throw all my D-stuff in my purse and roll. I keep a vial of insulin (un-fridged), syringe, tabs and spare pod with me at all times. But I do have the luxury of a ginormous bag. I can imagine it being different for guys…
I’ve only had a pod fail once while out (it was within the first 2 months of starting). I knew I was going to run out of insulin on the day trip, packed 1 extra pod and it failed during priming. I ended the trip a bit early, tested every hour, and took 1 unit plus any correction each hour. Perfect, nope. But I survived and my bg never hit 200.
Honestly, I carry the little zipper meter bag that came with my PDM. It holds the PDM, a vial of insulin, a lancet device and strips, 2 triple A batteries (which I never need), and has a little mesh pocket where I stash a syringe and a spare pod. It zips up nice and small and then I have everything I could conceivably need.
Honestly, it makes for a much slimmer profile carry-all than when I was on my first couple of Minimed pumps. Extra supplies took up a lot of space in a purse or bag then, so I would frequently just leave them all at home. The couple of times I got caught without extra sets or tubing or insulin, I was seriously screwed.
Having at least your vial and syringe with you means that you can do without the extra supplies in the case of an empty/failed/occluded pod. Some people will even carry just a syringe and attempt to extract insulin from the dead pod in a pinch.
When I’ve been more than an hour from a spare pod and out to dinner, it typically means that I don’t get to eat unless I have another way to take my insulin. I spike too quickly without my basal insulin and would get into serious trouble with food but without a bolus…but YDMV.
Doesn’t the insulin vile have to be refrigerated though?
The insulin in your pen is the same insulin in those vials. It should all (technically) be refrigerated when not in use. And then from an FDA/company perspective, you’re allowed to open it and keep it at room temperature for “28 days” and then you should dispose of the rest.
You try to carry your pens around and keep them away from excessive heat right? Like not leaving them in the car on a hot day, etc. Same should be done for the vials. Nothing special or “different” really, as long as it’s just the active bottle of insulin you’re using to fill pods (I wouldn’t carry my whole 3 month supply around w/ me out of the frig, but if it’s one bottle, it’s not really a big deal). I don’t want to speak for Mel, but I would assume when she refills her pods, she’s using the vial that she carries around (so she uses it up throughout the month, and then replaces it as needed when the vial runs out). I leave all of mine in the frig all the time, until it’s time to fill a pod, and then I take it out and let it come to room temp b/c pods can fail if you fill them w/ cold insulin. It’s just two diffferent ways of accomplishing the same thing I think
You can speak for me, Bradford. I trust you. 
Yes, that’s the same vial I use to fill pods with. And I go through insulin quickly enough that a single vial is open for about 10 days and then empty. I don’t leave it in the car (I’m in Texas). I carry the zipper bag in with me in my purse or in my lunch bag or whatever I’m carrying for the day.
I refrigerate unopened vials (especially since I receive them in a 90 day supply), but have never (in 21 years with diabetes) refrigerated an open, in-use vial of insulin. And when I pull a new vial out of the fridge, I always let it come to room temperature before filling a pod. Although sometimes I’m impatient.
You can fill a pod with a pen, you just have to crank the top to the maximum level. Then just draw it from the top. I wouldn’t inject the pod directly with the pen. I went back to viles since they are far more economical than the pens are.
Bradford is right on this. I keep a vile in my “diabetes pouch” (same one that Mel has) and I use it up in about 25-30 days.
I believe insulet tells you to put the insulin in at room temperature anyway. So you wouldn’t want to refrigerate it.
Yes. You must carry extra pods with you. No doubt about it. Actually I keep three, only because I may be so unfortunate as to select a pod that is defective upon activation. If your PDM crashes, your pod will still deliver the basal. In some cases you can recover your PDM from a crash and bolus thereafter. It is a good product, but it will have its own quirks like any and all pumping systems. In the beginning I salivated over the OmniPod, but I have realized that no system is perfect and one must adapt and move forward. Please ask your diabetes trainer lots of questions about sites, occlusions, etcetera. Getting a pump is a commitment, homework is key. I hope my two cents helped
I always carry my “test kit” with me. I have a vial of insulin, syringes, meter, etc.
I changed once in a restaurant while traveling because I was still 5 hours from the hotel but when I have run out of insulin or had a pod failure, I just check and wait til I get home, change, and bolus.
No problem.
marty