Pro's and Con's of Omnipod Please answer my questions

Diabetes Technology Insulin Pumps
1

It seems that everybody loves their omnipod. I had never heard of it until March 11, 2009 yesterday. I just came across this website today. From what I have found there are many people who are on the Omnipod that have never pumped before. So of course they only have good things to say. It also seems like the owners of Omnipod do a great job of protecting their name. So it is hard for me to find negative things posted about the omnipod. I have had a Deltec Cozmo for over five years and am in the market looking for my next avenue. I can give you all kinds of pro’s and con’s for my Deltec Cozmo. Here are my questions about the Omnipod.

  1. Have you ever owned a different pump other then the omnipod?

  2. If so can you compare the advantages and disadvantages of both the pump(ex. deltec cozmo, paradigm etc…) and omnipod.

  3. The tubing never has bothered me much. Other then using the bathroom when I pull down my pants and at night when it sometimes wraps around me and bothers me seldomly. So what is the real pro of going tubless with the omnipod?

4.I wear my pump site on my stomach and switch sites all the way to around my back. That is where I would wear my omnipod if I got one. However, I am extremely athletic playing sports everyday like basketball and raquetball etc… The omnipod seems like it would possibly hinder my performance because it is large. Is this a myth that I am creating or could it be a problem? My pump site on my stomach is like two quarters stacked (very small compared to the omnipod.)

  1. Finally I use about 100 units or more a day. Can you put more units then 200 in the omnipod at one time? If not can you refill the pod while it is on your body? What are the Pros and Cons of the omnipod? Please be honest and tell me your opinion.

Thanks for reading and Posting. Todd

2

I’ll be honest…the reason that I chose the pod was because it was tubeless!!! I have a Bichon who runs all over me. I have not tried any other pump; and if for some reason I was forced to go with another pump…it would be the Ping. Now for what is most important to you. 200 units is the max; and No you cannot add to it after it’s on your body. My favorite site is on my back…sometimes forget about it there… I believe that the Denver Broncos quarterback, Jay Cutler, wears an OmniPod…BUT only during practices…Not during actual games. The big difference, I believe, is that you cannot disconnect once it’s on your body. I have a son who is a personal trainer who has at one clent who wears an insulin pump. He has to disconnect his regular (non-OmniPod) when wearing a weighted vest. You wouldn’t be able to do that; and if it’s necessary to do that with a nearly flat infusion set…it would be impossible with the Pod. If stability is a concern…you could secure it with “tegaderm”—a transparent dressing with adhesive around the edges sort of like a windowpane. You can buy it at a medical supply store. Based upon your usage…it sounds like you’d be changing out every 2 days. As a male…you’ve also got a waistband to clip your pump to. If you’re female…that’s not always an option and I didn’t want to dress around my pump. Hope this helps…Oh yes, ask to wear/demo a sample pod for 3 days…Find out who the local rep is; and you’ll get a demo pod much sooner! Oh yes, I do love my Pod!!

3

Hi Todd,
I’m a new pump user (only since Dec 2008). I can tell you when I did my research on pumps through online resourses I didn’t even consider the OmniPod because I too thought it looked big and bulky. I couldn’t see myself wearing something that size so I decided on the Cozmo also.
That said, I went to my Dr’s for Pump Education and to see the options for pumps, at The Joslin Center. I WAS SHOCKED at what I saw. The “POD” was the size of half a small egg!! It looked so big online. It was almost weightless and I was completely sold. From the get go I was never keen on being connected to a tube so it was an immediate yes from me. I have been using it since then and I love it. Almost always forget I have it on. I too use 100 units a day so I change POD every 2 days, only takes 5 minutes at most. You cannot refill a Pod you are wearing. As I see it , yes the Cozmo holds 300 units but to me whats the difference in changing every 2 days as opposed to 3days…no biggy. I think filling, priming, and inserting the canula takes much longer than 5 min. Don’t forget the Pod self primes and self injects the canula. You can wear the Pod anywhere and it is totally waterproof in shower or swiming. I wear mine on my arm always and never have any problems with any activities. As I said the bigest pro is that it is all self-contained and does everything for you, no more messing with tubes and bubbles and canula injectors. I have not had any problems with failures as some have so I cannot address those cons. Another pro for me is the software from the company. They send you an infrared USB Cable and software that downloads all your records in spreadsheet form, I just send to my Dr once a week and adjustments are made, no more writing and keeping track of Bg, Carbs I ate, Boluses and Basal amounts, It’s all done for you.I’m sorry I have no Cons but for me the Pod has been a life changing event and I could not be happier with it, and I feel so free as oppsed to MDI. Hope this helps. ( I should be a salesman for OmniPod, can you tell I love it?)

Best of luck with your decision.
Matt

4

Thanks for your answer. I find it so odd that people that have never had a pump before automatically go to the omnipod. The tubing must freak people out or something. My only problem is you didn’t really give me any cons about the omnipod. I can’t possible believe there aren’t things you don’t hate about it. But you also can only really compare it to multiple injections since you never have had a pump like the deltec. Thank you for taking your time and answering my questions.

5

Go to their website( http://www.myomnipod.com/ ) and request a free demo pod and you’ll have it in about a week or so.That will help you answer many of your questions.
They have been kind enough to send us three while we are trying to decide.

6

my daughter had the minimed and with all the problems she was having i decided to go with animas. i chose the omni pod due to no tubing it was a pain both around small children and animals, but most of all being tangled in it at night and the sores from ripping it out at night, the bathroom or changing clothes. i also hated having to disconnect to swim or shower, now i just go.

disadvantage of omnipod, if you forget your pdm at home you cant cover a meal but it will still run the background insulin.
both pumps have occlusions. priming the tubing is not a problem, i have had pods fail so you always need extra but the same is with tubing due to humidity. i have went threw 4 sets of tubing during the summer from the humidity and going on the diabetes motorcycle run.

i have wore my omnipod on my arms, stomach, back, legs and ankle. on my ankle my socks hold it on in the summer, on my arms i use self sticking tape (like an ace bandage but self sticking) to hold the pods on during long days in the water with children or working out at the gym. i dont find it hindering at all and i also golf.

i also use 100 plus units a day and the pod only holds 200 units and is not refillable, but i never refilled while on the tubing sets either, for sanitary reasons and i get infections so easy. i have heard of people refilling the tubing sets and i could never do that.

most of the answers you are looking for are under the topics in this sight under omnipod and other pumpers. everyone has a preference for one reason or another. i loved my animas other than the tubing. now i would never give up my omnipod.

the other thing is that when i call my rep i want them to call me back with answers to my questions asap. with omnipod i call and never wait someone will answer my question or transfer my call to someone who can. animas, the last time i called with a problem i never received the replacement.

i don’t say i would never switch again i just won’t give up my omnipod for now. i always look for better things that make dealing with this illness easier.

everyone has different reasons for choosing the pumps they do, screens, setup, simple or technical, color, size, ease of use and how comfortable each is for how much time they want to spend programming different features. with both my pumps i had to program for my exercise or riding my motorcycle, but with the omnipod i don’t have to disconnect to swim with my grandkids. on my arm i have knocked the pods off catching on a doorway, but i pulled the inset of my tubing out getting hooked on a chair or melted the tubing on the oven door while baking. the list could go on and on with all the things i have done. i prefer no tubing now for all the things i do. i have had the pdm of the animas fall out of my pocket or the case unclip while tilling the garden, think of the worsed to happen and it will to me. without tubing i don’t have the worries, my pdm is always with me in my diabetic bag that i have carried from day one with my animas.

i never go without extra supplies either way.

feel free to ask any other questions i will answer if i can, i hope i have helped to answer these questions for you. there are alot of pumps out there and it is a hard decision but there are tips and tricks to living with them all.

the size of the pods is like the freestyle flash meter on the skin, this is a close comparison.

thanks Kat

7

My DH is a Pod user. He just started pumping in January. He has had D for over 18 years but never even considered pumping bc of tubing so for him this was what he wanted. He has had a few get ripped off when he bumps the corners of the wall or this past weekend while unloading the car. In the beginning he was having trouble finding the best sites for absorbtion - but as we ahve learned with DD - this happens with tradition pumps too. Once he got used to the learning curve of the pump in general - he loves it. His A1c has never been better. He just went last week and is down to 6.5 in the 18 years that I have been with him I don;'t think he has ever had that number!!! I do think any pump would have done that for him.

He is a profuse sweater!!! I mean really he sweats so much even in the dead of winter. We did have adhesive issues inthe beginning - but we were overdoing it - now he just uses skin-tac and places the pod. If he feels like it is moving around at all he will add a small piece of tegaderm over the top. He usually changes every 2-3 days. He has found that his TDD has actually gone down due to using the pump. He loves the ease of bolusing - but like I have said before he would have had that on a traditional pump too. He just really DID NOT want tubing.

Now our DD just started on the ping. She did not want the pod. I think she might change her mind in4 years when she is closer to a teen - but for now the tubing does not bother her at all. Here is what I have found out that I think makes the POD a no brainer as compared to the Ping. Besides the tubing . . .the pod has WAY fewer steps to deliver boluses, or change settings. I feel like I need a technical degree to get thru the ping sometimes. But we went with Ping for her (she’s 8 and is very tiny!!) mainly due to the lowest basal settings which we use and the remote meter which I use all the time.

I agree with PP, call Insulet and get a demo, then find your local rep and get him/her to come and show you personally.

8

Check out the Insulin Pumpers Forum and you’ll find more cons about the pod. I love mine. It’s my first pump and I too did not start sooner because of the tube.

I have 2 cons 1. The profile of the pod makes it hard to sleep on my side when the pod is on my arm. If i sleep on my back I snore big time. I can’t put it on my back and still drive. It pushes the pod into my flesh to much. Presently I am wearing it below my waist line between my back and my back side and will use that spot again.
2. I have knocked a few off going around corners and through doors.

I have been using the pod since October and have only had 4 go bad. The company is great about replacing them. Some people have had worse luck. They stick great to me but some poeple need extra help getting them to stay on.

If it seems we’re overly pro pod, read some of the other postings and you’ll find that some seem overly against Omnipod. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

9

I will try a demo but I want to know a few things. You have good experience because currently you have a pod and then a regular pump. Tubing has never been an issue for me. I don’t and haven’t ever thought wow I wish I didn’t have this tubing. I snag it on doornobs like once every two weeks. I have only pulled out my site once in five years because my tubing got caught on something. My biggest interest in the pod would be putting it somewhere on my body other then my stomach. I worry that I am building scare tissue that is irreversable. I just have a hard time imaging that I could put the pod on my arm and stuff with the size of it. Where is your husband comfortable placing it and where is your husband uncomfortable placing it. I am 23 years old and have had the diabetes since I was 3. So really all this new technology excites me.

10

Hi. My son is 6 and has been using the OmniPod for almost 2 years. We too are very happy with it. To me, discretion and the ability to minimize “difference” for someone of Caleb’s age was important. I thought that would be easier with the Pod attached to him rather than having to carry around the controller.

I won’t repeat the pros that everyone else has said. As far as cons, I would like to see an improved IOB feature and the ability to program zero basal rates. A new controller seems near release and the user guide shows a new IOB function, so I am hopeful that issue will be addressed. There is also lots of talk about a new slimmer pod to be released although “when” is sketchy.

11

Ok…now I have a con. I left home in a hurry to get my nails done with my daughter. We went to eat afterwards…BUT not before stopping back by the condo to pick up my PDM. I had forgotten it (the first time). Now, if I had a more conventional pump, it would have been clipped onto my clothing somewhere. Truly, this is the first real negative that I’ve had.

12

Let’s see - cons I’ve experienced:

  1. ~10 pod failures (most of them due to occlusions) in the 6 months I’ve been wearing it.
  2. The only place I can get decent insulin absorption is on my stomach - I’ve gotten inconsistent results on my lower back and arms, sometimes needing as much as 50% more insulin and the occlusions were much more frequent on my lower back and arms.
  3. The IOB is absolutely awful - it only displayed correction bolus for IOB and not meal bolus. Guess what, when I test ~1 hour after a meal and I’m 150 the PDM wants to give me a correction bolus that is guaranteed to make me go low.
  4. Small nit - the PDM will only tell you “50+” for the units of insulin remaining in the pod if you have more than 50 units. There have been times when I’ve wanted to know if I had 55, 75, or maybe even more.
  5. The PDM has no vibration alert, only beeps. It’s kind of annoying to have your low BG test alert/low insulin alert/POD expiration alert beep at you while in a meeting or at a very quiet part of a movie - it’s not a big deal to me but a vibration setting would be nice.

Now, having said all that I still love my POD. For me tubing is simply not an option. I wore an older CGMS for 3 days - my endo wanted to see how things were going so we could get better rates for the POD. It was a wired CGMS and by the end of the 2nd day I swore I would NEVER own a tubed pump. I was so aggravated by the “leash” while I was sleeping, going to the bathroom, getting dressed, taking a shower, and even just moving around (having to tuck in the leash because I had the controller on my desk and had to have enough slack for it) that I simply ripped out the sensor without carefully removing the bandages holding it in. Since you don’t have a problem with the tubing maybe the POD isn’t for you.

13

Kat How did you wear the pod on your ankle??? Is that a site that you chose or your doctor? I’ve just never heard of that being a viable site. Anyone else place their pod on a site other than stomach, arm, back or leg??

14

  1. Have you ever owned a different pump other then the omnipod?
    No, this is my first pump after 17 years of being diabetic I finally made the jump to pump

  2. If so can you compare the advantages and disadvantages of both the pump(ex. deltec cozmo, paradigm etc…) and omnipod.

  3. The tubing never has bothered me much. Other then using the bathroom when I pull down my pants and at night when it sometimes wraps around me and bothers me seldomly. So what is the real pro of going tubless with the omnipod?
    If having tubes wraped around you doesnt bother you then why change. I can sleep anywhere, with the pod on any location i never notice it.

4.I wear my pump site on my stomach and switch sites all the way to around my back. That is where I would wear my omnipod if I got one. However, I am extremely athletic playing sports everyday like basketball and raquetball etc… The omnipod seems like it would possibly hinder my performance because it is large. Is this a myth that I am creating or could it be a problem? My pump site on my stomach is like two quarters stacked (very small compared to the omnipod.)
I am very active and have never had a problem, I have worn the pod on my throwing are while play catch not a problem, yes it seem slightly larger bit its bout the size of half a hard boiled egg. Go to the myomnipod.com site and they will send you a trial one then you can see for yourself if it would meet your needs.

  1. Finally I use about 100 units or more a day. Can you put more units then 200 in the omnipod at one time? If not can you refill the pod while it is on your body? What are the Pros and Cons of the omnipod? Please be honest and tell me your opinion

No you cannot put more than 200 units of insulin and you have to start a new pod once you are out

My cons would be going through the whold occulsion ■■■■, I had like a whole box of 10 pod that where ■■■■■■, but insulet will replace any unworking pods, at times it really pissed me off but I do not and will not go back to MDI or a pump with tubing. If what you have works for you then great, What I have works for me and I couldnt be happier.

15

I’ve been on the Omnipod for a year, and though I’ve had some problems, I really like it. I never considered the pump before because I have a hard enough time getting dressed every morning (female, obviously) without having to worry about where/how to hook it up. (Guess I’m lazy; I wouldn’t use contact lenses until they made the sleep-in kind.) Also I worried about getting it wet, tangling, etc. The biggest plus for me is being able to program the PDM in public so discreetly. I even had a waitress tell me my cell phone was cool! I love not having to do shots, but since that’s true of every pump it doesn’t count as a plus for you. My Problems have been pod failures, about 5 of them in a year’s time. The company is good about replacing them, though. In fact, their phone customer service people are some of the nicest i 've dealt with. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to be prepared with extra pods and all the rest of the equipment. I was in London for a week and took 2 extra pods (beyond the ones I knew I’d need). As luck would have it, I had 2 failures in that week and so had to go without the pod for a day and a half. SInce I was prepared with syringes, insulin pens, etc. it wasn’t disastrous. I hope you’ll let this group know what you decide to do. Good luck!

16

LOL! I was just reading that ankle placement outloud to my DH with groaning! Interesting!

17
  1. No.
    2/3. I’ve been freaked out about the whole tethered thing. I am active. Play V-ball. I cannot imagine diving for a ball and having something happen to a foreign object in my abdomen. I do get weirded out easily. T1DM since 1980 and could not do it until the OmniPod. I also hated the thought of only having my midsection to deal with (insertion). Tonight I am wearing it on the back of my right arm. I changed it this morning. One time I had a few highs during my days on my arm. I thought (incorrectly) that my absorbtion was bad when wearing it on my arm. I’ve had great readings all day today. I don’t see it, feel it.
  2. So I answered part of this in the previous answer. (wearing it on my arm…) As I said earlier, I play competitive volleyball. You cannot beat the flexibility of the OmniPod. It is not large. I’m rather thin and unfortunately my arms are rather skinny. I don’t have very much extra fat on my hips, stomach, side, back, thighs. I think I’ve nailed every spot I’ve tried with OmniPod. They all work.
  3. No, No…
    5b. I’d like the s/w to be more advanced. (I’m a tech freak)
    I wish it would give me the vibrate/no beep option.
    I wish I could keep it on longer than 3 days & 8 hours.
    I agree with John E on his #3. IOB vs. correction boluses. I’ve learned a work around that works for me…
    I also would like to see exactly how many units I have in the pod above 50.

BUT! I LOVE MY POD!!! From 11/1980 to 10/2008 the lowest HbA1c I ever had was 8.4. After receiving the OmniPod in 10/08 I received my results in January, 2009. I now am at 6.8! Going down from here…

You’ll love it.

18

Hi, I’m Noemi, Juan’s mom, he’s only 9 yrs old, I did some research on different pumps before I decided on the Omni Pod, I just love it there are no tubes, he can take a bath and swim up to an hour in a pool or at the beach and he swims in deep water and does no damage whats so ever.He is very active and of course a little boy who jumps and plays etc, It holds up to 200 units you should be good.

19

Lorraine,
My educator just received “word” from her rep (upon return from their annual sales conference) saying June is a likely date! And I hear the upgrade is very affordable.

20

Marina - Thanks. It’s always good to hear what people are saying. I had heard “March” for the longest of times and since March has passed I haven’t heard a new timeframe. I was disappointed to learn that the new PDM will not include meal bolus’ in the IOB calculation. (See “discussion” link below). Regardless, we love the remoteness of OmniPod and still look forward to whatever the new PDM has to offer.

Thanks for watching Caleb on YouTube! - Lo

New PDM Discussion