My son has been pumping with the Omnipod for 5 years now. We have really been having issues with it since they switched over to the smaller pods and newer PDM. Pumps not sticking well, consistent highs on the third day of pod wearing, occlusions, etc. all leading up to two hospitalizations for DKA in the last week. He has had diabetes for 6 years and up until this last week has only been in the hospital twice and it has always previously been for DKA resulting from a stomach bug. The doctors have decided to temporarily put him on injections, which he hates! I am afraid to continue using the Omnipod due to these recent problems. Has anyone gone from Omnipod to the Animas Vibe? I was wondering how they compare. I like that these are both waterproof as we do a lot of swimming. I also like that the Animas Vibe has a CGM built in as well. Anyone who can give me their personal comparison of the two or even just their personal experience/satisfaction level with the Vibe, it would be really appreciated. Thank you in advance!!!
I am a Vibe user and overall I’ve been happy with it. I really like that the CGM is built in, however you have to use the Dexcom G4, not the G5. The insets are easy to use and I’ve never had an occlusion. I have had to replace the clip (the part you clip to your waistband) twice on it as it loosen’s up over time but that has been the only problem.
I have been using a Vibe plus Dexcom G4 for the past 2.5 years. It is a perfectly functional pump that does the job well. Obviously not tubeless, and a few minor niggles about the menu system but otherwise I am very happy with it, in particular the Dexcom which I find incredibly accurate. How long is your son in the water. Unless this is going to be more than an hour without a break, he may find it just as easy to disconnect temporarily. If he is doing long sessions for training purposes, he could reconnect temporarily and give himself a small correction for missed basal. I have done a fair amount of (non-competitive) swimming and I prefer to disconnect but that is a personal opinion.
I have never been able to keep a site working properly on the third day and am on a two-day rotation. Site degradation is not an uncommon problem, which is one reason why patch pumps like the Omnipod are not suitable for everyone.
How common would you say site degradation is, and does it tend to happen faster the more insulin that you use?
I have been interested in a pump, specifically the Animas Vibe or the Omnipod. I tried the Omnipod, but ended up not really liking it for various reasons. The Vibe is the most inviting to me due to waterproof reasons as I spend about 1-1.5 hours in the water, plus a shower afterwards, weekly as well as liking to take long tub soaks at night. The long soaks were one of the reasons Omnipod didn’t work for me, due to the suggestion not to take it in hot tubs as the heat could degrade the insulin - I’m assuming with the Vibe, I’d just set the unit up on the side of the tub and have it out of the water and that wouldn’t be an issue.
The one thing that has held me back from trying a pump again is that I’m a T2, and thus us a LOT of insulin. Most pumps only hold about 200U of insulin. My daily basal is 80U. That’s a huge impediment to using any pump except maybe the Accu-Chek Combo, which holds over 300U and the T:Flex which holds over 400. But neither of those are waterproof. The T:Flex is “watertight” to 3 feet for 30 minutes, but not nearly as good as the Animas Vibe. With the Omnipod I switched to a U-500 insulin, but I REALLY didn’t like having to bolus so very far ahead for meals, especially when eating out.
If it’s highly likely that I’d end up seeing bad site results on day 3, even if I used a pump with a larger reservoir, then changing the infusion site every 2 days doesn’t sound like such a bad thing if I can get my insulin use down a little more, which I’m currently working on.
My daughter has only used the OmniPod system, so I can’t comment about the Vibe from personal (once removed!) experience. While the concept of integration is wonderful, Dexcom is always improving their CGM, which means you will quickly be “stuck” with a version that is not the latest and greatest, and by the time your integrated pump is out of warranty, you may actually be several versions behind the most recent version. As to the Vibe being waterproof, I believe this quality is likely limited in one respect or another based on the fact that when my daughter attends diabetes camp, the only pump staff allow kids to wear in the water is the OmniPod. When I asked why, they said that the Ping and the Vibe “are not truly waterproof” which they learned the hard way when Animas pumps became damaged during swimming. I asked a few moms whether they let their kids wear their Animas pumps in water (including showering/bathing) and they all said no, they had them disconnect.
Interesting. Because that whole waterproofness seems to be one of the selling points they’re pushing hard on on their website and such. I’ll have to keep my ears open! Thanks for the heads up.
You may already have made your choice, but my husband and adult son both prefer the tubed pumps over their Omnipods. (TSlim with the touch bolus.) They both have been on the Omnipod. There are good and bad to both. My adult son still gets highs on his 3rd day using his infusion set with the TSlim, yet my husband does not. My younger son is on the Omnipod. We have trouble with swimming and those darn pods getting knocked off (He is active). He also gets highs the 3rd day almost always with his pods. We have to be mindful to dose extra or change early. You may want to consider a Dexcom CGM? My husband uses his faithfully, yet my adult son complains of it being too painful. But it is better than ketoacidosis. Hope this helps. Diabetes is always an adventure!
MiniMed once claimed waterproof but pulled the claim back as they realized that out of box these things may in fact be WP but after banging them around from normal use they invariably were no longer WP…