Quick first impression of the Animas Vibe with integrated CGM

The vibe screen looks like the older ping screen. Have they done anything to reduce the number of button presses when using it? The ping takes a lot of them. Do you have to re-prime after a battery change? In other words ... have they improved the software?

Jeff

To enter the recommended dose you press the up arrow once, there is no need to scroll from 0.00 with the Vibe, not sure I'd be too keen on that. I switched from a Paradigm and for me the 'button pushing issue' is non-existent. Kind of like the dramas over having to code meters, swap the chip once in 100 strips, really! But to each his own :-)

What is Animas's reasoning/explanation for the re-priming when the battery is changed? Has anyone asked?

I was surprised that I had to prime after changing the battery. Even my very basic old Spirit pump allowed me to just pop in a new battery and be good to go. In the bigger scheme of things, I suppose a battery change doesn’t happen that often, but I always seem to end up changing mine when I’m away from home and the priming aways makes me groan!

The battery thing is a frustrating thing that took me a long time to get used to. I try to keep an eye on my battery symbol and change the battery out at the next set change when I notice it consistently starting to drop. That seems to work out really well and since I have to rewind the pump anyway it’s not extra work and I’m not stuck changing Batteries at the most inconvenient times either. I’ve also learned to keep a battery in my meter case or purse. I like the lithium because they last almost 6 weeks for me but when they
die they sure do go fast.

Hi, Amy. Yes the sensor is separate, the difference from the Dexcom G4 is that you don´t have the receiver. Instead the info from the sensor is sent directly to the pump which serves both as a regular insulin pump and a monitor for the CGM-info as shown in the first picture.

Thanks for clearing that up, Joe White.

Hi, Jeff.

This is my first pump from Animas, so I can´t really say anything about the button pressing other than it´s not as intuitive and easy as the Medtronic pumps I´ve used. If the software is improved or not I can´t really say.

The re-prime is the same, but I change the battery when I put in a new reservoir so that´s not a problem for me.

I second DianaS on this.

The Vibe has shorter battery time though, it lasts only three weeks.

How does using Dexcom G4 Sensor with Animas Pump compare with using it via Dexcom Controller?

I had Dexcom G4 on testing for about a month and it was great, so I started thinking about buying it, but now it seems I will be getting Animas Vibe, which will reduce the cost for me (no separate controller device)...

Are all options available through Vibe? Is renewal of Sensors possible, or do we have any additional constraint from Vibe?

Yes separate sensor. Also Amy the whole pump/receiver (Vibe) will be water proof as the current G4 receiver is not. (don't ask me how I know)

No different than with your G4 supplies, you still need sensors the only difference is that you now have pump and receiver in one waterproof unit.

E-J Ohler is right. The Vibe serves boht as a pump and as a Dexcom G4 screen. You can restart the sensor if you like, no difference there. The difference is the alarm which is not so loud on the Vibe, the screen is smaller, and you can´t set your own tresholds for high and low. You have to choose among fixed tresholds. Here is a picture of both:


This is the Vibe screen, in real life it´s much smaller and harder to read: