Hi All,
I am a new Podder and have had a bit of trouble with defective pods, I have had three in the last week not prime after filling with insulin. I filled each 120 units and they would not beep twice, so I had already lost 240 units and was about to again when I decided to try and put the syringe back in and pull the insulin back out. It Worked!!! I retrieved all of it and worked the bubbles out and put into next pod with no trouble. I saw this in a thread awhile back thought I would share.
Good! That’s exactly what you should be doing - no need to waste insulin!
Now that it’s happened 3 times (I’ve been using omnipod for 2 years, and it’s happened once), do you think you might be forgetting to be on the right page before inserting insulin?
I’ve pulled the insulin out of a pod that’s gone bad. Didn’t seem to hurt any. I fill to 155 – you don’t get many 120 u or 155 u pulls out of a bottle.
I was pretty sure that you need to fill the pod to its full 200 units for it to beep twice, although I might be wrong. I’ve never tried to put only 120 units, and I wasn’t told I could do that. But retreving insulin from the pod is fine, I do it all the time.
i’m so excited that you can retrieve insulin from a pod. i thought it was in there for good. stupid me, never thought to try it. i wasted enough insulin on faulty pods.
i usually give myself 150 units, i don’t take it off in three days, i usually wait till it tells me i’m out of insulin. it might be an extra day or so. i save some insulin that way.
nope. it beeps a few times which is annoying but besides that i’ve had no problems.
I thought it shut down automatically 8 hours after the expiration date/time. Am I confusing it with my Dexcom or something?
I only put about 150 in mine. Only on it about 3 weeks and I’ve already pulled insulin out with no problems. My instructor said that technically the company will say don’t do it but she said everyone does with no problems and that’s what I should do.
That’s good to know, I want to leave it as long as possible but I’m afraid I’ll have to change it at a very inappropriate moment! Do you end up having to change it like in the car or at work!?
No, the Dexcom you can leave on, I always leave mine on for 14 days. Don’t know if it eventually will just quite or not
You only have to put in the minimum amount, which I believe is 85.
That’s correct. There’s no need to fill it with 200 U. Just fill it with what you’ll use in 3 days, with a 85 U minimum.
This is from Insulet’s website:
How much insulin does the Pod hold?
The Pod can hold up to 200 units of insulin; it requires a minimum of 85 units of insulin to begin operation. Simply fill the Pod with the amount of insulin you will need while wearing it, up to 200 units. For example, if you plan to use a Pod for 48 hours, you need to fill it with enough insulin to last you 48 hours.
Cheers,
Gil
to add a footnote to my message, keeping the pod on till it runs out of insulin might not be for everyone. i just changed my pod after keeping it on for an additional day. when it finished it had this long annoying beep. i’m at home so i can easily change it, for those that don’t have that connivence i might not recommend it.
The continuous beeping starts when it hits 80 hours or runs out of insulin, but you can silence it (deactivate it) with the PDM.
or a sledge hammer 
This is awesome news! I am definately going to try to retreive the insulin the next time it happens with us! Thanks for the info.!
Did anyone try to extract leftovers of the insulin from the pod after using it?
Thanks
“or a sledge hammer” <–love it
I fill the pod with the amount of insulin I expect to use in 72-80 hours. I like to be in that window of time when the pod hits the 20u marker and I will then change it out before my next bolus. Bolusing after insertion of a new pod helps me with post-insertion highs and any possible occlusions from bad sites.
Hi Melissa,
It’s GREAT that you choose to change the pod at a convinient time, just before you’re about to bolus.
As you pointed out, it helps "with post-insertion highs and any possible occlusions from bad sites."
These 2 issues have been addressed in other discussions, and your suggestion will definitely help solving them.
I would recommend against retrieving insulin from a pod after 72-80 hours. I only retrieve from a pod which will not prime or which fails in a few hours. I would worry about either an infection or the insulin becoming less effective or ineffective.
Well, I deal with it differently. If I have more than 20U left at pod change time I will pull it all out and use it in the next pod. I won’t do it if I am starting a new bottle of insulin, which I doubt would cause a problem but that’s just my thoughts.
I have never had any weird highs/lows, etc. after a new pod with pre-installed insulin.