Rx for every 3 days or 2 days for 90-day supply?

I'm a new OmniPod user - on pod #3 later today. My prescription calls for a pod change every 3 days. With my first 90-day supply, I received 40 pods. Insulet told me that my 90-day supply will be 30 pods from here on out. I would think that 30 pods is the minimum for a 90-day period - not the average number. I'm concerned that this might lead to a situation where I run out of pods, leading to an insurance debacle. In my experience, it is not easy to get an insurance company to make an exception.

I can think of many situations that could cause me to change my pod early, even with the 8-hour padding. And, I would much rather change it at home and limit other changes to emergencies.

Is this something that others have found to be a problem?

I'm thinking I should ask my doctor to change my Rx to specify changing the pod every 2 days, then just delay orders so I don't end up with too many extra pods.

- Mike

We just had to change my daughter's rx to one every 2 days because she just wasn't making it 3. It was actually really easy for us -- no problems with the insurance or the distributor. We get ours from Liberty medical.

My insurance does 90-day supply as well and yes, traditionally, that is 3 boxes. So, I asked my RX to be changed to 4 boxes for a 90-day supply. I am currently 7 months pregnant, so I am actually using 1 pod/2 days, so I have upped it to 5 boxes for 3 months. IOW, I don't know if it is the 2 or 3-day wording that you need to change, but rather request an additional box per order. I have to go through Edgepark for my Omnipods and the orders are placed per box. Through my insurance (United Health), it does cost me more to have the extra boxes, but it is well worth the cost to have enough pods on hand.

2 day RX is the way to go.

Depending on how your insurance works, it may even be the same cost for one every 2 days. In some insurance plans, there is a maximum co-pay for a 90 day supply. In that case it may cost you the same for a prescription written for 1 every 2 days vs. one every 3 days.

Some doctors will write such a prescription because off issues like ahe05a mentions or because they think it is better to change an infusion site every 2 days,etc. It never hurts to ask.... just understand how your insurance plan handles it. And yes, if you have enough pods on hand you just delay the refill.

For my son we have the doctor write a prior authorization for every two days- he is on Apidra and the recommendation for this insulin is to be at body temp for no more than 48 hours. We often do not change the pod until the third day (and sometimes past the expiration) and have had no issues-- but we have back-ups on hand to pull us through situations as you have mentioned. Another consideration is the amount of insulin you use, which would require more frequent pod changes. I cannot imagine if your insurance approved the omnipod pump, they would not make exceptions if more are needed.

Also- if you have issues with the pod, call and report it. They will replace it if it is not user error.

Just a reminder, Mike. If you have a pod that malfunctions, call Customer Service at Insulet and they will replace that pod. You do have to return the bad pod.

40 pods for the first shipment is normal. It allows for adjustments and failures due to learning how to manage them etc etc...

If you need to adjust your schedule, just call Insulet. They will take care of contacting your Doc and gettin a new perscription to match your needs. Really easy.

I'm about 2 1/4 days on my pods, and they have me at less than 2 days. I need to call them and adjust too. :)

Also, my Doc said he preferred 2 days instead of 3 due to some complications that can occur due to skin problems. He said that when I complained I couldn't get 3 days out of mine due to insulin resistance.

I deliberately started out with 1 every 2 days for this reason. I can normally make one pod last three days but at the start I simply didn't know that. There are lots of reasons why assuming 3 days doesn't work:

1) We have to guess the right amount of insulin to put in, if we underestimate (e.g. we do a lot of eating out, which in the US and UK means high carb food) then the pod will run out of insulin. (I deliberately over dose the pod to avoid this, but my insurance pays for all the insulin!)

2) International travel can easily reduce the pod lifetime to 2 days (to avoid changing in mid flight, or in the middle of the night!)

3) It's easy to mess up a pod placement (e.g. if you drop it on the floor after pulling the protective backer off the adhesive.)

4) Clothing malfunctions and door frames can and do remove pods prematurely.

On the other hand, if you get stuck with a 3 day RX then it is actually possible to build up a supply by running the pods to expiration - 3 days and 8 hours. I.e. three pods will actually last 10 days. The cost is that on one of those days the pod beeps at you in the middle of the night. I find if I lie on it the right way I can't hear the beep (and neither can my wife, which is perhaps more important.) This does depend on needing no more than 90IU per day.

John Bowler

They've not yet asked me to return a pod, they even replaced one where I'd done the accidental fold back of the adhesive onto itself. Normally they just ask for the error code from the PDM.

John Bowler

You probably mean 60 IU a day?

Thanks to all for the helpful information.

- Mike

Yes, that's right - I used 300IU, not 200.

John

My experience has been that Insulet never lets me run out of barnacles (that's what I call my pods) - I have never requested a new shipment, they just arrive. I haven't even opened my last set of 10 before a new box arrives with 30 more (plus any that I've had to report for issues). It is also true that I almost never take my barnacle off until it screams "EXPIRED" at me, so I do get 80 hours out of most of them.

Welcome to OmniPod! I hope you love it as much as I do.

Thanks Ren. I'm loving my barnacles so far. In the warmer weather, when I do a lot of biking, I'll probably enjoy them even more.

I started off with a 2-day script back in late 2009, which led to me cancelling auto-refill sometime back in October of last year, I think. I've still got enough pods to get me through June, which means I'll have to wait for the new small pods past the time they start shipping them out (granted, I've been waiting for them since 2010 when they were originally supposed to become FDA-approved). I would advise you stay on a 3-day script until they start shipping out the new pods.

I'm very happy I stopped shipment when I did. Otherwise, I would have probably had to go through the rest of the year without new pods.

Good idea. I sure would like the smaller pod as soon as possible.

Since you have surplus, can't you place another order at any time - like right after they start shipping the new ones? You would be wasting the big pods, but maybe they could be donated.

Like Ren, I find that I average closer to the 80 hour mark with the pods also so I haven't had any issues with the 30 pod supply for 90 days. I've been on the pods for about a year and I already have enough that I haven't touched the order I recieved 2 months ago yet. Which remides me, I need to cancel the auto-refill so I don't get another order before they start shipping the smaller pods.