After weighing my options for a couple of months, I decided to switch to the Omnipod.
I’ve been using Lantus, Lyumjev, and Afrezza. My insurance said they would stop covering Afrezza, and I decided I was ready for a change to a pump. I considered the Tandem because of the Control IQ system, but didn’t want to be locked into a pump for 4 years, wanted to try out tubeless pumps, and found the initial ordering process with Tandem frustrating. So I’m going with Omnipod instead, and I’ll be using Lyumjev. Insulet shipped me the PDM for free, and the pods are covered through my pharmacy benefit. So now everything I’m using (Dexcom, pump supplies, insulin, etc) can be ordered online through express scripts. I can’t believe how simple that is
I went through training yesterday and started my first pod. I am excited to report that I’m liking it so far! It’s a bit different from the Minimed I’ve used in the past though, and I have a few questions for those who are podding:
Which Pod locations do you like best? I used the front of my thigh, and it’s alright. It was a little painful at times during the night when there was any pressure on it. Of course, it’s much bigger than the Minimed infusion sets. I usually use my arm for the Dexcom, so I’m planning to avoid that spot.
Do you carry a portable battery pack/charger in your bag/purse? If so, which did you like best? I think it’s likely I’m going to forget to plug it in one night, and it’d probably be good to have a couple charged battery packs available in case that happens. I can just take one with me in my purse. I wouldn’t expect to need more than 1 full charge in the battery pack.
When the Omnipod delivers basal, does it do it once per hour or over the course of an hour?
What overpatches do you like to use? I’d like to have some on hand in case I want to go swimming for a long period of time.
Has anyone tried the new Omnipod 5? I’m pretty excited about using it while I’m sleeping once it’s available. I’d be curious to hear about your experience.
My son uses OmniPod, but the older version as a Looper. Based upon your battery questions, I think that is not what you are using, so I can’t answer all questions.
Caleb uses abdomen and legs for Pods, and arms and legs for Dexcom. He has a rotation plan I’m not privy to.
Basal is delivered in .05 increments equally over the hour, not all at once.
And at that, I’ve exhausted any potential to be helpful. lol
Best of luck! I hope it ends up being a positive experience overall.
Thanks @Lorraine. Hopefully I can use my abdomen as well. I had problems with bent canulas there when I was on the Minimed. Maybe Omnipod is less likely to have those.
The PDM has a rechargeable battery, so it’s supposed to be plugged in every night. I’m not thrilled by this- my old Minimed used a AA or AAA battery that lasted quite awhile.
This is probably the primary drawback I’ve experienced.
Thanks for the recommendation. I may purchase a few. I’m hoping to go snorkeling for several days this winter and would like to be in the water for a good portion of the day.
Do you use the back of your hips so you’re not laying on it while sleeping? I’m a side sleeper.
Yup, get the expensive expression med ones for snorkeling.
You’ll have to play with this. I use all parts of my hips. I’m a side sleeper too and sometimes it gets in the way and is uncomfortable. I sleep on the floor, so without much padding it can get pretty uncomfortable. Sometimes I need to put a tshirt as padding around it. I try to put it towards the back/butt so I’m not laying directly on it.
I use the old pod system so I cen’t help you with battery back up. My PDM doesn’t seem to ever run out of power, it gives me plenty of warning of lower battery. life but I do carry batteries as a back up just in case.
I almost always place the pods somewhere on my abdomen. I save my arms solely for my Dexcom. I like my thighs for the pods, but they do get in the way more. If I don’t place them right I end up feeling them sleeping more, plus I’ve knocked them off easier. On my hips the pods didn’t seem to work as well for me. Which is fine because now I wear the Libre there. So I wear the pods on my stomach and I rotate them from left to right, from up to middle to lower of my stomach area.
People have been known to place them all sorts of places.
While I have to use Skin Tac and overpatches for my Dexcom, I do keep them on for 25 days a lot. But without any help my Dexcoms was trying to come off by day 2. But my pods I have to pry off of me. And I swim for 3 hours in the ocean and that hasn’t been a problem. The only exception is I do wear a one piece bathing suit so the bathing suit is helping keep it snug against me, but I shove things down my suit. One of which is a water proof pouch for my LIbre reader that I also use because it scans underwater and my Dexcom won’t. I have hit my pod a few times with pouches I’m taking in and out because of where it’s placed and loosened my pod and made it fail.
This is good to hear! I think I’ll still get overpatches for when I go snorkeling just in case - don’t want to spend any more time on diabetes than necessary while I’m on vacation. Still, I’m pleased that these tend to stick so much better than the G6 sensors.
Sounds like I’ll just have to experiment. Thanks @Marie20 And @mohe0001 for describing the locations you tend to use and what works best.
Hopefully with time, I’ll find spots that work well for me too. Hopefully there’s a new PDM for Omnipod 5 that can use traditional batteries too!
It depends what amount of time you plan on swimming.
But some things you might want to keep in mind.
The Omnipod is great in the water, you don’t have to protect it etc. While it says it should only be in the water I think 1 hour, I have never had issues with it submerged for even 4 hours. You can either stop basal or reduce basal which is also really nice.
Before my Libre wearing I would start out higher and could stay out 30-60 minutes. But I could get out at 150 or at 70. The Libre is a wonderful addition if you plan on staying in the water any long length of time. Then you can scan with the reader while you are swimming and while it’s not exactly accurate it will tell you what you are trending. I do use Skin Tac on my Libre as it gets submerged a lot over it’s 10 day life.
GU gels while swimming, or you can use something like gummy bears in a water proof pouch. You can easily use a ziplock but a lot of the time water seeps in. Salty gummy bears still work , they just don’t taste as good. All this nicely goes down my suit lol.
Stash Pouches work really well. I have put my iphone in one for years now and have had no issues. I get to take underwater pictures and video and it comes out great!
I’m relatively new at pods, but have a couple comments.
For sites, look for someplace that’s not too lean and that you won’t put pressure on. Unlike Medtronic infusion sets which don’t particularly bother me if I sleep on them, or if I lean on them (like a set on my back when I sit in a chair) the pods are uncomfortable when pressed on. I find I’m using them on my front towards the sides, just below the rib area.
I’ve learned that it is futile to give large boluses through the pod. I think Allison at FU clued me in to that. A bolus of 5u is well absorbed. 10u may be ok. But more tends to leak, and I don’t get the effect of the full dose. I find that I’m using 4 or 5 syringes a week; I never had to do that with traditional infusion sets with Medtronic or Tandem pumps. I think part of it is that the traditional sets have a groove around the cannula that makes the skin swell up and press on the cannula to seal it. The pod is the opposite: the cannula is loose and free, just poked into the skin. When removing the pod there’s usually some insulin and blood that comes out. (That’s a reason not to give a bolus shortly before a pod change.)
Thanks for the tips! It’s good to hear that the Omnipod has held up pretty well when you’re snorkeling. I’m still working out the snorkeling details, but am definitely excited.
It’s also a market for the left-over insulin in the pod when it expires. Suck it out into a regular insulin syringe and use it for boluses, rather than throwing it away, or using it as part of the fill for the next pod.
This is what I’ve been doing for a few years, but recently I also find that a bolus of more than 10U, if delivered over an hour or more, doesn’t leak, even on the third day. I only do this once every few days, though.
I’ve found the extended bolus to already be quite handy. I think the site location I chose may not be the best because bolusing anything over about .7 units results in me feeling the insulin going in. It’s a strange, uncomfortable feeling. Spacing it out over a half hour has been helpful.
I’ve never thought about this before, but when Marie mentioned the formal recommendation that Pods only be submerged for an hour, this occurred to me -
What about hot tubs, whirlpools and saunas on vacation? Say your in a heated hot tub - what do you suppose that does to the insulin? Those can be pretty hot. I’m certain there’s an effect on activity of circulating insulin, but I wonder if it can destroy the insulin.
I’ve been using omnipod for about 6 years now (started with older Eros pods, now on Dash). It has its advantages and disadvantages.
First of all, I just switched to Lyumjev. It burns. There’s something about having it infuse for 2-3 days that really irritates my skin. It can be very uncomfortable. My endo says petite who use Lyumjev for injections do not have the same problem. I’m currently trying to figure out if I want to stick with it
The huge advantage of using the pods, of course, is the tubeless aspect. It’s wonderful not having to think about where to put it when I shower or use the toilet. It’s also nice not waking up in the morning with 400 blood glucose because the infusion site ripped out in the middle of the night.
The downsides are that having to charge the stupid pdm every night is really annoying, when the AAA batteries in the old Eros pdm would last for months. I have a real problem with this new design philosophy where you have to charge a critical medical device like you do your phone. It’s not the same, and it’s not acceptable from a user standpoint.
Now charging the omnipod pdm is definitely better compared with the T:slim, since the pdm is not the pump, but a separate smartphone like device. With the T:slim you literally have to plug yourself into the wall and just sit there. It’s the main reason I’ve been waiting for the release of Omnipod Horizon instead of using control iq. I really wish they would release a t-slim that operated on normal batteries. I’d have definitely given it more consideration.
I charge my t:slim with a portable charger and can move around my house easily. Given a choice, I might prefer batteries but t:slim charging Is easy. I am not tethered to the wall.
I used Omnipod for a couple of months and hated the idea that I was tethered to a PDM. I mostly used Omnipod for Looping so I didn’t need the PDM and could use my iPhone.
No doubt that those who approve medical devices don’t live with the burdens that the limitations of these devices impose. At the same time I was diagnosed with T1 in 1976 and took one injection a day and peed on urine strips.
Not sure if tethered is the right term if it’s wireless
The idea of having to carrying the pdm is less invasive if you regularly carry and use a smartphone (once the horizon system is released, a smartphone app will render the pdm an optional backup; this to my mind is even better since I’ve had both a pump and omnipod pdm malfunction completely while traveling abroad and it would have been GREAT to have had a backup.)
The portable charger is a much better idea that wasn’t recommended when I used the original t:slim. It still doesn’t mitigate the daily ongoing inconvenience of having to account for the physical tether & pump while bathing, using the toilet and sleeping. The pod is far less invasive in this regard.
I am much happier only having to think about my pump when I am actively dosing my insulin. When horizon is released, I hope to think of it even less often.
