I have a question; maybe others who have switched from one insulin pump to another can help me with this.
I have been using a Minimed Paradigm 722. I received official training on how to use it, by a rep.
I am switching to an Animas Ping. I know how to use it, as a close friend uses it and I’ve played around with it for some time (never while attached to her, haha!). I will not be switching insulins, basal rates, I:C ratios…nothing except the pump itself.
Do I NEED to be trained by an Animas rep on how to use my pump? What I mean is, in terms of insurance benefits, do I need to? Can I get in trouble for not going through training? Can Animas refuse to send me supplies if I don’t go through training? I have looked through my insurance policy and can find nothing about mandatory pump training…
I really have no time I could do training except on a weekend - which makes it impossible to do, as far as I know. That’s why I’m asking. (Well, and I want to use my pump right away)
Hi Kari,
I recently switched from a MM522 to the Animas Ping. I don’t believe the insurance company can deny you supplies because you don’t go to training. I do believe that Animas will request you sign a refusal for training.
I was trained on my Ping on a Friday evening. The trainer I work with also works as a CDE and trains in the evenings/weekends. You should be able to find someone who can train you around your schedule. My Ping arrived on a Wednesday and I was trained that Friday so I was able to start on it right away.
That being said, If you watch the training video that comes with the pump and you’re an experienced pumper, starting on w/o training shouldn’t be too difficult. It was a really easy transition for me from the 522 to the Ping.
Good luck!
Several things:
-Smaller increments for giving both boluses and basal rates
-Being able to take a leisurely swim (not intense exercise) with my pump - not having to disconnect and worry about what wacky thing my BG will do while I’m disconnected
-I am interested in remotes 
I like being able to communicate with my pump from my meter. As a woman, I sometimes wear clothing in which I HAVE to conceal my pump in a place that it’s not easy to take it out to bolus (for example, when I wear a dress). So having this freedom would be great.
I don’t currently use a CGMS, and currently I’m not too interested. But if I ever did go with one, I know it won’t be Medtronic’s, it will be the Dexcom (which is merging with Animas) - Medtronic’s has horrible reviews, and I just read a news story last night that in a study they found that the Medtronic CGMS didn’t recognize/alert for 50% of all lows, and of the lows it did recognize/alert for only 50% were ACTUALLY lows. That seems extremely bad to me…
Alan, Im on the 722 and considering a move over to Animas. What makes you think 2020 as opposed tot he ping? I dislike the screen size of the MM pumps and they have no plan to change it (whats this single bit rubbish!)…
I had the MM CGM, but after a year of usage put it in the cabinet. The accuracy was rubbish and the sets bothered me as well. I just got a Dexcom and its helped a ton with controlling my new found dawn phenomena and protein sensitivity.
I switched from Minimed to Animas Ping and did have formal training but a couple of weeks after my switch. I did have a requirement for recent diabetes education prior to pump or CGMS preauthorization by my insurance (even after pumping for 8 years and diabetes for 20+) but not for post pump training (by insurance). I found the training helpful though. When I first used the Animas I had a lot of trouble navigating the menus. It’s automatic now so I’m having trouble remembering exactly what I had trouble with but I think sometimes the arrow navigation seems backwards compared to the habits I had developed with Minimed. If the down arrow won’t get you where you want try the up one. I also had trouble pairing the Ping and the pump. It’s just enough different from how Minimed links meters that it took me forever to set that up. Having the training at pump start would have actually saved me a lot of time.
I ended up having to reduce my basal rates by about 10% with Animas compared to Medtronic. The basal delivery is in smaller pulses and even at the exact same rates I was using on Minimed I was bottoming out frequently.
I also see other posters wondering why you switched. My reasons for switching… I’ve wanted something like the Ping for a long time. I bolus from the remote probably 90 to 95% of the time. I was having a lot of trouble with Carelink Personal (Medtronic did upgrade their software recently though so the situation wouldn’t be the same for current users.) Better visibility at night (although the Ping is worse in bright sunlight) and louder alarms. I really really like the Dex CGMS compared to Minimed’s also. All in all very happy with my switch. The only thing I miss from Minimed is the escape button.
Diana
Alan you may already know this but Animas has smaller increments for basal rates and boluses at all dosages across the board. With MInimed you only get the 0.025 increment at basal or bolus dosages of less than 1 unit. Over 1 unit per hour basal rate or bolus of 1 to 10 units the increments on the Revel are 0.05. And Revel bolus doses go up to 0.10 for bolus doses larger than 10 units.
May not make much practical difference depending on your dosages but thought I’d mention it.
You can see my post below but I’m happy with my switch.
Diana
Afaik, the remote and glucose meter are one piece, then the pump, a separate device, can be controlled remotely.
I had an Animas pump and switched to MiniMed. I did go through the training, because it is quite different. I wish I had stuck with Animas! Animas has great customer service compared to MiniMed in my experience. However, the trainer was excellent and I did gain a lot of new knowledge going through the pump training (even though I had done it before). Good luck!
OmniBLOB. Ha ha haha…
Tubes don’t bother me either but I got to admit it’s kind of intriguing. I decided that I like being able to move my pump around as needed more though. I had a demo pod on once and smacked into it with my barbell during bent over rows. That really hurt not to mention left a lovely bruise.
Diana
I started w/o training and did the training as my schedule allowed (I also switched from MM to a Ping) 3 months now and not a single infusion set or resevoir failure…not 1! I am soooo very happy I switched to the ping.
I also switched to the DEX–and at least for me it is MUCH more accurate at predicting the lows so I never get there…only 3 or 4 in 3 months time.that were below 70…it warns much faster…better math/algorrythims for sure.
of course YMMV
Hi Kari,
While I don’t know about how your insurance works as to if they will cover the pump w/o educator training on it, etc., I do know that the Animas 24 hour phone line is a great resource. Many of the reps are pump users themselves, many are nurses, and in my experience they have ALWAYS been way more than helpful. It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s 2 in the afternoon or 4 in the morning, they have always been very helpful, very kind, and always seem to be genuinely interested in making sure you have everything you need. In short, I always feel like they care. And that is very different than with some other companies out there. Take care,
-t
I received my pump today. And I got it up and running, after programming it. It’s on me and keeping me stable. Actually, I’m glad I got it - I now believe my Minimed was malfunctioning. I’ve been running high (150-250) for 9 days now, despite changing my infusion set 3 times, changing bottles of insulin, increasing basals, and increasing I:C ratios. Just in the few hours I’ve had this pump on…I’ve been in the 80s and 90s. Back to normal.
So now if I get any flack for using my pump before being trained I can cite this - that I HAD to because my other wasn’t working!
Ha! Sounds great. Good work on getting it all up and running so quickly. I look forward to hearing your thought after you use it for a bit.