I had a question about switching insulin pumps and would like insight on those who have done so.
I am currently on a tandem t:slim and have been for almost 2 years, I use it in conjunction with my dexcom and overall, I love it. However, I am a little inclined to trying out an omipod. I am very active in the water throughout the year and find that no matter what I try, having to disconnect the pump so that I can swim continuously causes me to go high. I like the idea of the ominpod because there is no tubing and it can go in the water. However, I do not like the fact that I don’t think (?) it connects to the dexcom.
Does anyone have any insight from switching in their own experience? I do not even know if insurance would cover as I am already on an insulin pump. No fault of my own, I went with my endos suggestion with the tandem, as I have been a type 1 for about 19 years and was only using injects as I did not think I would like a pump so I did not do much research and went with what she suggested.
The pods will soon connect to dexcom. But not now.
I tried pods while I was on my pump. They are included the same as pump supplies so you should be able to get them instead of your supplies one month. I used 3 of them and they all fell off when I swam. But I swim a lot and I do laps. And afterwards the over tape would be soggy and the site would get inflamed.
Now I just stick to my tslim. I work out for 90 min. I disconnect from my pump and inject 4 units of lantus, I consume 2 carb gels and I go. It took me a while to figure this out. I normally take 1 unit per hour as basal insulin if that helps.
My dexcom gets soggy too but it’s not as bad and usually stays on.
If you decide to use the pods, try uv3000 tape over it.
You can take it off after your workout
You also might get a sample pod free from your doctor. Sometimes the rep gives them to the doctors.
You can copy your settings from tandem and should be similar.
But you will need a controller because pods don’t do phones yet as far as I know. But the pod doesn’t need the controller when you swim.
Have you ever heard of the “untethered” regimen? This is a system that adds a long-acting basal insulin each day to the pump-delivered insulin. This permits disconnecting from an insulin pump for extended periods and variable times and not mess up your glucose control. The pump settings need to be tweaked for optimal performance.
I’ve used this system when vacationing at a warm weather resort and used the pool and hot tub several times per day. It works well once you get your settings well adjusted. You’ll need to minimize the basal rates, yet leave them at a minimum level to work against infusion set occlusions.
The untethered system includes a nice layer of extra safety in that you are protected from dropping into DKA while unaware of a pump delivery/insulin absorption failure. Search for others accounts of this using the term, “untethered insulin pump.”
I’m not a swimmer (I use my hot tub a lot but no swimming!). With IV Prep the pod never comes off. With extra coverings it should be more than good. I tried a pod trial right when Animas was going under. I got some sample fake pods and wore them a week or so, no problems. Then at the time they had a trial where you got a month of pods, training and a free PDM to test out. The HMO saw the pods like infusion sets, and you could have even mixed and matched and they really didn’t care. All the stories about screaming pods were really myths. They are way better than I expected. I doubt I would go backwards to tubing. The current model DASH system is not covered by my HMO. No doubt when the new DEX friendly system comes out my HMO will still be behind. I’m using the oldest version, still very pleased. Excellent customer service too.
@jrd I am going through the same.thing. My Tandem warranty is almost up, and I have tubeless envy but want to try before I buy. Thankfully Insulet has a 30 day free trial offer (https://www.omnipod.com/) called “30 days to Freedom”. Unless you are insured by UHC, or the federal\state\local government, you are eligible. If you have UHC, you can still try it, but the cost to you is $427.00 (you claim no insurance\self insured). The $427 (or free trial) gets you 30 days worth of pods and a PDM to run the pods (plus a quick onboarding session).
My trial just showed up yesterday, so I am looking forward to see if tubeless is a great as I hope. Also, Omnipod 5(Horizon) which utilizes Dexcom to feed an "closed loop"algorithm is expected to be available this year after a 6 month setback.
My son has T1 and so do I. I use the Omnipod and my son uses the T-slim. I’ve used his back-up T-slim a couple of times, and I really much prefer the Omnipod. It’s just really nice to not have to fuss with tubing and connecting/disconnecting. My pods stick on like nobody’s business.
Insurance should cover it with no issues. Omnipod doesn’t charge you for the PDM (controller), and if your doctor writes a prescription for the pods, insurance just covers them like other pharmacy supplies. (Unless you have insurance that is still fighting with Omnipod about covering pods under the pharmacy benefit - then you’d have to use the older Omnipod system, which is frankly just fine.)
