I’m guessing many of you have received an alert from your infusion set suppliers, but I don’t see any postings about it here yet, so thought I’d start a conversation. Yesterday (7/2) I received an email from CCS Medical that Tandem has announced that the Autosoft XC sets may be in short supply soon; they call the situation “rolling backorders.” They say this is not just them: it’ll be the case for all the suppliers. They say they have a large inventory, but that that won’t last forever (I’m paraphrasing pretty heavily here).
There’s no word on the other types of sets, such as the Autosoft 90, which appears quite similar to me. Has anyone else received a message of this type, especially for a different sort of infusion set than the Autosoft XC? And does anyone connected to Tandem (or CCS Medical or other supplier, I suppose), or anyone with better information, care to comment?
Ah, thanks! I didn’t associate the subject line “Pump manufacture(r)s…” with my concern about set shortages, so didn’t read that topic first. Sorry! I shoulda known people would be discussing this already.
I fully understand, @K_Hjalmar, that you could not be expected to connect your subject to the misleading post title. I only commented in the interest of keeping comments on this topic in the same place. Not a big deal.
I had 2 3-month shipments of autosoft 90 sets. Tried them, but definitely like XCs better.
Since my next order is due soon, i called to check if XCs were available. Glad to hear they said yes, and would exchange my unused autosoft 90s for unopened boxes.
I also spoke with Tandem support, and they were also willing to do same exchange.
Edgepark shipped me 3 boxes of the AutoSoft 90s with my last order - they are AWFUL. I was able to ship 2 boxes back and they gave me my XC sets. I told them how bad they were and made sure they switched my future orders back to XC. I think they had changed to 90 because of the shortage but I’m hoping that doesn’t happen again.
I hope all of you remember this when Tandem sends out those feedback surveys. I’m still worried they’re going to cancel the XCs because they sell more 90s, and there really is no reason to make 2 sets so similar to one another. I wish everyone knew how much better the XCs are, so they’d make the switch.
When I moved to Tandemn they automatically gave me the XC’s, so makes me thinkthey know they are preferred option. I may have told them I used the medtronic quicksets, but based on the information on their website it is impossible to tell the difference between the 90’s and XC so pretty sure I didn’t request them.
The key difference (for me) is that connecter part that you grasp to connect/disconnect has a colored rubber part on it that allows better grasp.
After carpel tunnel and trigger finger surgeries on both hands, i have limited gripping power on my fingers!
The winding tubing and expanding inserter is about the same.
Just rewatched Tandem training video, and my XC insertion method is similar, but different sequencing.
I’d go back to Quicksets in a heartbeat if Tandem offered them over the XC. They were much easier to connect and disconnect once inserted. Took less then a minute to complete change.
When I first got my pump the ordering/customer service rep was adamant that the XC’s were the best sets and thought I should try them first before using steel sets (I have a lot of scar tissue) so I got the 6mm XC’s and haven’t looked back. So, Tandem does seem to know that the XC’s are “better” so I don’t think they will willingly discontinue them.
Both you and @Jim26 seem to have had a similar experience, which was the exact opposite of mine.
My DME supplier called me to ask what infusion set I wanted to be shipped with my new pump. He told me everyone uses the Autosoft 90s, that’s the one I want. He also told me I wanted the 23 inch tubing, which this one turned out to be correct. The only real question I was posed was what length I wanted.
My pump didn’t come with infusion set samples. I thought my trainer might have them, but no, she only gets the Autosoft 90s. When I asked about trying the other choices, she said “Why? Everyone uses these.”
I know now both of them lied to me, but I don’t think it was intentionally or with malice. I’m sure neither one of them knows the XCs are better. Heck, they might not even know they’re any different since they look so similar. I’m sure they’re just propagating what they learned themselves.
I do know that they sell the most 90s, it’s been mentioned in the investor updates, hence my fears of discontinuation.
I would also guess that anyone switching from Medtronic pump with auto 90 would likely not even know about or consider the XCs.
When I was first getting Tandem, and told rep I used Quicksets, did not like autosoft 90 w/medtronic. Then they suggested the XCs. I was sent samples to compare.
In my early days of Medtronic, i used silouettes, which are similar. But i opted to use the inserter, known as the guillotine device. However a good choice that allows doing a more shallow insert, a benefit for those that are lean.
