Tandem Tslim X2 Issues, help from fellow users?

Type 1 and LADA
1

Hi friends.
I have now 2 months ago switched over from an animas vibe insulin pump to the new fancy Tandem T-slim X2. Ever since I switched over my Blood glucose has gone severely downhill. Usually my glucose is easy to handle since I’m someone who exercises a lot and eats a healthy diet.

But ever since I’ve switched over I have increased my daily intake of insulin by some days 40-50%! It’s like the new pump is not giving me the right amounts of insulin, I am constantly annoyed by oclassion alarms, my blood sugar spikes all the time and when I take corrections, it’s like the blood sugar doesn’t even budge. So now I’m pretty pissed, some days (out of rage) I can even take the double amount of insulin and put my basal at 130-150%, and even then I might sometime be struggling. But what confuses me is that during nighttime, I’m always fine. My glucose is balanced all the way until waking up, until I eat breakfast and then he’ll breaks loose.

Has anyone else had issues with insulin and this pump? I am so over it and I can’t go on like this with these swings in the blood sugar.

Please help me out

2

When we have any sort of issue where it seems the insulin from the pump is not doing what we expect, we will give MDI injection and see if that responds as we expect.

That is good for troubleshooting as well as potentially getting you the insulin you need.

Note. Even when everything is working properly, the MDI is always faster to react for us than any pump infusion set has ever been. We just assume that is simply the way it is.

3

Are you running on CGM (auto) mode?

I can think of a number of possible explanations for your whacked out BG readings during waking hours, including infusion site issues, perhaps different insets (you didn’t say), dawn phenomenon (it can start occurring over a very short time span when it previously wasn’t an issue).

But if you’re sure it’s the pump there’s a simple solution: turn the pump’s CGM connection off and go manual like you ran on the Animas. You can still monitor your Dexcom readings with the Dexcom receiver or iphone / Apple watch / Android.

Hope this solves your issue - let us know!

4

And all I’m curious about is what type of sets are you using?

5

Im using the normal 6mm Inset 2! Has always worked great for me.

To answer the other questions as well, I don’t have an insulin pen cause I’ve never been in need of one since my animas vibe was so reliable :frowning:

And I always check my glucose with a normal glucose meter to double check the level of my blood sugar.

I’m just afraid that the pump is blocked and does not give me any warnings when it is so I’m somehow lacking insulin…

6

Infusion set inset 2. 6 mm!

7

We have always kept a very large supply of manual syringes to serve as backup should any problems occur.

Being able to manually inject can at times turn a critical situation into a merely annoying situation.

8

That is a cannula. ask for some samples of the TruSteel. I had all kinds of trouble with cannula sets with a MM pump. Sure-T’s, like TruSteel shouldn’t present any issues with occlusion alarms unless the pump is overly sensitive to that, which is something I’ve heard about the X2. It is worth a try for you to switch sets from cannula-type to steel. I can’t stand wearing the cannula sets anyway–they always irritated me. I don’t feel the Sure-T’s at all. I suspect you will need to call Tech Support to get free samples. If you like them, then get a new Rx from your doc for those sets. GOOD LUCK!

1 Like
9

Thank you, will definitely check that out!

1 Like
10

Have you guys had any issues with big hard circles around where you’re needle has been as well? I never had any swollenness or big hard circles after any infusionset with the animas vibe so im just worried that the insulin is not taken out into the body as it should…

11

I’m definitely gonna get one. Right now I have my old animas pump on and took some extra insulin with it and it seemed to do the trick, which just frightens me more with this x slim…

12

When I first switched from Medtronic the Tandem t:slim, I also had more occlusion. Actually I don’t remember ever having them with Minimed/Medtronic. And I used metal to start and than Teflon type infusion sets. But I had to go back to the metal with my Tandem & wasn’t thrilled because I remembered them being big and really hurting back in the early 90’s. But I did try them and must agree with others, I love them. Since switching over, I have had no more occlusions and I don’t otice them unless they are in my leg and sometimes I can feel it. But I agree that maybe your trainer can give you a sample to try. Otherwise, I have had no problems with the old t:slim or my new IQ. Love my IQ!!!

1 Like
13

My answer is a little different than the others. I’ve been on the t:slim X2 for almost two years now, and had been loving it… But I started noticing little glitches, and then started feeling like I wasn’t getting all my insulin. I was constantly fighting highs, and in frustration resorted to doing syringe corrections/bonuses. I found out that I responded normally to syringe injections, but not the pump, so it wasn’t just my needs changing.

I called Tandem customer service, and since the pump wasn’t throwing any error codes, I was told the next step was to meet with a CDE. Since I live in a remote area, I just exchanged emails with the one they had contact me. I wrote a small novel explaining exactly why I thought it was the pump, and they sent me a replacement overnight mail.

I’ve been using the new pump for a little bit over a month now, and everything is back to normal.

It’s a shame that this is your first experience with it, because the t: slim really is a great pump, but it is entirely possible that there is a technical issue with your pump. It’s just not as likely as it being one of the above mentioned selections.

Also, I don’t think I’ve seen it mentioned yet, but you might need to adjust the DIA setting. I think I’ve read around here before that previous ping users need a longer setting on the t:slim.

To prove it was my pump and not me, I had to show:

  1. That I was responding differently to syringe injections with the same via of insulin than I was the pump.
  2. That using s different infusion set didn’t make a difference.
  3. That there wasn’t a drastic difference in control between the first day of an infusion set and the last.

And…
4. I actually withdrew the remaining insulin in the cartridge after a set change, and found an extras 40 units of undelivered insulin. (I use 45-55 u/day)

There is an expected 20 units of “dead space” in the cartridges that the pump can’t use, and you should ignore. If the physical amount of insulin remaining in the cartridge exceeds 20u + the remaining insulin number in the top right corner of the screen, then that’s proof of non-delivered insulin.

I hope you find the answer soon!

14

Your numbers sound like what mine did when I used the shorter 6mm canula. When I changed to the 9mm, all those problems went away for me!
CAll your local Tandem rep, they can send you out a sample set of a number of different sets for you to test out what works for you. I did that twice now.

15

Thank you so much for this response, so helpful!! Will definitely look closer into this!

16

Thank you so much, that’s exactly the advice I got from the representative today. I’ve had hard time with longer than 6 mm needles before because I’m really slim, but I’m actually gonna give the 9 mm a try, then if that doesn’t work ima go ahead with the steel needle!

17

A year later, I would like to know how you solved your problem. I have been using the Tandem since November and have been having the same problems.