I’m curious as to what supplies everyone carries day to day and the types of cases, etc. people use.
I don’t have my OmniPod yet so this might change soon, but for now I carry a zebra print Sport Kids case with:
Syringes
Lancets
lancing device
One Touch UltraSmart Meter
alcohol swabs
Insulin
test strips
calculator
Pen
Meter quick reference booklet
will I need more, less or the same supplies with the Pod?
3943-edc1.jpg (228 KB)
3944-edc2.jpg (223 KB)
Hi,
You’ll need less with the pod. You won’t need syringes. Your PDM is a meter so you won’t need that. Your insulin will be in the pod (I do carry an insulin pen in my purse in case I have a problem with the pump). Test strips fit in your PDM case and I use the other test strip container for lancets. You won’t need a calculator, the PDM will calculate for you. Don’t know what you’d need the pen for, the PDM keeps all your information and you can download it to your computer. See how much extra room you’ll have???
I’ve been on the pod for almost 4 years and love it. Good luck.
Linda
P.S. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.
You will need about the same supplies with the addition of an extra pod and 2 AAA batteries and I always carry a tube of glucose tabs. The Omnipod PDM will replace the meter you carry, because it has a built in meter. The OmniPod comes with a case, but I do not find that it is large enough to carry the spare pod. What I use is a Relion bag I found at Wal-Mart in the diabetic supplies. It was less than $10. Here is a link to a similar one: http://www.insulincase.com/Medport-Everyday-Diabetes-Organizer-P315.aspx
It is nice because it opens up flat so you can get to everything and has and edge, so nothing falls out.
I do not carry my PDM in here, as I carry that next to my cell phone in my purse for easy access, but there is enough room for all of the supplies and the PDM
I love the Omni Pod, hopefully you will make the decision to get one.
Good Luck!
my omni is actually en route and should be here any day. and dexcom7 as well 
I have both and I love both. I do not recommend you start both at the same time time though. It wil take a month or so to get all the settings on your pump correct, unless you already pump.
I started the OmniPod in February and the Dexcom in June. That way I had everything under control with the pump before learning something new.
I ALWAYS carry a bottle of insulin and syringes with me (or an insulin pen works too, as long as it has sufficient insulin to fill the pod with) because if I need to change a pod while I am away, then I have the insulin to do it. And if for some reason I am unable to change the pod, I still have the insulin and syringes to take what I need. If you won’t be carrying a spare pod, then no, you will not need the insulin or syringes.
But I would rather carry a spare and never need it than not carry one and need it.
I have only had to change out a pod once before the end of the three days, which was my fault, and I was at home. I had placed one on my back and it was not in a good spot so the canula had pulled out from under my skin and the insulin dripped down my back. I pulled the insulin out of that pod, and put it into another one and we were good to go. I had only been wearing the pod for a few hours, so I felt safe removing the insulin from the pod and reusing it. I always discard whats left at the end of the 3 days. Not worth the risk of reusing it.
my training is scheduled for sept 12 and i’ve already told my trainer that i only want to start with the pod. I’ve never pumped before and i don’t want to get too overwhelmed. One thought i had was the possibility of carrying a pre-loaded extra pod in my purse. is that feasible?
No, you can’t carry a pre-loaded pod, since filling the pod is part of the process to starting a new one. Once you tell the system that you wish to activate a new pod, the PDM will tell you to fill a pod with insulin, and listen for the 2 beeps. Once you hear the beeps, then the you press next and the PDM proceeds to priming the pump. Then it will tell you to place the pod on your site and press next. It then say press next to automatically insert the sensor. Once you press next it takes about 5 seconds and you feel a tiny prick and you are all done. I have found it is less painful than doing injections.
The Dex is a little more painful to insert, about the same as injections, IMHO. Takes a bit of coordination to get it inserted and the transmitter snapped into place but eventually you will get the hang of it.
Once you start on the pod, don’t get discouraged if t take a bit to get your BG under really good control. It took me about 3 months to get my basals all set to the right amount at the right time. And I am always tweaking them because no 2 days are the same. But such is the life of a diabetic.
How long have you been diabetic?
I carry an extra pod, a syringe, and my vial of insulin, along with strips/lancet/PDM, 2 batteries, & glucose tabs. All fits nicely in the little zipper case that came with the Pod. I usually pocket my Dexcom.
told I was pre-diabetic at 14, diagnosed full at 40, started insulin at 43 after trying every pill on the market. couldn’t take the side effects, so onto insulin I went. but until recently I’ve still kinda been in denial and not been very good about control. I realized that all my tiredness and icky feeling was the lack there of, so I decided to try a pump to help get me on track.
My husband (and all his family) are huge dessert eaters and its been hard having self control around them. They don’t understand no matter how many times I try to tell them I can’t. I hear “Oh, just a small one won’t hurt”. And then i give in. sigh
Well the pod will help that because with it you will have a basal rate going all the time and you bolus at meals for what you eat. You will have to learn how to count carbs in everything you eat, because that is how you determing how much insulin you bolus. Right now I am at 1:10. I take 1 unit for every 10 grams of carbs I eat. So if I eat a brownie that is 28 carbs I would take 4.8 units of insulin (providing my BG is where it is suppose to be.
I have been type 1 diabetic since I was 14, so 27 years. I went quite a few years only doing half of what I was suppose to be doing and now I am paying for it. I recently got re-married and my husband is totally supportive of getting my health back where it is suppose to be, no matter what it takes. I have diabetic retinopathy in both eye, and recently inderwent surgery for a hole in my retina. So I have been face down for the last almost 3 weeks recovering from that surgery.
The OmniPod and the Dex have brought my A1C down form 10.7 to 7.3. I am hoping the next test in a couple of weeks will be even lower, but with the 2 surgeries I have had in the last 6 weeks, I doubt it.
Any questions you have, ask them here. This is a great place for support and answers!
Unless I go out of town, I don’t carry ANYTHING with me. Along with my PDM, I throw a vial of strips in my purse with a single lancet - I poke myself with that. One less thing to remember. Glucose tabs are always in my purse. I haven’t used an alcohol swab in probably 20 years!!!
I have extra batteries in my glove box and at my desk for my PDM, which was a lesson I learned a couple of years ago when it died on me. Also at my desk, I keep a vial of mostly used up insulin and a syringe, just in case there’s a pod failure. I’ve had insulin in my desk for MONTHS at a time, and it still works in a pinch.
ahhh, now there’s a strategy I like!!
WELL…
I carry it all in the Omnipod case. I have the PDM, lancing device, bottle of insulin(with just enough to fill a pod in case it were to get too hot and go bad), bottle of test strips, extra lancets, alcohol swabs, barrier wipes, extra syringe, extra pod in outside pocket of case, glucose tabs, extra batteries. And then I have the dexcom in a pocket or on my belt! In the begining it is alot but you’ll figure out what all you need and what works best for you. Now i did start the pod and Dexcom at the same time. I had never pumped before either. Only advice I might give is pod is pretty easy to deal with. BUT the dexcom will drive you nuts! So like others have said be careful. Don’t put too much emphasis on what that thing is doing all the time because you will go crazy chasing numbers. It’s all for the better so good luck. I am finally getting to a place where I am pretty comfortable with it all. Been on both sense January of this year.
I not convinced yet on the dexcom.
My questions… if you still have to stick fingers several times a day to make it work, then why use it? If its not accurate enough to bolus from, then why use it?
I ordered one, but, I just don’t get it.
I put 3 test strips in the battery compartment on the PDM. I bought on line the lancets they use at the doc, you know the ones that are used only once. I carry 2 in my pocket because I use the Dexcom CGM system. I also carry a few hard candies in my pocket as well. I only carry my insulin pen if I’m more than a hour away from home. My office is a 3 minute ride away.
With any CGM, you have to stick your finger for every time you’re planning to take insulin because a CGM reading is not as precise as a blood glucose reading.
But the CGM helps you spot rises, falls, and other trends between fingersticks that you assuredly would not catch without it. I personally think it’s the most valuable tool we have since the discovery of insulin and I love using one (continuously now for 3 years). It decreases your standard deviation, meaning that you are able to ride much closer to a normal flat line along a reasonable average. It takes the edge off of oncoming highs and lows by allowing me to treat before I feel it, thereby reducing how high or low it spikes before I can begin treatment.
We use the dexcom to see where my son’s blood sugar is “going” so that we can prevent highs and lows more often. We use it to see what different things do to his blood sugar. So for example, it wasn’t until he saw how high cheerios made him go - even though he came into range within a couple of hours, that made him decide toast with peanut butter worked better for him. We also use it in sports so that he doesn’t have to sit out for lows as much. If he knows his blood sugar is 100 and going down, he can drink gatorade and get right back in the game without checking.
Lastly, we use it to adjust the settings on the pump - mostly basal settings. I can see that he’s going up from 2-4 AM, without having to get up to check him every hour. If that happens every night, then I’ll adjust how much basal he’s getting from the Omnipod in order to counteract it.
No, we never use it to bolus, but not having it drives us all crazy!
