Ever since I got my new OmniPod PDM I've been trying to figure out what new features it has that can help me to better understand how I can get better BG control, and one of the features I suspect is a "gold mine" is that of being able to put a "tag" on a BG. The book tells you all about doing that, but NOWHERE can I find any high-level description of what you might use tags for. I can easily imagine dozens of situations that I could make up a tag for, but SO WHAT ?
What I want to know is how I can later use these tags to do anything that needs to be done more productively. I can "scroll thru" results and see that tag, but SO WHAT? I called Insulet and also Abbott and no one could tell me of any functionality in the software that did anything whatsoever other than "display a tag in this history list of BG".
It just seems way too tedious to scroll, scroll, scroll trying to find where those tags are.
I'd sure like to do things like "see a sequence of BGs (the next 24 hours) after EACH of the times I put in a given tag, like "Spaghetti-with-CannedSauce".
Can anyone shed any light on "Tags". How DO YOU work with them?
Or are there any other features of the new OmniPod PDM that have helped you get better control?
I mostly use them to mark pre- and post- meal BG readings, and to indicate readings that are on a pod-change day (because I have problems with high BG the first few hours after placing a pod on my thighs). Knowing which readings are before and after meals helps me and my Dr. measure how my carb counting and IC ratios are performing.
Excellent. Thanks.
And when you “go back” to use these tags and see how things did/didn’t work out, are you just “scrolling thru history and noticing where the tags are”?, or do you know of a way to “view the places where the tags are” without having to scroll, scroll, scroll, to find them?
And a curiosity question: is it only when you use your thighs that you have that / have to look out for that problem?
Is that the ‘normal’ place for you to put your pod?
You should get the CoPilot software for your PC and the OmniPod extension that enables it to import data from the PDM. Here’s the web page with instructions to download: http://www.myomnipod.com/customer-care/download-software/CoPilot/index.php
Using that you can generate all kinds of reports from the raw data.
As for thigh placement, the BG spikes do seem to happen mostly when I place a pod on my thighs (I use upper-inner section), although I sometimes see it when using my lower-back/upper-rump to a lesser extent. I use a rotation of back-of-arms, lower-back/butt, abdomen, and upper-thighs - but because of this problem I only use the thighs once a month or so.
I love the CoPilot software. It has so many reports to track your readings. In my case, I am interested in total carb intake and it gives you a daily average.
My endo likes the reports outlining the BG averages before and after each meal. Plus the Glucose line to looking for spikes both high and low.
Thanks! That’s inspiring. I’m “on the verge” of using CoPilot, just have been dragging my feet cause I couldn’t get it to read my OmniPod. But there are a few postings about how to get the right drivers, so I’m heading in that direction.
I take it you don’t actually make use of “tags” ?
Thanks for the specific pointer. I had already install CoPilot, but couldn’t get it to read my OmniPod data and have been dragging my feet ever since but only due to higher priorities. But I bet if I go to your page and really do what it says, I’ll get it working. So THANKs !
That’s pretty amazing the rotation scheme you have. I’m not nearly so “adventurous”. Wonder if I should be. You’ve got me thinking about that…
After you install the OmniPod extensions you will be able to upload from the PDM to CoPilot.
On the DataEntry menu, you will have a new option: “Read OmniPod PDM” which you can use. There is also an icon “Read Device”, however on my install, it defaulted to “Abott BG Meter”. You can change it to default to your PDM as follows:
Choose the DataEntry menu
Choose Assign Default Device…
Use the Device List dropdown list and choose OmniPod PDM
Click OK
Brad
OK, now I’ve done what you suggested, and it worked perfecto !
I have more data than I know what to do with, and/but have looked at how that can be “served up” in a large number of reports.
I still don’t see how Tags have anything to do with it, but now that I can get the data to flow soup-to-nuts into CoPilot, I’ll report back if/when I figure out a way to use Tags to enhance this process.
Thanks. I should have reported back earlier cause (see below) I did figure this out earlier this afternoon.
In the various reports you can see the details of each “event,” including the BG tags. So they can help understand the numbers. I would think there is a way to report on the tags themselves, but haven’t played with it enough to figure that out.
Wow - that’s great news. Sorry I didn’t see this until now.
I’ll definately go check that out !
