I've recently switched to the new OmniPod (and yes, I know I'm much later than most. It took this long to get the damn upgrade approved by insurance, and for Insulet to listen to my screaming...)
So I'd been using code 17 on the old version, since it seemed to better match my labs and other meters I compared with. Should I be doing the same with the new PDM? Have any of you done similar testing since the switch?
I use whatever code is on my box of test strips. Which is currently 16. Never had a problem. Was always told to use the code on the bottle and nothing else.
With the old PDM, using the Freestyle butterfly strips my numbers were always lower than the older non-butterfly strips, labs and other meters showed, and corresponded much better with Code 17. A number of people noticed the same thing when the butterfly strips were introduced (and have written about it here and on their blogs) and switched to Code 17 or even 18 to make the numbers correlate better.
I did one side by side test between the new PDM and old (don't want to do more because I now pay a ton OOP for strips) and found Code 17 was higher on the new PDM than it was on the old, so now I'm wondering if they fixed the issue and I should go back to using 16. It really sucks not knowing which number is correct.
I've found both 17 and the correct 16 to be a little less reliable. I'm now using 18, and it reads good near normal levels, but higher as the numbers go up (i.e. 100 and 100 but 210 and 200, etc etc) So far this has worked well for me.
Thanks, Scott. So even with the new PDM you've kept the higher code? I've never even tried 18. It sounds like you're saying 18 gets less accurate as you get higher, but is it still more accurate than using 16?
I've been using 16 strips with my meter set at 18 for about six months now, after reading about it on this forum. I really like the system, and it has brought my A1C down significantly.
I use 18 as well after reading about it here.
Those of you using 18, have you checked the new system against labs or other meters? What are you basing this on? 17 seemed to correlate pretty well with other meters on my old PDM, and 18 seemed to overshoot a bit...I figured it was safer to be a little higher than it would be to be lower. (I wish there was a 17.5.) In the one test I did on the new meter, 16 actually seemed to match my One Touch (134 on the PDM, and 137 on One Touch) so I was wondering if Insulet might have fixed the issue.
I've checked both old and new PDM's against other meters and the pdm's always seem slightly lower. But, compared to my labs and a1c levels, my pdm is always very close to those results so I've always stuck with 16.
I'm not basing it on anything, really, just trying to achieve better control. I don't really care how precise it is as long as it helps me bring my overall level down. Kind of like setting the clock forward a few minutes to make sure you are on time.