I would be interested in hearing from people who have moved to the Animas Vibe from the Animas Ping and the Dexcom G4. I was so sure that I would immediately get the Vibe, but now I am hesitating. I don’t like having to wear two devices, but there also seems to be some benefit to having separate devices. Thoughts?
Apparently a lot of us Asante Snap users are going to be asking the same question now:
Dear Snap User,
We regret to inform you that as of Friday, May 15, 2015, Asante Solutions, maker of the Snap Insulin Pump, will be closing our doors and the company will no longer be in business.
Moving forward, please contact your healthcare provider with any clinical questions you have. For questions about your pump supplies, please contact the distributor that has been shipping your supplies.
If you are interested in transitioning to a new pump, we suggest you call Animas to learn more about the new Animas Vibe, which is integrated with Dexcom CGM. Animas is graciously offering a limited time offer to all existing Snap users to transition to the Animas Vibe pump. If you are interested in learning more, simply call 1-877-937-7867 x 1562.
Hi Melitta,
I’ve been an animas user for 10 years now, and a dexcom user for two. I just got the animas vibe in February and had the ping before that.
Personally, I love the vibe. I love having an integrated cgm, and not having to carry two devices anymore. It is just more convenient for me in that sense. The vibe has everything I personally want in a pump.
It all depends upon what you are looking for in a pump, and what is more important to you. If having an integrated cgm is more important to you, then go with the vibe. If having a meter remote is more important to you, go with the ping and dexcom. I mean it is not that big of a deal having two separate devices. For me, an integrated cgm is way more important than a meter remote.
If you have any farther questions, feel free to ask them.
I am on a Ping three months ago I got the Dexcom G4. The warranty on my Ping was up soon after purchasing the Dexcom, so I debated long and hard about whether to upgrade. In the end, the cost came out the same and I decided that there were no features the Vibe had that the Ping/G4 combo didn’t, so I went with the separate devices and will upgrade pumps when something really good comes along.
I don’t mind carrying two devices around. In fact, I like that the Dexcom is separate so that I can keep it on my nightstand for the alarm to wake me, or so that I can keep it on my desk to check as I work on the computer. I don’t think I would check it nearly as frequently as I do if I had to pull my pump out each time I wanted to look at it.
Also, the Ping has the option of the meter remote, which I don’t currently use, but might prove useful in situations where I’m wearing a dress or something and don’t want to pull my pump out - I’d be able to check the CGM and bolus and check things like IOB without having to reach for the pump.
The one advantage of the Vibe is that you can swim with it while you can’t swim with the G4 receiver. But, from what I’ve read the signal can’t transmit through water, so unless you put the Vibe directly next to the sensor, you won’t get readings while swimming regardless of using the pump.
Did you mean to say wear? Even with the Vibe, you have to wear two devices. The Dexcom sensor is still separate. I just got my pump last month. The Vibe wasn’t an option for me because my insurance hadn’t reached an agreement with Animas on price. Even if I could have gotten the Vibe, I still would have gone with the Ping for the remote. Now that I’ve been using the Ping for a few weeks, there have been times I wished it showed the Dex readout, but the remote has proven its worth. When I wear a dress, I like being able to tuck the pump away in a band around my thigh and bolus with the remote. I’ve also heard that the Dex readout on the Vibe is a little slower to come up when you go to look at it and that the Vibe uses the old software. In addition, maybe not a big deal if you never suspend, but if you do happen to suspend the pump, the Dex communication is also suspended.
EDIT I just realized you might have mean “wear” when referring to the Dex receiver and the pump.
You might want to wait a bit and see if Tandem has an offering. It may not be until 2016 though, but I expect it will use the Dexcom G5 sensor allowing it to communicate via Bluetooth.