I still have 16 months before I get a new pump but I was wondering if I went with a tslim would I get alot of occlusion alarms because my tdd is about 12 units a day. My total basal is 2.65u
There are probably few people with basal that low, but maybe there are some young children in that range. Have you asked Tandem if any of their studies included low basal testing ?
What pump are you using now and which infusion sets? Has it always worked ok with low basal ?
I am using a medtronic 630g with tsure metal infusion set. I have always had a low basal rate. I was interested in the tslim but the cartridge change, the belt clip and the differences in your settings make me think I should not go with tandem. I like the idea of a touchscreen. I hope by February 2021 medtronic will have their bluetooth enabled pump and I will be able to use the dexcom g6. By then maybe all the bugs will be worked out.
You may want to wait till later in 2020, and see if endo or tandem can provide a pump to try.
Low TDD and low basal rates won’t cause occlusion alarms with T-slim.
My 8yo son is on T-slim and has a lower TDD than that. For the first few months he was hardly on any basal at all, off all night and alternating between 0 and 0.1 units/hr through the day. Current basal is similar to what you’re on, and TDD is usually less than 10 units (carb ratio 1:18, on moderately reduced carb diet).
He’s probably only had a handful of occlusion alarms in the nearly 7 months he has had the T-slim, and all of them have been due to bent cannulas.
That’s nice to know. I like the idea of the touchscreen but I have read problems with the clip and how difficult and time consuming the refill process is. I have until February 2021 anyway and I am only reviewing my choices right now. I have read that medtronic is making a bluetooth enabled pump so that it can connect to other cgms like dexcom 6. I have been using dexcom since the g4 was out. I was on an animas vibe but when animas closed they chose medtronic as the company to handle their customers. I was put on a 630g but I didn’t like their enlite sensors. The information it gave you was only an arrow up or down. The taping was complicated. They only went six days with the fifth day it wasn’t accurate, so I switched back to dexcom. I lose the benefit of my pump being able to suspend when low. Medtronic’s launch of this new pump is in April 2020. We’ll see.
I had similar reservations before I got my t.slim x2 in late August. I was pleasantly surprised that there has been a great fix on the clip. They installed a gripping material that really holds. I wear the pump clipped at the waist of my jeans during the daytime and to my PJs at night.
Initially, the cartridge seemed to be quite intricate to change. But having done it through 2 boxes of insets, I now find that it takes me no longer than the cartridge for the Animas Ping. After several changes, I found myself going “on automatic.” It takes me no more than 5 minutes to change a cartridge now.
I haven’t received the Dexcom g6 yet so cannot address that.
If medtronic doesn’t follow through with their new pump I might keep Tandem’s Tslim as one of my options. I do like the idea of the touchscreen and
being able to update the pump from home. Do you have the basaliq update yet? How is it working for you? I am using the Tsure metal insets as I hit veins often. I was using autosoft 90degree plastic cannulas. If you hit a vein with those you have to scrap it. With the tsure I just move it to another spot.
Haven’t used the Basal IQ yet because Dexcom hasn’t sent out the required g6 to Medicare patients yet. I have heard and read that the Basal IQ is awesome. Am anxious to experience it.
My son keeps his pump in a Spi-belt during the day, no clip is ever going to cut it for an active 8-year old. At night or at home he will have it clipped to his shorts or inside a pyjama pocket and hasn’t had a problem with it falling out.
The cartridges are a bit fiddly the first few times, but after that it’s no big deal. Doing a cartridge fill and set change in 5 minutes is no problem.
The Tandem TruSteel infusion set is the same as the T-sure you’re using so no problems staying the same there.
We don’t have G6 available in Australia yet so no Basal IQ. Dexcom integration with the G5 is great, makes it really quick and easy to bolus for meals/corrections. It’s a really simple and intuitive pump to use, my son had no trouble using it from day 1. If you’re considering it, you should download the T-simulator app to your phone and have a play with it.
If you have 16 months before you can get a new pump, I would wait. There are so many new pumps coming and hopefully a few could be ready by your warranty end. Although if there are some that might be longer, there is no reason to not use an out of warranty pump. I have had 5 pumps in 29 years.
I would keep researching and asking questions. Call the different companies for as much info as you can get from them and if possible attend a TCOYD conference. They have a health fair that features all the different companies that make things for people with diabetes. It is great to get to talk with someone from the company one on one. Especially when you can talk with the tech people, not sales people.
I was talking with a tech person at one of these conferences about my old t:slim and how I missed the subtraction feature if sugars were low. He took my name & number and I was part of the study that lead to Tandem being approved to download program changes. And I got that subtraction feature added during that trial!
I am going to see what is available closer to the end of my warranty. I am anxious to get the better technology. I would like my diabetes to be less work and stay in range longer. I can get between 65&75 % on target most weeks. What I am using doesn’t really work for me. I would like the cgm to go through my pump. I love the dexcom cgm. That was 1 reason for me considering the tslim.
D’Etta Meloche
Having been a pump user for about 20 years, I’ve wrestled with the question of how to wear it for a long time. It seems that my earlier pumps had better clips, like the Disetronic D:Tron, the Cosmo, and the Medtronic Paradigm. Later pumps, not so good.
My ultimate solution was a company called PumpWear, Inc. Some of their products are on Amazon, but for the vast mind-boggling array of all their pump carriers, go to their web site. My favorite is the vertical case with two pockets (one for pump and one for meter, DexCom receiver, or M&Ms). A bit expensive (~$35) but mine is still going strong at 12 years of use. I use a single-zipper horizontal pouch on the included belt to sleep in.
Do you have the URL for this site? The ones I found are no longer active.
I found the same thing. It’s possible they may have sold out to some other company or (hopefully not) gone out of business.
Checking my records, I last ordered from them on October 29, 2018, almost exactly one year ago.
I apologize to all for passing along obsolete information. I can say that my second favorite pump belt pouch is by Nite-ize. I’ll try to attach a picture here. This case is secure and fits my t:flex snugly so it should be perfect for the t:slim.
I contacted the owner of PumpWear, Inc. And was told that she had closed that business and started a new business with a similar mission. She noted that she doesn’t have all her products on the web site yet so return visits from time to time might be warranted. Here’s the new URL:
I abandoned the t:slim clip and got a Nite Ize adhesive clip and stuck it directly on the back of the pump. I clip in on my Medic-Alert neck chain when I take a shower. It’s also useful with swim suits and pajama pants.
But most of my pants have an opening to the pocket from the inside. So I can put the pump right in my pocket without running the line over my belt. I tie a rubber band to the line and hook it on the button to the slack in the line from ending up in my pocket. Works great!