I am torn. My Ping warranty is up in May and I had been set on a new Vibe. I have been using Decom with my Ping. I recently have been reading about the Minimed 640g available outside the US. As I still battle lows this new pump sounds almost too good to be true. I am considering getting a Minimed 530 with Enlite in the hopes of upgrading to the 640g once available. My research tells me that the Dexcom sensor is superior to the Enlite so I am not sure. Has anyone heard if Animas (or T:slim for that matter) is working on a pump with a basal suspend feature like the Minimed? I guess I am looking two steps down the road. My only issue with the Animas to date is not being able to see the screen out of doors. Has anyone switched from Minimed with Enlite to Animas with Dexcom? If so, why?
I talked to an Animas rep in February who said that the next version of the Vibe will have basal suspend as well as increase basal rates when running high (basically the basal rates will be automated). He said it would be a couple of years before it's available, though.
I switched about 15 months ago. My pump is funded by the NHS but I self-fund CGM. My old MM522 was out of warranty and when I did the calculations the costs of the Dexcom worked out at about half the annual cost of the MM system. This is because a Dexcom G4 will typically last for 2-3 weeks whereas the maximum for an Enlite is around 8 days.
If I were offered the opportunity to choose again, there is NO WAY I would go back to the Enlite even discounting the economics. The Dexcom sensors are much more accurate and reliable. I think the basal suspend feature on the Veo/530G is a bit of a red herring. Most people seem to have it switched off, mainly because the sensors aren't accurate enough and there are too many false alarms. The new MM 640G offers predictive basal shutoff, which seems like a great step forward. However, unless MM substantially improves the accuracy of their sensors, in practice it isn't go to be that useful.
Thanks Jen. It sounds like I will go the Animas Route and look to upgrade when those become available. The suspend feature seems quite attractive as my levels drop very quickly. I have a cgm and a diabetic alert dog as I travel for work. Between the two I catch most lows but a 45 still sneaks in once in a while.
I have a Ping and have been using the Dexcom for six weeks now. It's been life-changing. I never would have felt comfortable letting myself run at 70-80 for hours before, but I'm able to now. I check my CGM often when I'm awake so I've been able to head off some lows before they even happen, but having the alarms is definitely helpful for overnight. I've had a few nights where I've had to treat 3-4 lows that, previously, I think would have just been one massive low of 40 when I finally woke up!
A little birdie told me that MM is trialing (or about to trial) a 3rd gen sensor that is somehow optical. I've no info on it, but it came from a MM employee.
