Hey all, I just got diagnosed a few weeks ago and am looking at pumps. I wanted to know, when you say that you remove your pump to go swimming, are you saying that you disconnect the pump from the infusion set, or actually removing the infusion set from your body?
I’m torn between the omnipod and the animas ping. I’ve heard good and bad about the omnipod, and I want it to be awesome all around because I like the tubeless aspect. However, I like how much smaller the regular infusion set is for the tubed pumps. So I can’t decide. I haven’t gotten a chance to see either in person though, so I’m definitely waiting on that before I make a decision.
Swimmers, which pump do you prefer? I’m a beach lover, so I want to keep that in mind when choosing!
To “remove your pump” during swimming means to disconnect the tubing from the infusion set… the infusion set stays on you.
I have the Omnipod (and love it, of course). It’s been very nice to be able to shower, swim, go in hot tubs with it, etc. I understand the benefits of a Ping, though… so I don’t think it’s a clear-cut win.
Each pump has its advantages and its disadvantages and you have to choose the features that you want on your pump. I would contact all the pump companies and not limit yourself just to 2 choices.
Also, get yourself a copy of Pumping Insulin by John Walsh - only available at Amazon. Well worth the cost. Answers a lot about pumping
Cool, thanks for the replies! I have “Pumping Insulin” but I haven’t gotten all the way through it yet. I’m still deciding between omnipod, animas ping, and minimed. I am just afraid of picking one and not liking it! How hard is it to change insulin pumps? Do any of the pump companies allow you a return period? I don’t want to be stuck with one I end up not liking.
I tried a dummy pod earlier this week, and I got the waistband of my pants caught on it and pulled it halfway off, and I’m pretty sure if it had been a real pod with a cannula in me, I would have screwed it up.
Hi knittykat. It’s not unusual to lose the dummy pod. Mine lasted a couple of hours before I ripped it off on accident. I’ve ripped off a couple of pods since going live with the Omnipod system. There is a period of adjustment but I’ve had the pod for almost thee months and haven’t lost one to an accident in almost 2 months.
I can’t answer your question about a return period for pumps but I’m sure the reps for the different companies could.
Good luck!!
I am a resent convert from shots to a Pump and I went with the OmniPod for the Tubelessness and waterproof ability. Absolutly love it! Pods do get torn off, but it is part of life, you deal with it and put a new one on.
I know many Pump companies will let you Demo their pumps for a week or two.
Well I think that you have to keep in mind that the sticky part that goes in your body, that supprts the infusion wether it’s pod or not falls off if in water too long. I had that experience today with my daughter, we changed sight yesturday and went to the beach today and had to change sight due to the sticky part no longer sticking even with tegaderm on.
I’m back! And I still don’t have a pump because I’m THAT indecisive. I have realized that I am leaning more toward the tubed pump because of a few of the features the pod doesn’t have (disconnectibility, funky IOB features, hear you shouldn’t go in hot tubs with them). I’m kind of vain and like my bikini’d summers, and don’t want little pod tans…
Anyway, I had a minimed rep tell me that the whole reason MM says their pumps are only splash resistant is because they don’t want people spending time in the water IN CASE their pump has a tiny crack in it somewhere. As in, it’s a liability thing, and not entirely accurate–they ARE waterproof, but they don’t want to push it. I am weary of this advice, since it came from just one person, and not from MM itself. Does anyone know how accurate this is? Have you dunked a MM pump and come out okay, or accidentally worn it in the pool or something?
My other question: to what extent does disconnecting for an hour affect your blood sugar? What do you have to do to prevent (or correct) blood sugar problems?
I’ve heard that as well about the “waterproof” claim. I haven’t dunked my pump, though I have splashed water on it, and have rinsed it off under the faucet. The only water-related problem I’ve had, firsthand, is at the beach (from your profile pic, I imagine you go there often). After a day of wading in the water (just my legs, not to where my pump was except for waves and other splashes), I found tiny grains of sand stuck in the little crevices of the pump. These “crevices” are purely cosmetic features and no sand got in the operating portion, but I needed a toothpick to get it out!
I’ll disconnect to swim… maybe for up to an hour (sometimes more, if I’ve eaten earlier and have an amount of active insulin on board). I just check my blood sugar more often – sometimes with the CGM, sometimes fingerstick – to make sure I don’t get too high or low. More often than not, the reason I’m disconnecting is for higher bursts of exercise so I do fine. But after an hour or two, I’d suggest reconnecting momentarily and giving yourself some basal insulin (half, or total of the amount you missed), just so you don’t go into DKA, and checking your blood sugar so you don’t go low.
I love my ping for water aspect. I have a pool. I throw on my suit tuck in my ping n dive in almost everyday. If I accidentally fall in the water? no big deal. I dive, play with kids even my big black labs in the pool and never a problem never a leak. I’m ok with the tube. I also have read the I’m iPod is harder to sleep in. See the animas group there’s a post about omnipod and ping.
The minimed pumps are NOT waterproof. I wore mine in a pool by mistake for under 3 minutes and it completely shut down. It didn't start working at all for over 3 days of drying out. Luckily I had a spare pump which Medtronic supplies under their travel plan or I would have been in trouble.
We picked the Animas Ping, it's water proof and when you disconect it's easy to put back on. My daughter showers with it and goes to the pool and the beach with it and doesn't take it off. We live in Miami so imagine beach all the time.
Awesome, I love Miami! I'm getting my ping on Friday :D
I got started on the Omnipod a few weeks ago and my advice is this: get a bunch of dummy pods and wear them for a long period of time, switching up the sites and such, because I thought it was great (I wore one dummy pod for 3 days) and now it's getting to be bothersome. It's a really expensive piece of equipment and I don't think my insurance company will work with me to get a different pump so the best thing you can do is make sure you can deal with it for... well basically forever.