I’m looking to upgrade my insulin pump… I currently have an Animas Ping and was looking into the Vibe with CGM integration, however, now I am looking at T-Slim with CGM instead. My biggest pet peeve with the Animas pumps is that I cannot read the pump in daylight or bright interior light. My understanding is that with the T-Slim this is not an issue. Is this correct? Are there any others out there that I should be looking into? I would like to wait for the integration possibly, but I’m not all that sure that it would make that big of a difference.
I’d be curious to hear about people’s recs too. I’m using Omnipod right now but was thinking about a pump with integrated CGM. I hadn’t heard of the t-slim before.
The company is Tandem and they are relatively new… However, they are water proof like the Ping and I recently heard they are expecting to integrate with Dexcom by end of the year or start of 2016. I just hate when I’m out and need to change out my cartridge and can’t because I can’t see the screen. I also hate that the meter only takes One Touch strips which cost over $300/month out of pocket because my insurance won’t cover them. Why are One Touch strips so expensive??? You can’t tell me it costs them that much to make them. It’s ridiculous.
Could insurers possibly be any stupider about strips? They should be sending them in cases and urging us to use more of 'em. I really don’t get it. Well, I do of course. Greed. But not smart greed.
I’m a Snap orphan and had a meeting to look at replacement pump options with my CDE this week. Most likely I’m just going to go back to Microsof–er, Medtronic because I still have my Minimed and it has over a year left on the warranty. So I have to pay out of pocket for anything else (one of the many great things about the Snap was that the actual controller, which I had to pay for, was only a couple hundred bucks; the “pump bodies,” which incorporate the power source, insulin cartridge and pumping mechanics, were largely covered on the pharmaceutical side. Ah well). Anyway T-Slim was the most attractive of the Dexcom-compatible options. It’s a small, cleanly designed little box, a bit heavy because it has a USB rechargeable battery rather than a standard AAA, and the screen is indeed very readable (another thing I really liked about the Snap).
CGM integration isn’t that big a selling point for me personally. I use Dex’s Share to echo the graph to my iPhone and only rarely look at it on the receiver, so being able to view it on my pump wouldn’t be that useful anyway. Having to carry the receiver around isn’t a big deal. But with the T-Slim you’d also have the advantage that the thing itself is more compact and just a neater package all around, so that may play in its favor in terms of using less pocket or purse real estate. For me it had the feel of a smart, user-centered design, which is part of what I appreciated about the Snap as well. If they would JUST go over to pre-filled cartridges I’d be trying to come up with the cash for one somehow.
It would be nice to hear from those who have moved from Medtronic or Animus to one of the newer pumps, especially T slim. My understanding is that there are more steps to changing sets with the T slim but don’t know for sure. At one time I heard the same thing about the Animus (more steps) vs Medtronic.
I like the quickness with which I can change out the Medtronic. I just don’t want it to take longer than 5 minutes which is what it takes me if I have everything lined up right.
I dislike the lack of screen print clarity in low or bright light.
I like the 300 unit reservoir as I use a fair amount of insulin.
Mixed. I didn’t like the idea of tubing with a pump…so Omnipod is my first experience with a pump. That said…I sometimes have problems with bumping it off…like if it’s on the hip on the side I carry my computer bag. I also don’t use alot of insulin. You have to put at least 50 units of insulin into a pod and that has to be changed every 3 days…that’s way more insulin than I use in 3 days (I’m LADA).
It doesn’t have an integrated CGM, but I heard they are working on that.
Customer service at Omnipod is fabulous! I’ve had alot of problems with my new insurance company this year…like an Anthem representative telling me they don’t cover insulin pumps…idiot. Omnipod has always helped me work through all the insurance insanity.
Still…I’m thinking about a CGM and wondering if other options might be less money in terms of supplies with the insurance.
Meant to be clearer about that. I didn’t get a chance to actually take it outside and look, but my impression is that it would be. It looked very similar to my Snap–which I find quite legible in sunlight–in terms of using very contrasty matte colors, large scaling, reflection-resistant screen and so forth.
When the question of potentially “wasting” insulin with the OmniPod came up in another discussion, one response was that all you have to do is pull the remaining insulin out of the old device and inject it into the new one’s reservoir (?). Have you ever considered doing that?
Edit:
I went back and found the discussion where this comment was made and posted the link to it below.
The Medtronic is similarly designed to be linked with a ContourNext meter, which automatically sends test results to the pump. I actually found that a kind of nice convenience when I was using it, but non-essential.
I was a Tandem tSlim user for almost 2 years and moved to the Asante Snap. I was won over by the weight, fast insulin change and easy use. I hated the tSlim’s timely insulin change. Never failed I needed to do it when everyone was waiting on me to go somewhere. I didn’t like the weight either. I only think I really liked about it was it was like and iPhone.
But as of Saturday June 20th I’ve started using the Animas Vibe. It took be about 20 minutes to figure it out, get it programmed and star using. The insulin change is a few steps less overall compared to the tSlim. I like the CGM built in. I’ve been a Dexcom user for many years. And the one thing I’m looking forward to now is when I go running there’s one less thing I have to take with me - the Deccom receiver. I now can use the Vibe as well. So far I’m liking it a lot. I can’t really tell you what Pump would be good for you. Each of us have different tastes in design and functions. For me it was integrated CGM and a painless transition from the SNAP. Good luck in what you decide to do.
I’m not sure I’d consider any of the current lines of pumps an “upgrade” over the other ones. They all do boluses and basals and are all adjustable. Medtronic gets flak, I suppose because they seem to be pushed by many docs, but Johnson & Johnson is the parent company over Animas and they are much larger than Medtronic and thus perhaps more Microsofty than Medtronic, although I guess they may be a sideline at the larger corporate parent which might account for the oddness with Animas’ partnership with Dexcom being sort of laggardly? I went to a demo with the Tslim salesguy. He’s T1 himself and one of my local dinner group had asked him if he’d like a chance to show it off for four of us and 3 showed up but two of them bought it although I didn’t. One has had quite a few problems, 2 failures in a pretty short period of time but the other one seems to like it pretty well. A third person in the group, newly Dx’ed got one too. I have not checked out how legible the screen is in the sun but I’ve always liked that about the Medtronic. I am still using my 523 as I didn’t want one that shut off but I’m sure I’ll have to swap it out one of these days.
I am a big fan of the “one device” arrangement. I’ve always had it and it’s always worked. I’d be intrigued to see if I could do better with a Dexcom, but not enough to go through the hassle of changing it. It was intriguing to see the Dex/ Medtronic and Tslim “dealers” at the Sugar Surfing presentation I went to. None of them were really “selling” their products, just passing out brochures. It’s sort of odd to compare to say buying a car where you can see MPG or more booming system or 0-60 or comfier seats just how uncomfortable it is buying Dproducts.
Why do doctors push Medtronic so much? I noticed that in my former endo’s office. The last time I went to him, he had all the Medtronic brochures in the waiting room, but the other brands in the hallways as you go to the exam rooms. Is it because Medtronic was first in the business? Do the doctors trust Medtronic more than the other companies? A longer standing relationship between physicians and Medtronic? Kickbacks? Inquiring minds would like to know? Yes, I’m a nosy rosy when it comes to this kind of stuff.
My doctor didn’t recommend a thing. The CDE I met with gave me a list that I insurance would pay for and since I’m close to the Medicare Age, she scratch through the ones medicare don’t pay for.
There were too on the list that had integrated CGM’s and I picked one of them. BTW I can’t see the medtronic pump in the sun either and since I can’t see my iphone in the sum, i figured the same would be for the Animas Pump. Anyway, the point is, I chose my own pump with no input from the doctor.
Growing up surrounded by medical providers, and seeing firsthand how manufacturers and drug companies sell their product, I get the impression that the doctors are more likely to push Medtronic just because the Medtronic has been around longer and their reps have been courting them for much longer and have really established strong networks with the providers… Which is their job, so I think they’ve just done it well
Exactly! I’m also Snap orphan, and was on a Medtronic for 2 years before that. Other than the tSlim part, your comment describes my chief reason for changing to the Snap perfectly. I liked the tSlim when I had a session with my DBE to look at the alternatives after Asante went bust, but that was mostly about the interface design. I didn’t really get into what the insulin change process was though I could see it was a bit involved. That could definitely be a down-check for me.
With all of them of course you have the problem of waiting for the insulin vial to warm up for twenty minutes when you’ve just had your “low reservoir” alert go off just when you need to get out the door if you’re going to get to work on time. Because none of them have gone to using prefilled cartridges, which was at the core of the Snap design.
That makes sense. Basically they have established a strong, old school network with the doctors. Therefore, the doctors trust their products. They aren’t a ‘fly by night’ company–here today, gone tomorrow.
