Why aren’t we trying the Omnipod 5? We can revert back if we don’t love it? Is it free to test it out? Is this a $-thing? Are we scared-y cats? Aren’t we curious about the current state of development? I’ve never seen us so tech-shy.
I asked them this question (sparked by Dee asking questions)…
If Insulet Corporation really wanted to speed adoption, they would gift the Omnipod 5 system to a bunch of advanced users on TuDiabetes (without a 5 year contract and the ability to revert back to the old system) and allow us to run wild with it. Given slow adoption of automated systems and their somewhat ‘spotty’ reviews, I have no understanding of why they don’t extend this offer. Let’s test drive this beast. Lets see what software can do, given trusted hardware. It’s hard to imagine a more productive PR or technical partnership. Given the contributions of the patient community, this feels like a natural next step. Django Django - Default (Official Video) - YouTube
Omnipod writes this response…
Hi XXX, Thanks for your feedback, we will relay your request to the team. Omnipod DASH® and Omnipod® 5 are available through the pharmacy channel. So, there is no risk, long-term commitment or technology lock-in period, enabling many users to start or switch to the Omnipod 5 System at any time regardless of an existing durable medical equipment (DME) contract, even if they are on a tubed pump.
I suspect some of the reason that tightly-controlled techie types aren’t all that interested in the Omnipod5 is that it’s not configurable. Oh, maybe a little in manual mode but even there the target blood glucose is 110. When you look at auto mode it’s a pretty simple and locked-down algorithm. I’ve only been on it a month but I can see where being nimble and responding to short periods of illness, travel variances or even week-long dietary excursions (Thanksgiving through New Years, cough, cough) would be challenging in auto mode. It only adjusts, pod to pod, so three days of collecting data before you’d see any significant change in insulin dosing. Hands-down, it’s not for anyone who has success with DIY systems. I’m not a techie but I like new things and problem-solving so I’m trying out the Omnipod5 to see what it’s all about. True techies would be frustrated and bored with it in a hot minute.
My sister had been using the original Pods for a number of years. She was diagnosed as an adult, in her 40s, and still doesn’t really understand diabetes and technology after 10 years with it. She just got the OmniPod5. I was visiting her the past week for Christmas and when her pod expired she wanted to start on the 5. I took her old PDM and transferred her settings although I did change one thing (AIT, it was set for 2 hours for some reason on her old PDM).
While her numbers with her first pod wouldn’t make me happy, she is thrilled. She had a tendency to run high, A1c of 8+. I think this system is great for people like her who are afraid of lows and are happy if they’re running at the higher end of the 70-180 range.
My sister has never crb counted and has just boluses manually. I don’t think that will change on the 5 but I’m hoping it will help her to avoid any really highs and avoid lows that will scare her off the system.
I mean, I aint gonna run no a1c = 8, but if you can immediately revert back into manual mode? eh? Still…no takers? Its almost as if the mere existence of the automated functionality is a ‘thumbs down’? I’m talking through this with myself because I haven’t thought about it in a while…and sometimes people ask me.
Part of the answer is “trying” the Omnipod 5 is not a one pod or even one week trial. It took me a few months of trial and error before I was comfortable with “Auto mode” 100% of the time. In the meantime I was using it mostly just like a dash, on Manual. Eventually I bit the bullet and stayed on Auto Mode 100% of the time but only because I am stubborn. Many people are not patient enough (or have lots of other things going on) to deal with all the BG snafus occurring during that trial period. I think Insulet’s marketing department failed to understand today’s consumer…
My CDE asked me if I wanted it, just this week. Now I have a lot going on. Husband with cancer, numerous appointments and expenses and things. I read Gary Scheiner’s review and said, um no. I am very insulin sensitive. One unit usually drops me 200 points. Maybe it would help with that? I don’t know. But I don’t like the things he stated about what it does and doesn’t do. For now, I have a huge stash of the old style pods and one extra new PDM. No, not for me!
I am actually interested in trying it but mainly because I want to see if I like a patch pump. I’m currently using a Medtronic 770. The Guardian sensors actually work extremely well for me but I wasn’t fond of auto mode. From everything I’ve read it seems like the OmniPod algorithm is similar to Medtronic’s so I doubt I’d like it. But tubeless while on vacation sounds very tempting and as a pharmacy benefit there’s no long term commitment. My Medtronic went out of warranty in September and before spending thousands on a new pump I think I’d like to give OmniPod and Dexcom a try. I use my Medtronic in manual mode so using OmniPod in manual wouldn’t be a big deal.
Interesting, about manual mode. I’m actually quite smitten with it at this point. I’m extending almost every bolus and the 4-8 am basal bump means I wake every morning at 90 all without tubes and without needing six injections a day. There is nothing about it that I don’t like. Nada. So, in two weeks (six weeks total in manual mode) I’ll turn on auto-mode and give it a try, but unless it dazzles I’ll be very happy in manual mode.
I also extend most of my boluses and you can’t do that in auto mode on both OmniPod5 and Medtronic. I believe it is possible with Tandem while using Control IQ but I’m not sure. Tandem is the pump I am most interested in trying.
Tandem makes a great pump and I was on them for seven years. Every few years something would go wrong and I’d need a new pump but the delivery was expedited and migrating to the new one was effortless. Unlike what will happen with a failed Omnipod 5 controller where the auto mode “learning” starts from scratch. The algorithm was transparent and easy to work with except I had an issue with the hard-wired 5-hour duration of insulin action in CIQ. Tandem calculates insulin’s decay over a linear 5 hours and I clear drugs much faster than that. To get around this I had to jack up settings elsewhere to compensate and if I lost the Dexcom connection it would kick me out of CIQ and into manual mode where those settings would give me too much insulin. I was also getting irritated by the tubing especially in the summer or on vacation when beaches/boats were involved. Yeah, I’m entitled. But it’s really a great pump with terrific technical support. My Tandem pump’s warranty ends in July so by then I should know if the OmniPod will be a good fit.
That’s a really useful, concise review (in line with other reviews). Happy New Year, btw, @mremmers
Can we talk about tubed pumps a little?
I know that Tandem is superior to MT. I know that Tandem has the most sophisticated algorithm.
2 issues here:
1.) The old people were telling me at dinner last night about being stuck out in North Dakota many years ago when the temps fell to -100 (with wind chill). I have a fear of tubes freezing because that used to happen to me working outside here and MT didn’t trigger any alarms (back in the day). That can happen really quick in this environment.
2.) A larger, more general concern is that we get these studies published and problems are believed to exist. But then there are never any studies published in response to give us the ‘all clear’ and verify that those problems have been fixed. Two examples cited here:
It was cold and I never had an issue . Of course the tubing is kept inside my jacketI hiked on an Alaskan glacier for 8 hours of course my tubing is in my jacket. I think if I was subject to neg100 degrees,I would be dead from cold not lack of insulin
If you work outside in the cold with regularlity, you become aware that if the tubing becomes exposed, for any length of time, it will freeze solid. Its a very small, delicate volume of fluid. A tubed pump has different risks that a non-tubed pump. Its inherently more delicate. I’ve seen them freeze tons of times. How you know, for sure, is you can easily break the tubing in half (because the plastic becomes very brittle), and a small tube of ice slides out of it, like a worm. It can happen in minutes, depending on the temp. A 20 oz pop might take a couple hours, but that tiny bit of fluid can freeze quickly.
If I’m spending any time outdoors in the cold, I use the pump pouch which is like a money belt, it’s cinched tight to my belly and under my shirt /sweater/ jacket and with all of the tubing tucked in.
I’ve been out skiing, snowshoeing, etc at -15 degrees for hours with no freeze up. On the other hand I went for a walk with the pump in my pants pocket and the pump started beeping, complaining that it was cold!
My reasons are clearly different than others here but I tried omnipod five or six years ago and my experience with the company itself (Customer Help, tech support and Nurse) were all so bad, I wouldn’t even consider it again.
