OmniPod
maegan0205
Posts: 40
I have noticed that some of you all use or have children who use the OmniPod insulin pump. I currently use the Medtronic MiniMed Paradigm 722. Out of curiosity I just went and did some reading on the OmniPod and I must say at face value it looks amazing. No tubes or wires to worry with! So, for those of you who use this model can you give me some feedback? Pros/Cons?
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I have noticed that some of you all use or have children who use the OmniPod insulin pump. I currently use the Medtronic MiniMed Paradigm 722. Out of curiosity I just went and did some reading on the OmniPod and I must say at face value it looks amazing. No tubes or wires to worry with! So, for those of you who use this model can you give me some feedback? Pros/Cons?
I am an omnipod user and I have been using it now for about 5 months or so. I absolutely love it. A big pro is that the pod you wear on you is waterproof up to around 40ish feet of water for an hour. I am not a swimmer but I do know someone that just uses vetwrap over it and they can swim with it. I like the fact you can take a shower with it tho. I dont know about the other pumps out there but this one you can print out trend reports- of your blood sugars, carb history, and insulin history. It has helped my doctors & I quite a bit. You can also check your blood sugar right on the machine, so you dont have to carry a blood glucose montior with you like some of the other ones. The only con I can really think of is I did have a few pods go bad on the first day of wearing them. I think I maybe had 2 or 3 like that in a 3 months supply. I contacted the manufactuer though and they sent me replacements for free though, so they were great about it. You will want to check with your insurance company though and see what your cost would be before switching, if you choose to do so. I am lucky and have great insurance. They paid 100% for the control (PDM) and they also pay 100% for the pods you switch every 3 days. 3 month supply for the pods- they paid almost $800, So... if you don't have great insurance, that would probably be a very big con
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Thanks for the info. That seems to be the biggest complaint that I have read about are the defective pods. Everyone also says they are great about replacing them though, so it doesn't seem to be a huge deal. Thankfully I do have amazing insurance. I didn't have to pay anything for my last pump and don't have to pay for the supplies either. I have an appointment with my Endo next month, so I think I will ask her opinion on the Omnipod vs. Medtronic and go from there. I did submit the paperwork to see if my insurance will cover the cost, but I am pretty sure it will as I think they will cover a new one every three years. I am just going to do some more research, but the Omnipod sounds amazing so far.0
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Hi there Meagan - I was a Minimed 722 user for a number of years and switched to OmniPod about 2 yrs ago. I really love being tubeless now, but there were definitely some hiccups in the beginning. Primarily:
-Omnipod doesn't do too well for me with large boluses (>6 units) and is much more likely than my 722 to develop occlusions when giving large ones. (This is no longer a frequent problem for me since losing weight and eating more reasonable carb amounts!)
-Adhesive is much greater on the pod than my old 722 quicksets, since it needs it to remain attached to the skin, and can be rather painful if you just try to peel them off. Got a rash at the first few pod sites where I did this! Best way to avoid trouble is to remove by rubbing first with cotton ball soaked with acetone nail polish remover (non-acetone won't work).
-Automatic canula insertion of pod is a bit more painful than quickset, which I found painless most of the time. Not a dealbreaker, but a minor irritation.
I'm glad that you've got great insurance to cover your pump and supplies! My coverage has changed this year from an HMO (which covered it all like yours) to a high deductible "consumer driven" health plan which covers half only after the huge deductible has been met. Oh well!
All that being said, I'm much happier being tubeless, and am hoping you will be, too. Cheers!0 -
I have noticed that some of you all use or have children who use the OmniPod insulin pump. I currently use the Medtronic MiniMed Paradigm 722. Out of curiosity I just went and did some reading on the OmniPod and I must say at face value it looks amazing. No tubes or wires to worry with! So, for those of you who use this model can you give me some feedback? Pros/Cons?
My daughter uses the Omnipod- it's the only pump we have ever used so don't really have much to compare it to. She is an active kid into dance and sports and swimming and for the most part the pods do really well for her. The only place we have ever had a problem with them coming loose is at water parks but we just wrap her pod/arm in vet wrap and it's good to go.
It was a bit of a fight to get our insurance company to cover them- they tried to steer us toward a regular style pump I think because with the regular style the pump itself is a huge up front cost and then after that the supplies are minimal. With the Omnipod the upfront cost is a lot less but the ongoing monthly 'durable medical costs' or whatever the Ins co labeled it is more. But once we got the right people talking everything went through just fine.-Adhesive is much greater on the pod than my old 722 quicksets, since it needs it to remain attached to the skin, and can be rather painful if you just try to peel them off. Got a rash at the first few pod sites where I did this! Best way to avoid trouble is to remove by rubbing first with cotton ball soaked with acetone nail polish remover (non-acetone won't work).
We found these Uni-Solve Adhesive Removers wipes for like $7 per box of 50 which are amazing- just wipe around the cloth part of the pod and give it a few minutes and they pull right off. They are great and easy to put a couple in the pouch with her other supplies.
http://www.americandiabeteswholesale.com/product/smith-nephew-uni-solve-adhesive-remover_1176.htm?source=SiteSearch0 -
My son's been on the pod since age 5, he's 10 now.
It's really a great product, and it's inexpensive to try - the PDM costs $400 retail and a box of 10 pods is ~$250 under contract. If you try a tubed pump and don't like it, you're out $6000! So it's a no-brainer to try. Insulet occasionally runs specials ("Cut The Cord") for pump users, where's it's even cheaper than that.
My son's doctor tried to push us to minimed, but we stood our ground. My son wound up being the first OmniPod user in their practice (which is a big one, in Worcester). Once I said that I wanted to try it, and that it was cheap to try, and if it didn't work we could go to the MM, she signed off.0 -
I am just now celebrating my 5 year anniversary with Omni Pod In the 5 years the pump has improved a lot. At first 1/3 of my pumps would have problems and it was incredibly frustrating. Now I would say less than 10% (maybe 1-2 out of 20) of my pods have problems (and half the time it is my fault for hitting or or putting it in an area with a lot of scar tissue). As someone said before me, customer service is GREAT. They are so patient and friendly. I once called with 7 pods to report (during college- I was a pain and waited until I got home to call) and they were very understanding and willing to help. They've worked on the PDM and they will be releasing a new SMALLER pod to wear! I haven't complained much about the size of the pod, but with it being smaller, I have a smaller chance of knocking it off now.
I honestly cannot tell you the positive effects this pump has had on my life. I could have never gone on a pump with tubing (still don't think I could). It gives you a lot of freedom! I would definitely look into it and try ordering around March when the new pods are released. Best of Luck 0 -
I had a medtronic pump years ago and I HATED it! I felt like I smelled like insulin all the time and the tubing would drive me so crazy. I started on the Omnipod about a month ago and I really like it. I'm still getting used to it so I am a little paranoid about it sticking out of my clothes. I went skiing last weekend and this little boy was like "WHATS THAT POKING OUT OF YOUR ARM?!?!?!!" haha
I found this stuff at Walmart called "De-Solv'It" by Citrus Solutions, 100 percent Organic, 8 bucks for a pretty nice size bottle. I squirt some on a q tip and my husband puts that on the adhesive when I am ready to change my pod. I let that sit for about 3 or 4 minutes and it comes right off no problem. Without this stuff it hurt coming off.
I have had no problems so far. My blood sugars are stable now, I was on lantus for years and I was tired of the roller coasters. My husband is military so tricare pays 100 percent for any military folk out there wondering, no copays or anything. Of course my endo had to prove that my blood sugars werent great.0
