The Pump
Options
Replies
-
My soon to be 7 yr old son wears the omnipod along with a dexcom sensor and we love it. Poor kid use to get 6-10 injections a day and never complain! Here are a few of the positives and negatives I've noticed with the omnipod ( and by the way I'm a nurse too). F
Positive-
-You can stick it anywhere and it very seldomly comes off and this is with a active kid wearing it!
-His hgb A1c has been in the normal range since he has been wearing for over a yr now.
- I can't imagine having tubes. He'd be tangled up and dropping the pump all the time. Also can wear with any clothing.
-up front cost is much cheaper than other pumps and I have never had any problems with ordering supplies or having the company replace defective pods.
-self insertion is a breeze to do and everything is contained inside the pod itself, creating a barrier over the catheter and the site.
-waterproof
Negative-
-He runs high almost with every new insertion. From what I've heard and in his case it actually take awhile for the catheter to acclomate in the tissue. We keep his old one on for awhile even after inserting a new one and give him a small bolus prior to changing it.
-The old site is quite tacky and sticky but a product called Detachol removes all of the excess with ease but can be hard on sensitive skin.
-This pump only offers basal rates to be set in 0.05 increments so if you need smaller than that you might have trouble
-if you need more than 60 units a day you will need to change the pod more often.
I tried to make this more relative to adult wearers but did not a specific details that are more kid related
.
With regard to the highs after the site change: With minimed pumps, you "prime" the infusion set after the change. Depending on the length of the catheter, the prime amount is generally .5 to 1.0. I've never had any issues with highs after a site change, but if Omnipod doesn't have that priming function, that could be the issue.
The Omnipod does prime each pod before it prompts you to stick it to your skin and set the cannula. We have never had a pattern of highs after a pod change either but I'm sure everyone is different- maybe something to do with a younger person has a lower basal rate and therefor less insulin pumping?
It could be age.
The priming I'm talking about with minimed comes after it is inserted under the skin. There is a prime prior to insertion, but another after.0 -
I love my omnipod. I had quite a few problems with it at first but two years later it's great. When it comes to jewlery I always needed hypoallergenic. So the adhesive on the pumps also bothers my skin. I use a skin barrier and works pretty well; you might need that or medical tape. I do knock mine off occasionally but it doesn't hurt.. the medical tape should fix that. Always carry extra batteries with you. Although I've noticed that with mine I have to plug it into the computer to change the batteries or lose all my testing data.
I had an animas pump about 6 years ago and had allergic reactions to the adhesive on the insertion site. I'm getting the omnipod soon and was worried this would be an issue again (though I have the dexcom and that adhesive hasn't bothered me). What skin barrier do you use and where did you find it? I would love to get some!0 -
Hello i had the omni pod while i was pregnant a year and a half ago. it worked great the only thing was that i had to move my sites to my arms or legs instead of in my stomach it hurt to bad for me. Now i'm on the mini med that isn't tubeless and this one is harder to keep in for me. i always get the tube wrapped around something and it pulls out. The omni pod also has a carb wizard in it and i really miss that because if i went to a birthday and i had something that i didnt know the carbs too i could look it up in the carb wizard which is easier for me too.0
-
I hope I get my call. I've tried previously on medicaid and was denied. We are trying again since I have many more health issues. I'm trying for the T-Slim, I like the color touch screen because of vision issues and the tubes don't bother me. Make sure you let us know how you like it when you get it going! And Congratulations!
Jenn0
