My reason was to stretch my small supply of luer-lock cartridges because I detest the infusion sets that Tandem supplies with their proprietary t:lock connection.
[rant] I understand that Tandem needed to switch to a proprietary connection to capture enough profits from pump supplies to survive while under severe threat of business failure during Medtronic’s attack via the UnitedHealthcare exclusionary deal. But Tandem is financially healthy now, and to me it now seems that their continued statement of “patient choice matters” is clearly hypocritical as they continue to provide an extremely narrow selection of infusion sets over which they maintain proprietary control so as to capture all the sales for themselves. [/rant]
Why? I would always just disconnect, insert a new infusion set, and reconnect. But then, I always filled cartridges with 300u and changed them independently from infusion set changes.
It’s interesting to hear that you got cartridges bursting. Maybe it was different for me because I started with an “empty” 300u cartridge and filled it with 300u, so there never was a significant overpressure situation. I don’t know what would have happened if I had a cartridge with 150u in it and I tried to add 160u.
It’s the clear horizontal cylinder at the top of this photo (not my photo, I just found it on the internet). If you look at the left middle of the clear cylinder you can see the black plunger. The insulin pump shuttles this plunger left and right, each time forcing a microdose of insulin out the tube at the top.
Why refill a cartridge instead of changing the infusion set? I have a carb to insulin ratio of around 2.5 to 1. That means that 300 ml of U100 insulin lasts me around 24 hours. Even after switching to U200, I only get around 48 hours before the cartridge is empty or I have leakage at the infusion set site(This happens a lot to me). Infusion sets are like gold to me so I make them last as long as possible. So regardless of if I try to refill a partially full cartridge or fill a new one, I would never mix a partially full cartridge with a new infusion set.
The last cartridge that burst was yesterday and although it was used, it was completely empty. Of course, I have only used the TLock style and have no experience with the Lour-Lock. Maybe that makes a difference.
I can’t see how a Luer vs a t:lock connector would affect the plastic bag’s burst characteristics.
I hope that your Solara order shows up today. Even if it does. it sounds as if you now have one more box of infusion sets than you have cartridges.
Because I periodically “scrape off” an infusion set and also tend to get at least 3 1/2 days out of an infusion set, I’m pretty certain that I have a spare, unopened set of cartridges sitting in CA (I’m in NM at the moment).
I will be returning to CA on about DEC 3, and can send a box to you then.
If that would help “balance” you supplies, just PM (don’t post it on the Public part of this forum) and I will ship you that box. Or, I can PM you my email address and you can send me your mailing address that way.
I don’t see how either. I just know that I have had insulin leak out the bottom when refilling them.
My order did show up. Solara shipped first thing this morning and it arrived before I got home from work. The current crisis has ended.
12 days wasn’t even the worse experience I’ve had with Solara. They once took 20 days to ship Dexcom G6 sensors. They kept saying that my insurance company had to send some time of verification and my insurance company kept saying that they didn’t need to verify anything because everything was good to go on their end. I finally got ahold of a woman at my insurance company who was also a diabtic and said she goes through the same issues with Solara and gave me a number to have Solara call.
@bkh, @churcr I regularly reuse cartridges for 2 or 3 fills. It helps me use all the insulin and build up my stash. I do however purge air every time to ensure no\minimal bubbles in the line
About two weeks ago, I called and ordered “out of pocket” an extra box of cartridges and infusions sets. It didn’t cost me as much as I thought it would. I just got sick and tired of stressing out over whether I would get my 90 day supply in time when needed. Peace of mind is so important in reducing STRESS. We have enough to worry about. You might want to consider this.
@elver I will try to start reusing the cartridges and see how it goes. @Patty that sounds like a good idea but am unsure if I can afford it. Solara currently charges $865 for 2 boxes of cartridges and infusion sets. After that my insurance cuts this number in half with participator savings. I’m charged 20% of the resulting cost which is $88. The total cost without insurance is around $350. Cut that in half for 1 box of each is still $175 and I suspect that the participator savings wouldn’t be applied, leaving me at half of $865. Maybe if I ordered direct from Tandem, it would be different.
I was advised by my supplier, Byram Healthcare to order directly from Tandem the manufacturer, as it would be cheaper. I appreciated them telling me this.
When I looked into Tandem @Patty and @MM2, they said I would need to go to a DME company for the pump and supplies. So, Tandem did not support the Blues I’m insured with. OmniPod is now through my pharmacy benefits, as is Dexcom. A huge savings on both!
I was paying cash to just so I could have extra supplies on hand. Sometimes my pump set needs changed in 2 days instead of 3. Not sure what makes the difference.
I’m in the same situation @Tapestry but not sure if it is Tandem or my insurance company. Either way, @Patty is talking about buying the supplies out of pocket with no insurance. Tandem should sell to you then but am uncertain of the pricing. @Patty your set change depends on how many carbs you consume and how fast you use your insulin. I’d love to get 3 days out of a pump set. When I was using U100, I was lucky to get 24 hours. Now that I’ve changed to U200, I can get +/- 2 days but a Tandem rep told me that U200 has not been approved for use in their pump and may disable the warranty.
I have such a high insulin to carb ratio (2-3 to 1) that my set often starts leaking before the 300ml is exhausted. I’ve called Tandem about this and although I don’t see how they can fix it, they did send me 2 boxes of infusions sets because it has happened 41 times in 2020.
Strange how the pricing through a DME company is so extravgently high and yet Tandem can afford to give away free supplies just for telling them you have a problem.
For our Tandem sets, we have a 2 day prescription and only sometimes do the sets last three days. The problem for us is poor absorption on day 3. So when we order them the math is done on every other day set changes. It also impacts the amount of insulin we are prescribed because of the tubing fills.
I started Tandem this year, and could find only one supplier that covered it for my insurance. I also discovered the infusion sets/cartridge for tandem is costing me 3 times more compared to my Medtronic pump quicksets+reservoirs.
Not sure. But 1.8 Medtronic reservoir is pretty straight forward compared to Tandem contraption, with 3 parts to it.
And Medtronic Quick-sets had a one-time purchase inserter device not built in to each set, so much more parts and waste for autosoft XC. And may be higher volume/competition for supplies of Medtronic that keeps cost lower.
I had only one choice of dme provider for Tandem, for my insurance, but cost determined by insurance. Met max oop with pump order, so hoping to squeeze in another order by 12/29 !
I had Medtronics for a while and agree that the infusion set and reservoirs were much better designed. Especially the reservoirs. Seems like Tandem wastes a lot of insulin with their system. And my insurance let me buy direct from Medtronic versus having to buy from a DME supplier for Tandem.
With that said, Tandem has much better software and features on its pump and the ability to pair up with a Dexcom G6 was the winning choice. Medronics only paired up with its own CGM which, 3 years ago, was not very reliable. Perhaps this has changed.
Plus now with the software upgrade to Control IQ just makes Tandem the logical choice despite the infusion set/reservoir issues. Hopefully Tandem will improve on this in the future.
As far as price goes, Tamdem supplies are less than Medtronics for my insurance.
