I am getting things lined up to start Omnipod next week. When I opened the shipment from Omnipod, I found an invitation to start using the Glooko app to log activity, usage of Omnipod, CGM, BG meter, etc. I have never used this app before but coincidentally I had been thinking of starting Nightscout (?) to allow me to print/share data and reports from the Spike app (which I use for Dexcom). Starting off the Glooko app has so far been sort of painful…the sync function seems to move at a snails pace. Also, all it seems to pull from Apple Health for “activity” is daily steps. Trying to get something going during my last week of MDI so I have something to show the trainer to help with pump settings.
Questions: Has anybody used the Glooko app? Do you recommend bothering with settings and all to get Glooko going or would I have a more robust setup if I dive into my wife’s Mac and gin up a way to share/report from Spike app?
When we were using the PDM we did utilize Glooko because the data was easy to read, analyze, charts and such were great. Plus, most Endo offices use Glooko as one of, or the, sources of data that they can upload and view. We loop now so Glooko doesn’t work for us but pre-loop Glooko was definitely a great app.
Search these forums for the term Glooko and you’ll find quite a bit of discussion around the app.
To be honest I am not sure why/ how I decided to strap on the pods for a test drive… I started the process in early Nov with a visit to a CDE just to look at different pumps, ask some questions. Got my info to Insulet, requesting the Dash. Coincidentally late December was an MDI minefield for me (caused by holiday food + sloth) with lots of basal adjustments, bolus corrections, etc. Those weeks seemed to validate my decision to try pumping, hopefully to have more insulin basal/bolus flexibility when needed. That’s my #1 goal right now.
My insurance denied the Dash but pretty quickly authorized the “old” Omnipod. Now things are moving forward with an appt. on 1/14 with the trainer to start the new setup! I am pretty jazzed about it and will try to find the time to get a thread going…it is almost guaranteed I will have lots of questions as we get rolling.
I definitely like the old one! The builtin BG meter, and the one-button unlock instead of the 4-6 touchscreen buttons to unlock. Using the old PDM I can take insulin without looking. Can’t do that with a touchscreen!
I am excited to hear about it for hockey! It will take some dialing in, but you can do so much with it. Adjustable basal pre-game and during games, super-easy boluses mid-game when you are in the penalty box.
And also post game, during your sleep you may find a reduced basal is helpful. Lots of awesome things you can do with it.
I am looking forward to hearing about it. And definitely willing to give feedback if you would like.
Looping is hopefully in my future…at least as I view the Omnipod through these rose colored glasses. My first goal with the pods is to avoid those panicky screech alarms I’ve read about. If I can master that I plan to get looping going.
Not to hijack my Glooko thread, but I have been on a pretty decent upward trajectory on the rink lately. And I recently discovered there are only 5 players older than me in my league!
When I decided to test drive the Dash, my insurance denied the Dash. Then I found that they cover the old pods via medical insurance, and the Dash was covered by Pharmacy.
I had experience with the old pods, so I specifically wanted to try the Dash. The advantage of having it on pharmacy was no PA and you can switch to something else without having to wait the 4 years medical insurance requires (I also test drove the Tandem X2 at that time).
I used Glooko briefly to upload data, but I moved to Tidepool.
Both are pretty good but changed to tidepool because I can upload the CGM data directly from xdrip+ into tidepool. I used the uploader for the pump data (usually just before my annual endo appointment.)
So glad you decided to become a podder! Welcome! I too use omnipod and am in the study for the Omniloop project (about 1/2 way in) and absolutely LOVE them !
Sorry for the confusion. Yes, the Jaeb study. Loop is not official yet so we use the DIY version. They just updated it to version 2.0 and it works wonderfully. Fully customizeable and great suport on facebook. Now if I could just get my UHC insurance, which recently switched to Caremark, to cover the Omnipods, that would be great! As DME, I have a $700 deductible and 10% coinsurance. On drug side, would be free (was free under Express Scripts but they changed in January). Trying to get my doctors office to submit an appeal.
The verdict is in…and my snap judgment after trying to use Glooko for about a week is this app is not ready for prime time.
Pros:
It is preferred by the CDE who was at the Omnipod pump training and my endo…both of them said it is the best way for them to help out if I need them to review initial pump settings etc. In other words, there will be fewer hassles communicating with them if I go ahead and keep using it.
It is free
Cons:
It refuses to provide real-time BG data from Dexcom data. There is always a long enough delay in the uploaded Dexcom BG data to render the plots on Glooko almost useless for anything other than looking backwards at yesterday or the past week etc. (see plots below). I had gotten used to uploading Dex receiver to Clarity and seeing real time BG, glancing at my phone, etc.
Uploading the Omnipod seems pretty quaint…searching for a file and clicking to open. Compared to Clarity uploader which has worked seamlessly and flawlessly for years.
I am a little disconcerted by Glooko’s wrong time stamps on the uploads. I uploaded Omnipod, Dexcom Clarity and Dexcom account this AM and Glooko says the Dexcom uploads happened at midnight tonight, 14 hours in the future? I just can’t wrap my head around that…it seems like the easiest thing in the world for them to fix would be the upload time stamps.
It seems that the phone app does not mesh very well with the laptop app. The phone app has not noticed that I uploaded the Omnipod. There is no way to glance at the phone app and look at insulin usage, unless I manually enter a batch of numbers.
The main reason that Glooko has made me a little gripey is that this delayed BG data makes the app pretty useless to me as I try to figure out how things are going with Omnipod, adjustments to make, etc. Plotted below is what I was trying to look at in Glooko. Without the current BG data the Glooko plot is pretty useless.
10:30 ish AM plot from Glooko…where is the BG data? What use would this be to my endo or trainer if they were looking at it providing advice to solve a current issue?
Same plot from Dexcom G5 receiver (should have brought it to the coffee shop).
Understood…I will probably keep using it to keep track of pump settings vs BG data. As you can probably tell, I’m suffering from a touch of app overload. I’ll get over it!
I’ve been on the Omnipod about 4 months and using Glooko w/o problems (but but only other device is a rarely used backup Contour Next meter which can send data via Bluetooth).
I was able to send data to by doctor’s PC sitting in her office.
One thing I like about Glooko is I can enter insulin I do my syringe (I’m doing some experiments ot stretching my Pod usage to the max 3 days + 8 hours by doing bolus does old school).
It will take some dialing in, but you can do so much with it. Adjustable basal pre-game and during games, super-easy boluses mid-game when you are in the penalty box. 
is one for you!
