… and what exactly happens in the minutes leading to its expiration/deactivation?
This what we tried to figure out today. We had a pod that was shown on our PDM as being activated 3 days ago at 10:01am (9/7/2017). We decided to ride it as long as we could, and test a bolus at the very end of it to see what would happen.
Omnipod says that a pod should be changed 3 days (72 hours) after it has been activated, but that it will remain active another 8 hours after activation, so that you have a total of 80 hours per pod starting at activation.
This is what happened to us:
At 9:58 am we received a pod expiration alert (3 minutes prior to the 72-hour limit, per the PDM 10:01 activation time)
At 4:58 pm ( 1 hour and 3 minutes prior to the 80-hour limit), we received a pod expiration advisory
*at 5:56 pm we started a long bolus (9U)
at 5:57 pm we got a low reservoir alarm (20 U left)
at 5:57 pm the pod expired with the death siren blazing. We were 2.7U into a bolus, which stopped right there.
The open question are:
What of the 4 missing minutes? Does the countdown start earlier, possibly when you actually fill the pod?
[EDIT] per Eric, it starts counting down when you fill the pod. The PDM, on the other hand, shows you the actual pod activation time.
Is it always exactly 4 minutes, or does it depend upon another event, such as, for instance, the time at which you filled the pod?
[EDIT] see above: it depends upon when you activated the pod, which is what triggers the 80 hours
My conclusions:
you will get very close to 80 hours per pod, but you may not get every minute you think you have: we were short 4 minutes per the PDM records, and got 79 hours and 56 minutes
the pod expiration will interrupt a bolus under way. So, if you start a bolus, be sure to leave plenty of time to complete it before the pod deactivates.
it is possible to know exactly when deactivation will occur, since the 72-hour alarm and the 79-hour alarm show up exactly (a) 7 hours 59 minutes and (b) 59 minutes prior to expiration.
You have 2 hours between the time you fill the pod and when you prime it.
I suspect that the 72+8 hour period starts when you activate the pod. (i.e. hit “START” on the PDM) but it equally could start when you begin the prime.
I always fill the next pod with insulin before I deactivate the old pod to cut down on time without basal.
Next time I change a pod I will try to time to see what actually starts the time.
Also - my PDM clock is WAY OFF compared to my cell phone and continually loses time. Only suggesting here that PDM clock is not very accurate.
Well i got question to expiring …the time showen on my meassure thing when the alert comes …is that the time the pod will go out off energi and if then does the controller tell me with alert that pod is out of energy?
When the first alert comes, you still have about 9 hours: 1h + 8 h.
But, in reality, you have a little less, because the time count starts when you prime, I believe, not when you start the pod. So, when you see that you have 8 hours after the pod is due, in reality you have more like 7:50 or so, depending upon how long it took you to put it on the skin and start it.
i mean when the pod actually goes dead because the battery is empty. will my blood main measure tell me in alert that the pod is stopped ?? and the time it tells the pod runs out/should change to new is that time indicating battery or life time of the pod ??
When first alert comes and i check it on screen it says “pod exspires at 12:00” but when that then is 12:15 i still see that it giving me my normal rate of insulin
To make it easy now …i can not find a menu or function where i can not see how time or % left on the pod i am using…like u can on mobile phone with battery
You will get a long sustained ring in the POD when it has fully expired. When you hear this, you’ll deactivate the POD with the PDM and active/install a new POD.
The PDM tells you when the POD will expire (main screen at the bottom) and you’ll get warnings before the POD has actually expired. When you see the first message of POD expiration (such as your "POD expires at 12:00), add 8 hours to that. You get 3 days + 8 hours for every POD.
So, if I insert my sons POD at 0900 on Monday morning, we will need to change it on Thur @ 1700.
You will know when the pod is done, done, because there will be a long sustained ringing that won’t stop until you deactivate the POD. You also get warnings during that last 8 hours…I believe it’s at the 6 hour mark, then the 1 hour mark.
Scroll down into the history by clicking ‘Event’…you will find various expire, activate and deactivate information in this list.
The ‘POD exp alert’ is the first message you will get at the end of the 3rd day. From here, you have another 8 hours before the long annoying alert will ring.
The date/time on the main screen is the 3 days. You would tack on 8 hours to this for the real stop date/time.
You will receive a message 7 hours into the final 8 hours that reads “Pod exp advisory” (and it will continue annoying you with beeps until you acknowledge that advisory).
Then, when the 8 hours is up, you will get the message that reads, “Pod expired”. Then you deactivate it for the “Pod deactivated” and reactivate a new Pod and you will receive the “Pod activated” message.
How long between filling the Pod and then priming the Pod (answer above is 2 hours) and actually activating the Pod have we got?
So basically what is the time frame between priming and starting?
Do you mean what is the maximum amount of time you can wait, or how long does it normally take?
I have never tested the maximum.waiting time between priming and starting. But, for us and our MO, there are typically 2-3 minutes between the two, almost always less than 5.
I believe it’s 60 minutes. My friend tells me “after filling the pod, you have 60 minutes to activate it. If you don’t activate within 60 minutes, the pod will deactivate and become unusable.”
Well I just waited 1hr and 50 minutes from filling the Pod to Priming it and so far all is well. The Pod did during this time keep beeping (same tone that is given as a warning when a pod is due to end)
I wanted to know how long I could wait again between the Priming of the Pod to activating it?
I knew I had two hours as Arron above said it. So I waited 1hr 50 minutes after filling the Pod to Prime it, it was only at that stage I thought, “oh, I have another time frame now that needs to be found out.”
This is all so i can see if the Pods 80hrs of life starts from when it makes its first beep or not. I think I won’t get the extra 8hours after the 72hours now. I believe I will get 6hrs 10minutes as I’ve already had 1hr 50minutes prior use.
I may have misunderstood your question. I’m not sure I understand it even now. I hope you’ll come back around to update the thread with whatever you have found though. Sounds like it’s a good question with an answer that may not be entirely clear.
Arron, I only have a few more hours to go, I’ve had my Warning been that the pod is running out tonight. I’ve had it on for 71hour and 52minutes so far, I’ve had the timer running for 73hours & 37minutes. (1hr 40mins between filling and priming)
I just want to know will I get 8hrs extra or will I lose 1hr 40hr from the 8hrs due to the delay in priming.
