My 630/670 is out of warranty, so I’m demoing the Dash through the 30day program. I’ve already been using the G6 with Medtronic, and by and large the Pods have been pretty much as I expected (no tubes is good, PDM interface is clunky-as is the 670).
A couple questions before completely making the switch:
-In the US, is Omnipod on a 4 year warranty cycle with insurance? Ie, if I start using pods, do I have to wait 4 years to switch to Tandem/770 or can I switch whenever the last set of pods is used up? (Not surprisingly, Ominpod rep swears I can switch without issue later on, but would like to confirm this is the case.)
-Does anyone find PodderCentral useful? Their TOS are a bit aggressive, so I haven’t signed up yet. As I understand it, it just imports PDM data?
-Are lean people having any success wearing a pod on their thighs/hips? I can’t see it being comfortable to wear a pod on my chicken legs, but would love to be wrong.
-Any realistic estimates on Tidepool timing? Ditching the PDM would make this thing so much better to me.
I think it depends on insurance company. You should ask them.
I imagine it would be easier to switch from Pods to Tandem rather than Tandem to Pods. Because using pods there is a smaller cash outlay for startup, but a bigger monthly cost.
Using Tandem, it is the opposite - the initial outlay is big for the insurance company, like several thousand dollars for the pump, but the monthly cost is small.
Check with your insurance, and ask about switching both ways!
I don’t use it, and I don’t use that version of the pods.
I use it on very upper thighs, and close to the butt, and also on butt. To me, the hip is just a bone and I can’t put it directly on the hip. But in that area it works fine.
On lower thighs I have not had success because I shake them loose. But they may work for you there.
Before you do any of this, consider doing it with the old style pods, and using your phone and doing Loop. You could do that without waiting.
You’d need an iPhone, a Riley Link (about $120 I think), a computer to build the software on, a $100 Apple developer license, and a little patience.
If you want closed loop and no tubes, this is the way to go.
And if you happen to be a long time Medtronic pumper you might have an older device that you can loop with, and of course if you want the least hassle and don’t mind the tubing, then you can use the Tandem to great effect with Control IQ and basically letting it do its thing. That’s what we do, my son has reduced his diabetes focus while still maintaining an acceptable A1c.
In fact yes, I have a 530 that is Loop compatible. And a background in microcontroller development, etc. But to tell the truth I’m more interested in not carrying around a PDM/Rileylink more than closing the loop.
For me, having everything on one device that I carry around anyway (my phone) is going to create better control than looping itself, at least that was my experience with 670. I’ll loop when its convenient, but my personal desire is hardware and software consolidation. I understand Tidepool would let me ditch the PDM?
I understand the PDM because of the size, but what’s the issue with the RL? It’s small enough to store along with the phone if you carry the phone with you. I keep a phone and RL in my shirt pocket during the winter, and in a pants pocket in summer.
I’m the type of guy who forgets his keys every day. The admin at our office signs me out daily keycards more often than I remember my own. Its still tenuous if this tubeless pumping is a good fit.
I suppose I could build it into a phone case pretty easily. Or better yet, build it into a small enclosure with a small stepper motor. Make sure that stepper motor has a Medtronic reservoir interface and we could skip the official pump entirely. At one point I asked around J&J for some old Animas motors, but seemed like the motor control was more trouble than it was worth. Honestly, I’ve done enough hardware testing that just the line of though makes me anxious.
Anyway, now that I’m way off topic:
Does anyone have positive things to say about PodderCentral?
I started Omnipod in January and have not discovered anything useful about Podder Central. Maybe it’s useful, I did not look very deeply at the offerings.
I was given Glooko app with my PDM. It is a little clunky but is useful for storing all of my history and occasionally looking back, printing reports for endo checkups, etc.
I’ve not tried Loop yet but might although I also don’t think I can handle another device. I have device overload right now. Lately I have been leaving my Iphone and PDM with my lunch cooler and occasionally checking BG on Apple Watch when I am in range of the phone. Using the PDM occasionally to tweak a temp basal or bolus for lunch.
Question for the loopers: I suspect I would only use closed loop at night…would I still need to carry the RL on my person in the daytime or would I be OK to leave it with my phone, out of range, for hours at a time?
When Looping, the RL is only needed for a) changes to basal or b) bolusing, or c) for being in CLOSED loop mode.
It is like the PDM, you can leave the house without your PDM and your pod will continue to function with whatever basal is programmed on it. If you have a temp basal, you don’t need your PDM, it will just run through the temp basal and when it ends, return to your normal basal.
But without the RL, you can’t bolus, and you can’t do closed loop. You would only be in open loop, where it does not make basal changes when it sees your BG go up or down.
It is kind of like the phone plus the RL is equal to the PDM in terms of what you can or cannot do.
The only difference is the Closed Loop vs Open Loop part. For Closed Loop (automatic changes) you need the RL.
I also ran Open during the day and Closed only at night when I did Loop.
Interestingly, just found out that while old insurance covers Dash, January 2021’s insurance will only cover Eros. I may be headed towards loop anyway.
I don’t use Podder Central, I had a heck of the time signing into it half the time so I just gave up pretty quick.
The outlay is still big on an Omnipod. I’m not as sure about Dash as I use the older PDM. I believe the PDM was valued at $8,000, more than most of the pumps out there. I’m not sure on the Dash what the value is, but I assume you are still going to have a higher value because some of it is because of the programming used.
It’s all about insurance, the insurance usually only gets you a new one every 4 years, I think MediCare might even be 5 years. From what I have heard, the new dash Omnipod had a problem with trying to loop with it? You had to have the older style PDM and pods to be able to loop with it. Maybe that has changed now though.
Agreed about the outlay. They’re trying to bill the Dash as pharmacy vs durable medical, so that may change the pricing structure. As with all things insurance billing, its a scam.
@Eric The amount was a valued amount put on my first new Omnipod PDM by my insurance company that they sent me a copy of. I never paid anything, And of course the way it works that is not what the insurance actually paid, it’s just a billing value. I should have said have clarified that as an insurance value, as you can actually get them much cheaper
It’s the same with the Dexcom. The copy of the initial bill was $2,000 for the Dexcom receiver a couple of years ago. That’s not what they paid either. Although my pharmacy that had been supplying my sensors was billing out my insurance for $5,000 for 9 sensors and a transmitter. I tried to call my insurance company once to see a detail listing of what they were actually paying for and all I could get out of them is, it’s said they paid the $5,000. Right…
It actually seemed absurd to me that there was even a bill for $5,000 in the first place generated every 3 months, but since they didn’t seem to care and it was fully covered I gave up investigating it further.
You do have to carry a small radio frequency device (RileyLink) with you but it’s small.