Omnipod question

Tips, Tech & Gear
1

Ok so my omnipod PDM is coming today and I have my pods so I’m all set to go.

I’m changing from a Medtronic 630G to Omnipod so am familiar with pumping already.

Some questions:

  1. I should be able to go through my 630 and get all the needed settings on it, right?
  2. I’ve read the book twice online in preparation. Anything NOT in the book that I should know?
  3. I have a training session with my md’s educator in about 2 weeks, but am thinking of just using that for questions and trying the new pump this weekend. Any gotchas or reasons why I should wait?

Thanks everyone

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2

How exciting!

There are a few other threads that go over tips and tricks with OmniPod, but I’ll try to sum them up here.

  1. Clean, dry skin and “pinch an inch” help when applying the pod for better hold. Pressing down the cannula end of the pod and while pinching up some skin while insertion happens seems to work for us.

  2. Bolus five units or less. Some people have found that it creates less tunneling if used in this manner. You could also use an extended bolus if you wanted to deliver more than 5 units of insulin at once.

  3. Try to time your deployment of a new pod to a time when you can both bolus, and allow the annoying “you still have diabetes” alarm to not ■■■■ you off. I think it happens between 30 minutes to two hours afterwards, although I’ve never actually timed it. The Omnipod is trying to remind you to check your blood sugar, because you still have diabetes.

I hope you love it! It has certainly been a game changer in our house, the ability to suspend insulin delivery for exercise is really great. I would say that we had some failures at the beginning of using the Omni pod, and those have diminished somewhat. We really feel like Novolog is a lot more successful through day 3, Humalog seemed to poop out after two days.

Don’t be afraid to call if you have a failure, Insulet is really happy to send you out a replacement pod. They have been quite good to work with after the initial purchase (which sucked).

Smell can be an indicator of leaking insulin, and I would also add, if you are not having success – don’t be afraid to tear it off and try a new pod, or site. Also, I would still keep a syringe around in case you need to use the insulin that is stuck in your pod. Hope this helps!

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If you are an experienced pump user, that’s your best bet, use it BEFORE training. That makes training more useful.

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Thanks. I read the manual twice in preparation and it doesn’t look all that different than my 630G except for the menus.

Anything that you can think of to add that I might not be aware of?

Still deciding on where to start site wise. Used to doing stomach for everything but may try arm.

5

Huh! I never get that. Is that an FDA-imposed America-only thing?

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Couple of things the (Canadian) book doesn’t mention:

  1. After you apply the pod and press Start, pinch the skin BUT ALSO press down firmly enough that the pod doesn’t bounce back up when the inserter needle fires, but not so firmly that you’re pressing the pod into the flesh.
  2. If you get a high BG you don’t want remembered – say you decide to wash your hands and retest but don’t want two high numbers skewing your average – on the screen with your BG number, press Tag and select Control. The result will not be included with your other BG numbers. (Once you press Done or Next, you can’t go back and select Control.)
  3. Never hesitate to contact Insulet/Omnipod for a replacement pod ANY TIME you need to remove one before your three days are up because of ANY REASON: discomfort, sweat or swimming makes the adhesive loosen, leaking at site, it gets knocked off, whatever, even if you think the problem is entirely your fault and not the pod’s.
  4. Have fun! (The book doesn’t say that either.)
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This cracks me up! Hope this isn’t too crass/tacky, but I refer to it as the “making sure it hasn’t killed me off yet” alarm. It drives me nuts! I talk to it from across the room and say “yes, I know, I’m still here!”

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I don’t have much to add… I’m pretty new to Omnipod and pumping in general… But I wanted to pop on to say I’ve followed the advice of those on this site and have had great results with Omnipod so far…You’re in good hands here!

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9

We yell: “I/you STILL have diabetes!!!” Loudly. While cackling.

So tacky? Nah!

Hilarious? Yes!

We own a tea kettle which I adore, but twenty minutes after making boiling water it beeps loudly three times. Wherever we are in the house we loudly declare: “I am NOT MAKING TEA!”

It really reminds me of the Omnipod PDM. Totally useless beeping for no clear reason. Apparently Canada has it better!

But we love the running joke and get a good laugh out of it. Gotta laugh. Also not in the manual. Laughing!

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10

Thanks everyone for the help!

Friday I copied over the numbers from my 630G pump to the new one as I set it up and it was extremely easy! I guess I use more insulin than i thought, though, because tonight, nearly 2 days in, I ran out at work. Boy those out alarms are annoying! Good thing I had a backup pen! I love it so far! Being tubeless is so awesome!

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It’s cool that you started already. :+1:

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Did you use up all 200 units or had you underfilled to match your expected consumption?

We tend to fill to about 150-170 (our TDD is 40-50), and to use a pen for large boluses. But we have run out when getting into unexpected sickness.

When you are on your last pod insulin, be aware, per Eric, that there is an “extra” reserve of 5U, beyond the 50U countdown.

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I must have, because my pump beeped at me at work and said it was completely empty and to change the pod. I didn’t bring a spare pod / insulin with me to work, so I had to use my pen for the rest of my shift. (I work 2nd shift 1-9:30 PM). Still loving it!

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