I would like to share my experience with the tslim pump. I am a very sensitive type 1 diabetic who wore the omnipod for years. I loved it along with my G6 Dexcom. I have been having trouble regulating my sugar so my doctor suggested the tslim since it can communicate with my Dexcom. I didn’t like that it had tubing but thought I would try it. I was new to it a couple of months. I wrote notes on step by step on changing the device. I put a new one on one morning filling it with roughly 225 units of insulin. I walked to my work (2.5 miles) arriving at 8am. When I got to work my sugar was low. I ate my breakfast which would constitute 4 units of insulin. When my sugar got higher I took 2 units of insulin since I ate so many carbs. My sugar dropped again. At 10 am I turned my pump off. My sugar continued to drop throughout the work day. I took my pump physically off at 1pm. My sugar continued to drop as i continued to eat and drink many carbs. By the time someone drove me home at 3 pm I was now starting to see double and not comprehending less and less. My coworker called 911 being scared of seeing how out of it I was. I immediately was given sugar through an IV. My sugar continued to drop until 2am. Besides the continus iv of sugar, eating/drinking and doeses of quick acting sugar through my IV. Of course I was admitted for a few days. By 5 am my sugar was now high and I was told to put my pump back on. It now only had 65 units in my pump. If you look at my settings it shows I was only givn 2 units… I thought maybe it leaked out so I check the bag it was in. No smell of insulin nothing wet. Where would 160 units (over 3 days worth for me) of insulin go? How can my sugar drop continously for almost 20 hours with no pump? Thank goodness for my Dexcom. I can not find where this has happened to anyone else. It confussed my endocronologist. It only makes sense that my tslim malfunctioned and gave me 160 units of insulin at once. This happed in July 2020. I am back on syrgines and am scared to try another pump. Comments and suggestions would be very grateful. Thank you.
Really scary. We have been using the Tslim for 6 years now and have not had a malfunction that resulted in extra insulin. We have had malfunctions where the pump died and needed to be replaced, but nothing scary like you are describing. Something seems a little odd, namely that you physically took the pump off at 1 pm and were still going low at 2 am. That insulin should have cleared your body before then. Did you send the device back to Tandem? Did they confirm a malfunction?
On the getting back on the pump train, what benefits was the pump giving you that you aren’t getting with the syringes? Are the benefits worth it? Many diabetics do very well on syringes so the advantage would have to be worth the small but real risk.
I think because is was an extreme amount of insulin that got into my system it took that long to get out of my system. I was eating every half hour along with getting continus sugar through my IV. With the pump I was able to to adjust my basil differently all day. It helped me with my exercise. I didn’t have to worry about insulin on board. I am a very sensitive diabetic and could take .05 of insulin which is very hard with a syrginge. I do not take alot of insulin. The pump made my life easier.
Agreed, those are some the great benefits of insulin pump therapy. Well assuming you are willing to take the plunge, what pump interests you?
Did you contact Tandem and return pump to check for malfunction ?
Did you check pump history and see delivery history ? Was data loaded to T:Connect? That would help analyze what happened. But now several months, so history may no longer be in pump memory. Would you be willing to try Tandem again with help from their Technical support ?
I started Tandem about 8 months ago, and used Medtronic pump for 20 years before that. Minimal problems and nothing that put me in the hospital. Glad you are ok.
Yikes, I’d be dead if that happened. I’m glad you’re ok.
I’ve never had that issue issue with tandem, but you definitely need to report this.
Omnipod when it can connect with the Dexcom.
Who do I report it to besides Tandem? They were more worried about me wanting a refund than what had happened to me.
So had you asked for a refund? Did you get it? If this happened several months ago and you are no longer on a Tandem pump, why bring it up here? Frankly, it sounds like possibly operator error. And I can attest to plenty of those. Scary, but nothing to be learned from the experience since no cause was found.
I hope you get your wish for a closed loop Omnipod when it is available. I have used a pump, always tubed though, for the last 18 years and it has been a really great experience for me.
No I did not ask for a refund. My insurance paid for it so I never thought abut aking for it. I got a call from the company asking me questions. I thought it was concern for what happened to me but they came back and said sorry we can’t give you a refund. I said I wasn’t asking for a refund.
I put this on here now because I just found this website yesterday after googling for months for any similarities. I am looking to see if this has happened to anyone else. It seems like a great pump with no complaints. I do not know why this happened to me. If things worked out a little differently that day I would not be here to share my experience.
I do not believe this insident was user error. I too have made errors but not his time. I put in 225 units, took 2 units and took the pump off a few hours later. My doctor looked at the pump when I was in the hospital and confirmed this. When I put the pump back on there were only 65 units left. Nothing showed anymore insulin being released. My doctor as well could not figure it out,.
Thank you. If my coworker was not there taking care of me and calling 911, I know I would not be here.
Thank you so much. I am filling it out right now. I appreciate the help and guidance.
I have no desire to argue with you. The pump may have been at fault… or not. There were several ways to find that out. One was to download the pump memory to t.connect, which, apparently, you did not do. The other was to examine the recent memory right on the pump. You say a doctor looked at it and could not figure out what went wrong. In my experience, most doctors would not know anything about individual pumps but, sadly, would not admit it. If you still have the pump in your possession, you could look at the stored memory to see what happened. I believe the pump stores the memory indefinitely, especially since you stopped using it. Someone knowledgeable could look at it and help explain what happened. Other than that, there is nothing to do about it. I have been using the Tandem t.slim with Control IQ for over a year and have had absolutely no negative events of this kind. Certainly nothing to endanger life. And, of course, you could report the event to the FDA as was already suggested.
Did not think we were arguing. I appreciate your guidance. I did do some of the things you suggested, looking at the memory of the pump. I would think a Endocronologist would know what she was looking at especially one who knows the tslim. I am currently reporting to the FDA as jim26 showed me where to go.
Have you considered Looping? Works with the older Pods.
I do not know what this is. Can you explain please?
Do you remember if that was Technical Support vs Customer/Sales Support ?
I would have expected them to offer replacement pump, and you to return yours for them to analyze.
If you try to get new pump under insurance, they may deny, since usually want to wait for previous pump to be out of warranty.
Sure, with the older pods and Dexcom you can use some software to make your own closed loop system kind of like the Medtronic or Tandem closed loop systems, but with the ability to control everything. i.e. not be limited by the companies settings.
Looping is a DIY approach to connecting the Dexcom (via iPhone) to the Pod with a Riley Link:
https://loopkit.github.io/loopdocs/faqs/rileylink-faqs/
As @Chris noted, it takes a willingness to tinker with software but there is a lot of good info available on how to do it. Really confirming your pump settings before you proceed is essential.