Diabetes: Omnipod 5

[milkloss]

Been diabetic for nearly thirty years now. Not really looked after myself particularly well and got away with till a couple of years ago and I started falling apart…… eyes, kidneys etc. stable at the minute though and hoping to prevent further damage.

The point of the post is that I’ve just been cleared to get an Omnipod insulin pump……. awesome bit of kit, wish I had one years ago.

Wondering if any other members on here have one?

 

[DaveGrohl]

Been diabetic for nearly thirty years now. Not really looked after myself particularly well and got away with till a couple of years ago and I started falling apart…… eyes, kidneys etc. stable at the minute though and hoping to prevent further damage.

The point of the post is that I’ve just been cleared to get an Omnipod insulin pump……. awesome bit of kit, wish I had one years ago.

Wondering if any other members on here have one?

T1 or T2?

 

[Two Tone]

Been diabetic for nearly thirty years now. Not really looked after myself particularly well and got away with till a couple of years ago and I started falling apart…… eyes, kidneys etc. stable at the minute though and hoping to prevent further damage.

The point of the post is that I’ve just been cleared to get an Omnipod insulin pump……. awesome bit of kit, wish I had one years ago.

Wondering if any other members on here have one?

Can’t help you re Omnipod 5.
But out of interest what is you HbA1c score now that you are stable?

Have you considered the Freestyle Libre system that measures your sugar levels and predicts when you need to do something?
I have a friend that uses it and it fantastic.

 

[milkloss]

T1 or T2?

T1 since 1994.

 

[milkloss]

Can’t help you re Omnipod 5.
But out of interest what is you HbA1c score now that you are stable?

Have you considered the Freestyle Libre system that measures your sugar levels and predicts when you need to do something?
I have a friend that uses it and it fantastic.

HbA1c has been in the 100's at times, more recently 70-80's.......... bad enough that no one would operate on my shoulder anyway. With the pod they are down to 58 and even had a call from the consultant for fear they were coming down too hard and fast which can cause eye issues.

The nhs is funding the omnipod and glucose sensor, it was difficult to get this funding and had to do a few courses re carb counting and lifestyle choices etc. They only fund the dexcom g6 to use with the pod which is similar to the libre 2 that I was on beforehand. The pod can work with both I believe but have found the g6 to be far more reliable than the libre 2 by. It is a little bigger but the installation is less 'aggresive' than the libre.

The pod comes with an android based pda type controller, essentially a dummy mobile phone which is a bit crap if I'm honest as you're working with two phones all the time. You only really need this for giving yourself an insulin dose for meals/corrections and the pod and g6 communicate together independently for small corrections/background insulin. An IOS app keeps been talked about which would make life so much easier.

 

[Farmer Fin]

HbA1c has been in the 100's at times, more recently 70-80's.......... bad enough that no one would operate on my shoulder anyway. With the pod they are down to 58 and even had a call from the consultant for fear they were coming down too hard and fast which can cause eye issues.

The nhs is funding the omnipod and glucose sensor, it was difficult to get this funding and had to do a few courses re carb counting and lifestyle choices etc. They only fund the dexcom g6 to use with the pod which is similar to the libre 2 that I was on beforehand. The pod can work with both I believe but have found the g6 to be far more reliable than the libre 2 by. It is a little bigger but the installation is less 'aggresive' than the libre.

The pod comes with an android based pda type controller, essentially a dummy mobile phone which is a bit crap if I'm honest as you're working with two phones all the time. You only really need this for giving yourself an insulin dose for meals/corrections and the pod and g6 communicate together independently for small corrections/background insulin. An IOS app keeps been talked about which would make life so much easier.

My wife is on the waiting list. She had a pump 7-8 years ago before the libres were available and couldn’t get on with it. She doesn’t have a consistent daily routine. She is optimistic that a continuous loop will be much better.

 

[milkloss]

My wife is on the waiting list. She had a pump 7-8 years ago before the libres were available and couldn’t get on with it. She doesn’t have a consistent daily routine. She is optimistic that a continuous loop will be much better.

It’s not magic but for me it solves most of my issues I had with keeping better control.

Get in touch if you think I can offer any advice.

What isn’t advertised is that these pumps only last three days before you have to replace it…. Bin it and apply a new one. Sugar monitor lasts 10 days. Pumps work out at £30 a pop I believe if you were paying, double that for the starter kit (10 and the pda thing) and then add on sensors. I am grateful to have a consultant that got me through the list asap.

 

[JHT]

Type 1 here since 2008. I tried a pump about 5 years ago but I couldn’t get on with it. It was one of the first Bluetooth ones and the tech wasn’t quite there. It let me down fairly often and things go wrong fast as you don’t have any background insulin in your system like when you are injecting.
I also found it a bit much mentally I think- constantly having it with you and changing it every few days and worrying if it would work. Went back to injections and Freestyle Libre 2. HBA1C running about 56/57 which I find hard to improve on without having a lot of hypo’s. Although I have an appointment next week with my team and I’m expecting a telling off as my control hasn’t been as good the last 6 months.
I do wonder if I should give a pump another go though as everyone in Facebook groups etc seem to get on very well with them.

 

[milkloss]

Type 1 here since 2008. I tried a pump about 5 years ago but I couldn’t get on with it. It was one of the first Bluetooth ones and the tech wasn’t quite there. It let me down fairly often and things go wrong fast as you don’t have any background insulin in your system like when you are injecting.
I also found it a bit much mentally I think- constantly having it with you and changing it every few days and worrying if it would work. Went back to injections and Freestyle Libre 2. HBA1C running about 56/57 which I find hard to improve on without having a lot of hypo’s. Although I have an appointment next week with my team and I’m expecting a telling off as my control hasn’t been as good the last 6 months.
I do wonder if I should give a pump another go though as everyone in Facebook groups etc seem to get on very well with them.

It’s a very different way of managing blood sugars. It helps me because I was always taught not to micromanage or do small corrections to keep sugars in line. With a pump you can. The pump itself aim to keep sugars within a range and not a target, so my range is currently 5.5 to 9.5. In auto mode it aims for 9.5 so I have to give a correction to gets to 6.5-7. When free it does a Stirling job of maintaining it. Carb counting is important, or at least very helpful to getting the system to work.

If you can get funding I’d give it another go. Pump is 3 days and then 8hours grace so you have a fair bit of flexibility as regards changing it. 3 days doesn’t half whizz by. A squirt or two of 100% alcohol and it pretty much falls off.