YAY! A Slimmer OmniPod!
I was talking with a diabetic friend of mine today. She is looking into getting back on the pump, and had some questions for me regarding the OmniPod.
First off, there seems to be a false idea that pods fail very often. Yes, I have had my fair share of pods that have failed, but that also seemed to happen when I first began using the OmniPod. Failures happen when blood or insult gets into the cannula inside the pod, creating it beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppp! (It’s really quite annoying!) You will no longer be able to get insulin, and are immediately forced to change the pod to continue to get insulin. I haven’t had a pod fail on me in a good 2 years.
A few years ago, I actually received an entire box of failure pods! My first failed, then I replaced it and the second failed within a couple of minutes of wearing it. I put on a third pod, wore it for a day and it failed too. I called Insulet each time I had a failure, and they seemed to think it could have been the entire box (maybe because of something when it was shipped). They sent me a new box of pods, free of charge, and I sent them the box of remaining, unused pods. Stuff like that rarely happens, but it was nice to see that they would take care of it all for me. Sending them back to the manufacture also helps the makers understand what they need to fix in newer versions of the pods.
She also asked me if I have received the new, slimmer pods…. which I have not yet. I had to call Insulet Corp (makers of Omnipod) in order to find out directly what is going on, and when I can get them! The rep I spoke to was very nice, and seemed very excited to hear about me questioning the new pod. Apparently, this past December is when the FDA approved the new design of the OmniPod, and since then, they have been working on manufacturing the new product. They have to make all new PDM’s to go along with the pods as well, and offering it all to current OmniPod users for FREE!! Yay!
Well clearly I am excited about the switch over and cannot wait til I get a smaller pod. Not that I feel like the one I have now is bad, but smaller clunky things under my clothing is always a better thing. My next 3-month shipment will be sent out at the end of this month, and will still be the old version of the pods unfortunately. Insult is hoping that within the next few months they will ship out the new PDM and the new slimmer pods. I will be sure to tell you about the new pods once I receive them!
Related articles
- FDA Approves Insulet’s New OmniPod Diabetes Management System (medgadget.com)
Good news for you, sweet. 🙂
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I’ve been using Omnipod for just over a year now. I’ve had pods fail infrequently during this time period, including a total of 7 (from the same box) fail at the end of the “initialization” phase. I’ve also had at least one fail to stab the plastic cannula into the skin (the cannula never moved from its initial position), and others that failed for no apparent reason. The biggest gripe I have is: the 2 ml of expensive insulin that is left in the reservoir when the pod fails, there’s no way to get it out again. I’m not sure what can be done about this.
I would tell someone who asks that Pods have their advantages and disadvantages, that you should always carry at least one spare at all times, and that you have to carry the injectable insulin at all times as well. The best advantages are the convenience – you’re not always sticking yourself with a needle – and the overnight programming, so that you can tailor your insulin delivery to your actual metabolism. The main disadvantages are that if it fails, you’re out the insulin that was left in the reservoir; you have to adjust your assumptions about how you move through space and constantly remember that you now have a “bump” that you didn’t evolve with; even if the pump is installed properly, you still have to wait two hours to know whether the insulin is being delivered properly (technically this is true for injections as well, but I can usually tell during the injection whether I’ve injected into scar tissue).
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Yes of course pods have their advantages and disadvantages, but I see my cup as half full… not half empty! Wearing a pod seems so much easier to me than giving myself 6 injections of insulin each day. I never carry extra pods with me… unless I am on vacation or know I am going swimming. If I accidently rip one off, I just substitute for injections until I get home (which for me, very very very rarely happens!)
Pods do NOT fail very often (like I stated in this post!) I haven’t had a pod fail on me in about 2 years, except for this one bad shipment where 90% of them failed. That wasn’t my fault, that was insulets fault… and they have apparently been fixing the issue with their new system.
Yes, you might be out the insulin that you put into the pod, and although it is unsanitary, I have taken the insulin out of the pod through the same hole I put it into. Insulet will never tell you to do that, I shouldn’t be telling you to do that, but if you are so worried about the cost of the insulin, it may not be a bad idea.
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I’ve been using Omni Pod for the past 6 years and LOVE it! Also received my slimmer pods and new PDM a couple of weeks ago…very excited, can’t believe the difference in the size of the pods 🙂
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