Omnipod handset

EllieLou

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51
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Insulin
Hi!

I’ve been offered to renew my pump and change from the insight to the omnipod.

I was wondering if you need to prick your finger in order to be allowed to administer insulin to the omnipod as you do with my insight however I’m now self funded on the libre so I don’t want to have prick my finger just to give some insulin. I normally input the insulin manually through the insight but obviously this isn’t an option on the omnipod.

I hope all of that makes sense! ‍♀️

Thanks!
 
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LooperCat

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No, you can enter bg values manually. And you can just tell it how much to give you if you want.
 

EllieLou

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Messages
51
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Insulin
No, you can enter bg values manually. And you can just tell it how much to give you if you want.

Thanks for the quick response that’s really helpful to know :)

It’s been a really hard decision about whether to change or not because I’ve had the insight for the last 4years but the thought of not having a wire anymore is so nice! Although I am concerned about it being more visible but I assume it’ll be the same as the libre and I’ll forget about it most of the time.

Is it good at staying stuck on? Also I’ve been told it alarms after 72hours is this loud? Is there any warning? And how long roughly does it take to change? I’ve recently started shift work so trying to plan how it will all work :)
 
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LooperCat

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I’ve never had one fall off... It beeps a couple of times at 70 hours to let you know it’s time to change it, and every hour after that. You just acknowledge that on the controller and it shuts up. It’s not that loud. I can change it in two minutes flat as it inserts the cannula automatically. I barely know I’m wearing it, tbh!
 

EllieLou

Well-Known Member
Messages
51
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
That’s great, will it continue to give the insulin until you change it then or does it kind of shut down as the times up?

I’m definitely leaning towards the omnipod but finding it quite difficult to really get an idea of it online, I’ve ordered a demo one but obviously it’s just a demo so will only be able to see how it feels
 
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LooperCat

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It’ll actually work for 80 hours but beeps every hour from 70. As long as it has insulin, it’ll give it. I can’t comparenit to other pumps because it’s the only one I’ve used, and only since last August!
 

porl69

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3,647
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Hi!

I’ve been offered to renew my pump and change from the insight to the omnipod.

I was wondering if you need to prick your finger in order to be allowed to administer insulin to the omnipod as you do with my insight however I’m now self funded on the libre so I don’t want to have prick my finger just to give some insulin. I normally input the insulin manually through the insight but obviously this isn’t an option on the omnipod.

I hope all of that makes sense! ‍♀️

Thanks!

Do you not finger prick at all?? The Libre can be a fair bit out especially when High or Low
 

EllieLou

Well-Known Member
Messages
51
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Thanks for all the help Mel!

And yes I only use the libre, let’s just say I don’t have the best history when it comes to monitoring my sugar levels, I would always go by how I feel which worked for me as my hb1ac is 7 but recently I have taken to the libre and monitor myself more properly. I know it’s not always spot on but it’s better than doing nothing at all so my team are happy :)
 
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Marie 2

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Messages
2,394
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Pump
I used to use the Libre, but it has a tendency to be off. I would check the first day a few times and actually overlapped them (I had 2 readers) so I could tell how far off each one was. This allowed me to have the proper dosing of insulin and unless I felt different could sometimes skip finger sticking except for a double check about half way through the 10 days.

The Omnipod is great, tubeless, you don't have to worry about it getting wet, in the pool or the ocean. no tubes to bend either. It can be put all over the place arms, legs, stomach etc and you don't even remember where it is. I remember when my first endo told me about it and she started patting all over her body to find it to show me and I find I do the same thing.

You program a basal rate for it to deliver and you easily can set up more than one program if you want. But when you give yourself a dose of insulin you just tell it your BG rate and it will figure out the dose. But you can even skip telling it your BG and just give yourself a dose if you want. They have made it really easy to use.

I haven't found it beeps every hour after 72 hours. It beeps initially an hour before and then when the 72 hours are up? Then it stays fairly quiet until close to that 8 extra hour mark. I go past the 72 hours all the time. If you don't catch it at 80 hours lol, it will screech at you and read change me now!!!!
 

Postleneo

Well-Known Member
Messages
293
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Reading this post finding the information very informative. I too am considering the omnipod and was wondering regarding extended bolus feature. My question is if you program an extended bolus ie 8 hrs and then need to activate a new pod... Does the PDM ensure the setings /current bolus program is transferred to the new pod?
 

Chickenboy

Active Member
Messages
36
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I have been on omnipod for 3 months now and wouldn't look back. First few weeks were a bit up and down as I adjusted to being on a pump and working out where the best sites were for absorption. It's so easy to change, a lot more discreet than a tubed pump and has already lowered by a1c by 0.7.

@Postleneo I'm pretty sure that when you change the pod any extended bolus is cancelled so you would have to look at remaining amount and then set this up on the new pod once changed.
 

Postleneo

Well-Known Member
Messages
293
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I have been on omnipod for 3 months now and wouldn't look back. First few weeks were a bit up and down as I adjusted to being on a pump and working out where the best sites were for absorption. It's so easy to change, a lot more discreet than a tubed pump and has already lowered by a1c by 0.7.

@Postleneo I'm pretty sure that when you change the pod any extended bolus is cancelled so you would have to look at remaining amount and then set this up on the new pod once changed.
Many thanks for the info
 

Marie 2

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,394
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Pump
All your programing information goes to the new pod. But it would be really strange to program an extended bolus 8 hours away? I'm just not sure about retaining I guess an extended bolus.
Maybe you have a reason for that? I always am entering a bolus without bothering with carbs or BG level half the time. I would be worried I would forget about something that far away. It keeps track of it, I'm just not sure how that would account and calculate something 8 hours away. I only have gone maybe 2 hours out? Generally that's been too far out for my uses.
 

Postleneo

Well-Known Member
Messages
293
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
All your programing information goes to the new pod. But it would be really strange to program an extended bolus 8 hours away? I'm just not sure about retaining I guess an extended bolus.
Maybe you have a reason for that? I always am entering a bolus without bothering with carbs or BG level half the time. I would be worried I would forget about something that far away. It keeps track of it, I'm just not sure how that would account and calculate something 8 hours away. I only have gone maybe 2 hours out? Generally that's been too far out for my uses.
Thanks for the response... Reason for such a long extended bolus is for really high fat foods like chicken curry and egg fried rice where I require a combi bolus of 60%upfront and 40% extended for 6 hrs and pizza 35% 65% over 7.5hrs really fattening foods but with the combi I use find them best for minimal spike:)
 

Marie 2

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,394
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Pump
How different we all are! I like to prebolus and extend half of my insulin for a half hour later. There is a vegan chocolate iced taro donut I am finally figuring out what to do. Taro is high carbs and it's deep fried, delicious but I wish I could have 3 or 4 bolus's for it!!! 1 bolus to start and then some in a half hour and another bolus a half hour after that. That seems to work I'm guessing at 25 carbs for a half donut (and they are pretty small). It's not like I can look up taro donuts lol, they're pretty unique and probably like pizza for a lot of people, harder to determine impact/when. Luckily, they only make them on Sunday mornings on the other side of the island so not so easy to get!

Most of my extensions are only a half hour later. I rarely go past that. I am more likely to just need a little more insulin later because I guessed wrong. I like to prebolus, so I try to err on the lesser side and I throw things together and then don't eat it all because my eyes are bigger than my stomach lol...........and then I may I share with my hubby or my dog, so how many carbs did I eat????? So it becomes a guessing game some of the time!!!! That's bad, but my A1C is 6.4% and I'm happy with that. Prebolus for me is the best and it means I usually don't go over 150-160 after eating and in a good deal of the time I stay in the 130's after.
 

LooperCat

Expert
Messages
5,223
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Other
Reading this post finding the information very informative. I too am considering the omnipod and was wondering regarding extended bolus feature. My question is if you program an extended bolus ie 8 hrs and then need to activate a new pod... Does the PDM ensure the setings /current bolus program is transferred to the new pod?
If you need to change a pod before an extended bolus is finished, it gets cancelled and you need to remember how much time and insulin is left to give when changing - and then reprogram it for the new pod. I often end up doing this because my pod gets changed at bedtime, and is often partway through a 2-3hr extended bolus for dinner. Temp basals also get cancelled.
 

Postleneo

Well-Known Member
Messages
293
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
If you need to change a pod before an extended bolus is finished, it gets cancelled and you need to remember how much time and insulin is left to give when changing - and then reprogram it for the new pod. I often end up doing this because my pod gets changed at bedtime, and is often partway through a 2-3hr extended bolus for dinner. Temp basals also get cancelled.
Cheers for the info.... Does that also include canceling any IOB under normal circumstances ie if you have not got an extended bolus running but have IOB meaning you can only change a pod when all insulin has expired?
 

LooperCat

Expert
Messages
5,223
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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If I remember rightly, it still recalls the IOB, but I use Spike/Nightscout to track that, as the PDM seems to be on the conservative side when calculating correction doses. I also use the bolus calculator in MySugr and make my own dosing decision based on what they all tell me.
 

Postleneo

Well-Known Member
Messages
293
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Cheers for that.... Trying to find as much info as I can... Due to be changing pumps soon. Currently on an Animas Vibe but as no longer available in UK have a choice of the Omnipod or Medtronic 640 or 670 but can only have the 670 if I continually self fund the sensors due to the cost of the pump