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Medtronic 780 Does anyone have one?

LizLola

Well-Known Member
I've just had my yearly check up via phone. My 640 pump is out of guarantee, extended till August 31st because of Covid. I have also spoken with a rep. from Medtronic who thinks the new one should be out September/October time. Is anyone else waiting until then to hopefully get the new pump, and does anyone have one to give feedback?
 
Hi I've just had a call from metronic my pump is due for replacement I've been told to contact my hospital to let them know.780 sounds so good
 
I’m struggling with this one too! Warranty on current 640 ran out few months ago and I just couldn’t decide between sticking with Medtronic (2 pumps from them - both been good ‍) and taking the 670 or going for the t:slim - which sounds great.
Then I got informed that if I went with Medtronic I’d get the 780 (once it came out)... and it kinda sounded good, so figured better the devil I know.

But am now constantly 2nd guessing that call. The guardian has been mostly ok with me but would love a cgm with longer life - 6 days with 2 times a day calibration weirdly just gets so irritating! Doesn’t sound much but... don’t know. Hence the Dexcom with t:slim sounds great. And the pump itself too. Something new, might be nice!

Having no independent reviews on the 780 doesn’t help.

Have you made a decision on this?
 
Not much of a difference @Pitsgate but the Guardian 3 lasts for 7days with the 670G. Have you tried extending its life by carefully disconnecting the transmitter, reconnecting and starting as a new sensor? I would still be doing that if I didn't have such sensitive skin. I never did try to extend more than 14 days.
 
Hi @dancer, thank you for that - didnt know about the 7th day!
I used to extend the sensors every now and then (and sometimes got quite a few extra days) but eventually just felt it was too fiddly.

I guess I’m hoping to hear from folk with Medtronic pumps who have switched to t:slim or... from folk with Medtronic who have stuck with Medtronic and have their eyes set on the 780. I have the 640g so slightly old technology and I’d love to stick with them but my main issues have been with the sensor so am just wondering if I’d in the end be happier with Dexcom etc. Hope you don’t mind me pushing for answers on this @LizLola!
Sorry all, it’s a mess of a message/question - just feel a bit lost!!
 
 
I am in exactly the same position re the warranty which ran out in Sept but I have pretty well decided to stick with the 640G. That may sound crazy but my reason is that I am using a Freestyle Libre to control my BG and have been getting really good control for the past 4 years. This of course means that I have to transfer my BG readings manually from the Libre into the Medtronic pump while using the Libre to understand what is going on. My logic is that no matter which model of Medtronic you go for - even the new 780 - you still need to input your carbo figures manually anyway. While that may seem a nuisance, because it involves taking the pump off ones belt (or wherever else you retain it) and entering the carbo (grams), you can at the same time manually input the BG figure.
Abbott have dramatically improved the accuracy of the Libre and I find it is in pretty good agreement with finger prick tests these days - to such an extent that I very rarely bother with finger pricking. The only time I would finger prick is if I have gone below 4.5 mmol/L AND the Libre is indicating I am still falling OR at the same time the pump shows I still have active insulin that is likely to take me into hypo territory. So the number of times one uses a finger prick test is dependent on how confident you feel with using the Libre and that confidence builds up with increase use when once you have your pump settings adjusted properly. It is still important to get the pump settings right but that applies whatever your choice of pump.
So the big downside for me is the need to remove the pump many times a day to input carbo manually since this almost defeats the benefit of having a CGM which takes up more valuable body space that cannot be used for the infusion set. And additionally the real killer is the need to calibrate the sensor regularly.
If you don't need a sensor for BG then that problem goes away and you might as well stick with the old Medtronic 640.
Not everyone will agree with me and may prefer to let the pump do all the work for you , in which case I would imagine the 780 would be a good bet if you are allowed it. I just believe that one needs to have a good understanding of BG control, in which case I cannot see much benefit with the 670. But if you like the Libre there is no point in having a pump with another sensor.
 
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Brilliant! Hope you like it!
Do keep us updated, please. Would love to hear how you find it.
I’m currently going for the tandem but the backlog at the hospital etc is probably long enough for me to change my mind a good few times. And regardless of that, am interested in any case.
 
Had my 780g for nearly a week.
Yep it looks lovely sitting on top of my kitchen cabinets waiting for hospital team to sort out the training
 

Hello! I am so sorry, for some reason your reply went into my spam.


Well, I went for the Tandem. I am not happy.

When you fill the reservoir you first have to fill a syringe with insulin and then remove the air from the reservoir (which is like a plastic bag - this is how they get the pump so small) through the insulin holding the cartridge upright and pulling the air out with your right hand (or left if left handed). I find this tricky as have arthritis and also a trigger finger.

Then also the membrane over the cartridge you put the syringe needle through 'cores', fills with a bit of the membrane, and the needle gets blocked so you can't do the next stage, the filling of the cartridge with the insulin. It's a very stupid and cack-handed system. They will not replace the needles so lost, which means you have reservoirs and syringes left over which cost you or the NHS money. I think it is fraud.

I find that it puts insulin back in too soon and when I should still be in suspend and this does not work for me, I remain at about 4 or less in a straight line and never come up at night. It's supposed to check that you don't get a rebound high but I rarely did anyway.

The good thing about the supplies are that they are in this country for me, and I don't have to worry about Medtronic stuff not getting here after Brexit. I like the no testing Dexcom but for me it is not as accurate or fast responding as the Medtronic sensor.

I like the fact it is lighter but dislike the touch screen as it is SO easy to do something you don't want to do. I hate that the graph does not tell you when you did a bolus right there so you can see the response, and also does not have the time on the bottom - it tells you what the levels are by graph for 3, 6 and 12 hours but it doesn't tell you what time he divisions on the graph are - and they are NOT on the hour, so thinking back and making an adjustment is not as easy.

On a good note, uploading the pump literally takes seconds wherever you upload it and you can see results very easily like that - but not when you are on the hoof!

You don't get as many sets with it - just the old fashioned sof sets like with Medtronic - no mios, wonderful mios. I guess it depends what is important to you.

I have not yet been on the control IQ bit as when you change pump all your levels go haywire - it's like being on a pump for the first time, and you have to change everything. I am on Fiasp insulin - they will not guarantee the pump with that in in, although how they would tell I don't know. So atm i am just on basal IQ which I don't find as good as the Medtronic (640G) one. That might be the fact i am not controlled as well yet.

When I go over to control IQ, the insulin action is based on 5 hours. You cannot change this - it is set up for Novorapid. So if you want to make sure your blood sugars come down you may have to make your ISF pretty aggressive. But the reports of its control are excellent for some.

The other thing is there is a sleep pattern and a daytime pattern. The sleep pattern is more aggressive and some people use that all the time. The exercise pattern is useless for me as it simply suspends earlier. I need an 0% basal to be able exercise (just dog walking!) and still have to consume glucose. I will have to have a basal pattern of 0% set up just so I can exercise and then of course, what happens if I forget t turn it back to normal basal pattern? I know i will forget.

So this is info for you if you have not made up your mind yet.

I am allergic to the Dexcom tape. And the filling problem is key for me. I want to go back to the Medtronic.
 
I’m getting the 780G alongside the CGM on the 7th of January, mega excited as it’ll be my first time back on pump therapy since around 2010. I wasn’t given any other options on brands/models I was basically just told your getting the 780G it’ll be delivered to your house on the 7th. After looking at other brands i don’t think I would of chosen anything other than the 780, personally I don’t like the Tandem as it looks far to fiddly & complicated and that’s coming from a 26 year old that is quite tech savvy. Only thing I’m worried about is how many people are mentioning they need to do numerous blood calibration testing sometimes 4/6 times a day. I find my Libre so accurate that I barely blood test at all these days so it kind of would be a back step needing to test 4/6 times a day. 2x a day like stated on Medtronic would be fine but even then it’s still a step backwards. Here’s hoping the Zeus CGM gets released next year which supposedly removes all calibration after the first day
 
I did this exact same thing a month ago, so just to give a different perspective on this - I have to say I really like the t-slim and I think the dexcom is way better than the gaurdian, but then I'm not allergic to the tape. I think you can get skin barrier wipes, don't know if that may help?

I agree the cartridge is more fiddly, I remove all the air with an empty syringe first ( got this tip from youtube and it seems to work well).

A word of caution with the Fiasp (this is definitely one drawback when considering the t-slim) - it seemed to just stop working after about 2 days in the t-slim for me and I was getting crazy highs with absolutely no response to additional boluses, eventually having to change the whole set and even give a s/c jab to get it back down. This is a well known issue with the t-slim specifically and I ended up going back to humalog - ask your rep about it if you're considering the t-slim with Fiasp (it was fine in my Medtronic).

I went straight onto control iq, so I'm not sure how basal iq works but I found the control iq pretty good. The sleep mode aims for a lower range but doesn't give bolus corrections, just alters the basal, so in some ways is less agressive. The exercise mode will raise the target range and reduce and stop the basal if you're heading for less than 7.2 (I think it is) in the next 30 minutes and stop it completely if you're heading for less than 4.4 in the next 30 minutes. You can stop the control iq and set a temp basal rate at any time if you prefer.

Hope some of this helps!
 
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Hello! Yes, I have been using the empty syringe method (it's truly the only way I can manage it) but been told I mustn't by the Tandem rep. And yes, Fiasp only works for 2 days in this pump for me and sometimes less. I tried Novorapid but it just doesn't bring down highs fast enough. The exercise mode is useless for me - I need 0% for half hour before walks, the walk, and half hour after. I'm still low when I get back, and would definitely forget to reset exercise mode to ordinary mode even if it did work for me. I hate that you can't test the pumps you want to try for a few months to find out things like this. Different things are needed by different people and there are lots of very happy Tandem users.
 
Yeh, everyone's different. It is a shame we don't get a bit of a trial first as once you change, you're stuck with it for 4 years. I had this happen with an Animas pump that I utterly hated after switching from a Medtronic about 7 years ago; luckily for me, the hospital had a spare Medtronic that I "borrowed" for 3 years! The Medttronic is a good pump but I think the Dexcom is a game changer compared to the Guardian CGM for me - far more accurate, unbelievably easier to insert, lasts 10 days, doesn't need calibrating 2 or 3 times a day - and doesn't alarm 6 times a day just to tell you to calibrate let alone any other alarms for highs/lows/battery changes/reservoir changes etc. Each to their own but if you are stuck with it for 4 years (that I guess you are ), try the control iq and if the exercise function doesn't work for you, you can disable it and then you can at least set your own basal for exercise (although I have to say I did prefer the Medtronic timed temp basals that you can set).
Also the c-iq is great at keeping my BG stable, my basal seems to change almost daily depending on various factors that in 42 years I have still not fully grasped, however I am getting 85% plus daily in the target range. The c-iq is working tirelessly to achieve this, as I can see from the basal indicators, but needs absolutely no input from me. Meals and exercise are a different issue but overnight and fasting BG's are perfect!

The reason I didn't end up going for the new 780G Medtronic was partly because of the Guardian cgm but also from the reviews of their last one (670G?), their closed loop system kicks you off it and onto a back up basal if you fail to calibrate the sensor on time (that I often did as I always seemed to be busy doing something more important at the time) or loses the signal etc and also seemed very restrictive in what manual adjustments it would let you make whilst in auto mode. Their latest one may be a little different but as they are both reliant on the same CGM, I don't think much would have changed in that respect as the closed loop system is only as good as the data it receives and the Dexcom is widely acknowledges in various trials to be more accurate. I did do quite a bit of research before opting for the t-slim. So for a closed loop system at the moment, the t-slim/Dexcom may be the best that is currently commercially available (there are quite a few DIYers but this is not something I would consider).

So I do feel your pain but good luck and I hope you start liking it a bit more
 
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