Medtronic Veo Vs Animas Vibe

[Tiggieplum]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can help. I've been reading widely and so much so, it now feels as though I'm going round in circles a little. I've been approved for a pump and offered either the medtronic Veo or the Animas Vibe. Both seem to have good functionality and people who recommend them. However, I'm particularly keen on a pump with a remote so I can deliver a bolus if I'm at a business lunch or just want to grab something on the run without having to take off umpteen layers in the cold weather to find the pump.

It looks as though the Veo wins here but there is very little information on the remote i.e. what it can actually do. Medtronic seemed suprised when I called to ask "I don't think many people use that!" she went off to check, then came back and said it can deliver a standard bolus. I haven't used a pump before and am unsure what a standard bolus is. Also you can apparently purchase a remote for a Vibe but again, I can't find much info on this. Can anyone help?

I had been heading towards a Vibe as I swim and it is waterproof but the benefits of a remote seem really strong for me. Just don't want to pass over the waterproof option if in fact, the remote is more of a gimmick or can be purchased with a Vibe.

I won't be offered CGM with either as it won't be covered on the NHS and I won't be able to afford it. If anyone can help with any insights (on or off topic about the remote!), it would be very gratefully received

Thanks in advance for any help!
Tig

 

[VickiT11979]

Hi Tiggie,

I've had a Animas 2020 for a few years, but got to try a Vibe since 19th Dec until yesterday & since yesterday have been trialling a Medtronic Veo.
I was also keen on a remote, but as far as I know, the Medtronic remote just lets you give a particular insulin dose, you just choose the amount & press a button & the pump gives it. The problem with this is that it bypasses all the clever pump software that works out how much insulin you need to bring your BG down, how much you need to cover any carbs you're eating, and works out how much insulin is still active in your body from any earlier bolus doses. It's this, plus the ability to vary your basal rates, that make pumps so good & give people better control.
I would never ever give a bolus without using the software to calculate the exact dose needed, so can't see the point of a remote that doesn't let you access that.
I don't think there's any remote available for the Vibe.

I'm female, and usually wear trousers & have the pump clipped to my waistband, in full view, so I don't have to fish under my clothes for it most of the time. The only times it's a bother is when I'm wearing a short dress & have it clipped to the front of my bra, or a longer dress & wear it in a tubigrip type thing on my thigh - then I could do with a remote - but that's not too often.

 

[Kalobe]

The Veo has a remote that you can set to give a fixed dose of insulin for each press of the remote button. I don't use mine as I tend to keep the pump in a handy place like clipped to a belt and use the wizard on the pump to work out doseage. I would recommend the Veo but have not got experience of any other make of pump. Good luck.

 

[pumppimp]

Hi Tiggieplum,
I was on the animas 2020 for almost 5 years now on the vibe. The main reason is that it's water proof. I need it to be for my job and all my outdoor hobbies. When I first got a pump it was a d-tron which doesn't have bolus wizards etc so I learned to work everything out in my head I still do now. The only wizard function I use is the bg correction bolus because it tells me how much I have on board which is sometimes hard to remember. This is not something I would use everytime I need to bolus so having my pump tucked away is not a problem for me. If I had a remote I would probably loose it, I do find that using the bolus bottom which sits on the top end of the pump comes in very handy for me. I have it set to 0.5 unit increments you hold it in to start off then press it say 4 times for 2 units it then vibrates back to you 4 times and then you press it again and it delivers the bolus. The button is quite big and nobly and I've never had to get my pump out to find it and no one has ever noticed it. This is how I did all the bolusing in my wedding dress with my pump on the front of my pants inside other hold your tummy in short thingys. I've always imagined that a pump is easy to wear in a suit (I may stand corrected) you can just stick it in a trouser pocket and lift it out when you need to see it most people think it's a phone or pager. If you want it completely hidden you can adjust the inside of suit pockets with sciorrors and velcro so that the pump is inserted from the inside of the suit so you don't see the tubing but you can still pull it out to look at it from the normal outside pocket bit. I find that the vibe is one of the smaller pumps so it's quite easy to hide.
I've never heard of a remote for the vibe but I don't think I would be bothered if there was one. I will hopefully be getting the cgm for it soon though which is another big selling feature. But I think the main thing for me is definitely the waterproof thing. I just have to turn down my basal before I get in the pool or kayak and off i go it's clipped onto the sport bra bit and stays there quite happily until I'm done. I would have to many bad fluctuations if I had to take it completely off any time I went near water. I'm quite often in the pool for 3 hours 2 minimum so having it waterproof is a must.
See if you can have a fiddle and play with both of them before you decide which one you want. If your hospital don't have spares they might be able to put you in touch with someone close by who wouldn't mind chatting to you and letting you see theirs.
Good Luck Laura :thumbup:

 

[kangoo]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, didn't want to start a new thread on the same subject.

I got consultant approval today, so definitely starting on a pump this summer. I have a free choice of the Animas, Medtronic or Accu Chek Combo pumps. I have ruled out Accu Chek as I don't want to carrying round a remote as well. Neither the Animas or Medtronic will be doing CGM on NHS and I won't be funding that myself, so just straight insulin pump required.

My total daily insulin requirement right now is pretty big, around 95 units. If I end up choosing the Animas, I'm going to be changing the reservoir more frequently than the site. Is that a big deal? I've no experience of doing that task although I've seen it on youtube videos. There seems to be a Medtronic pump with a 300 unit reservoir, maybe my choice has been made for me already?

Is it sensible to base my decision solely on the reservoir capacity?

 

[VickiT11979]

My insulin requirements reduced quite a lot when I started on the pump - I'm on 2/3 what I used to be on before, and I think this is true for most people. The Vibe has about 180u in it after priming, so you'd probably need to change it every 2-3 days, which is how often you should change the cannula & it should match up perfectly.
I do sometimes change the reservoir but keep the same cannula & it's not a problem.

 

[kangoo]

Thanks. That's good to know it's not an issue changing them at different times. Reduced daily dose could make a difference too, pity I won't know how much until I've picked a pump

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[ingrid]

Hi kangoo, you can easily change cannula or tubing or reservoir independently, they don't tell you this as they like you to change all at once so you use more consumables i.e. more money for them!! Poor diabetic pumpers in USA who pretty much have to pay for it all themselves, re-use consumables as much as possible, often to unhygienic levels, but it got me thinking and researching re-use. I now change my cannula every 3-5 days, tubing about every 10 days (there's no reason why you can't use tubing for months unless it's been in direct sunlight, which it shouldn't have been as it degrades the plastic...but it's constantly being flushed through with fresh insulin), and my reservoirs last me about 5 days BUT I do at least one refill of each reservoir. Not officially recommended but I can't see why not, having thoroughly looked into the subject and given it a lot of due care and consideration, and it saves NHS money (~£20 per reservoir!) and plastic waste! It's really quite shocking how the poor Americans are pushed to such extreme re-use for months and even years, and what I do is minor compared with some of them. I'm not saying this is suitable for everyone, but could be something to consider - refilling a reservoir. It still means you'd have to faff around with putting insulin in a reservoir every 2-3 days, whether it's a fresh one or refill though. But I agree with someone above that when you go on a pump, your total insulin needs are likely to be much reduced, so you may not need to change/refill every 2 days.

Best of luck with it all!

 

[SpikyMike]

Thanks for your info ingrid, very interesting, and I'll bear it in mind once I get my pump next month.


Type 1 since 1969.

 

[Spiker]

I am new to this pump and the one thing I really wish it had was a remote control. I am also struggling for a place to wear it. As a bloke I can just put it in my trouser pocket, but the gyrations needed when going to the toilet are comical. If I keep my sense of humour about it. I envy women being able to strap the pump to their bra. Though the manual says the pump shouldn't be higher than the infusion site. I am looking around for various kinds of strap, , pouch, band, etc. I would not have picked this pump, I would have picked one of the ones with a remote, except the Animas Vibe was compatible with the Dexcom G4 CGM which I had already bought, self funded. (Though it turns out that was a complete waste of money because I don't need the Dexcom receiver at all, and the Dexcom transmitter needed replacing.)

I really wish they made a remote for this. Or, how about using proper Bluetooth for the pumps and sensors, then they could be controlled and monitored from a smartphone?

The Animas Vibe has the "audio bolus" button which in theory means you can operate it while it is still in its pouch or whatever. But as people have pointed out, you only get the most basic bolus functionality. The dose calculators, the IOB, let alone any CGM information, are not available. Do the remotes for other types of pumps allow you to access these functions and data? If not then I'm not missing much that the "audio bolus" button on the Animas Vibe doesn't give me.