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Omnipod DASH hell..

I

Ica291

Well-Known Member
Messages
48
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hi,

I've recently switched from a medtronic to the Omnipod as I wanted the freedom to be able to do more with my children and lifestyle. It works on that front, however.....


I've just finished my first box of omnipods and THREE (out of 10) of them failed. Please tell me this isn't normal?


I called the customer care people who have sent out replacements and told me I'm incredibly unlucky and it isn't a bad batch, but I'm not sure they would say anything else.


The first one failed at 1:30am, which was tough when I'm up in the night with the baby a lot anyway.

They have all failed in different bodily positions, they assure me it isn't how I'm applying them as I would get an instant notification or failure.

Any podders out there that can offer advice or keep me sane with it???

Jessica
 
Hi Jessica

I am sorry to hear about the problems you have had with the Omnipod Dash. Being disturbed at night is no fun especially when you have young children.

I changed from the Medtronic Pump to the Omnipod Dash in February this year. I have had 3 pods fail, but not in the same way as you.. Mine failed to connect with the Handset when doing a pod change. Sorry I cannot be any more help. I likened it in some ways to the Libre sensors which fail. Obviously they do not cause the same hassle as a pod failing.

Hope things go smoothly from now on
 
Hi Jessica,
I was quite relieved when I just read your post. I am a newbie to pumps & have had a few pod failures with the omnipod dash. The latest was my own fault, I wore tight trousers & it was on my thigh. Cannula kinked, a lesson learned.
It was reassuring to read I am not alone.
Have you found some sites work better than others? My pump seems to work best when on upper arm or lower back. Not so well on thighs! & tummy.
 
Hiya!

Well since that initial rocky period I have only had one more fail. Each time I called omnipod, they assured me there was nothing wrong with what I was doing and there was no correlation with sites as they were different each time (I still use these sites and had no problems). So it seems I was just incredibly unlucky.

I am now very happy with it and it has meant I can go in and out the sea with my little ones with ease and not fiddling around to find a pump for doses. I'm more cuddly now too without a chunky medtronic in the way.

So if anyone else comes across this post in the future, it seems to be working well for me now and maybe it was just an unfortunate blip!

Jessica x
 
That is fantastic news. Really pleased for you. I am the same & it has improved a lot from initial period. A few pods fell off during the extremely hot weather. Sticky tac was recommended from a helpful person on the forum but was a bit painful when taking off as really sticky. I found a better alternative for me, skin prep by smith & nephew. It keeps pod secure but still ok when peeling off.
 
Hi to all

Re comments above my daughter has been on an omnipod for a few yrs now and this does happen where you get some that don't work for whatever reason. All we do is call them up and they send a replacement ASAP. As it is new technology this will happen, but these incidents are very infrequent to be honest.
 

Hi Jessica,

I have been using DASH for a good while now and have had the same problems. Kind of glad to know I'm not the only one.
There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as the why the pods fail I'm afraid. My only tips are to restart the PDM if you change the pod after the set time and this will stop it alerting you a while later and to put the pod on top of the PDM if there is connection issue between them both in the set up stage. It might seem to take slightly longer than normal time to connect but does work.
 
I've been using the Omnipod Dash system for 16 months. I'm not sure what you mean by 'fail'. To begin with I found it all very stressful, particularly as we were in lockdown, so help from my diabetes team was by phone during office hours (does that term still apply?). My 'fails 'are usually when the pod is not delivering insulin and my b/s's are rising or when it falls off or is knocked off. Though there was a time the pod started to alarm continuously and I couldn't stop it. I have found a solution – see below.

I got to a point when I was about to stop using Omnipod but stuck with it when I considered the alternatives. And my HbA1c has been excellent since using the system.

Now things are much more stable since using adhesive patches called BaBallet, available on Amazon. Clear, flexible, waterproof and hypo-allergenic, they remain in place until you change pods. 25 for £9.90. They really are worth a try as those produced by Omnopd are not available in the UK.

Cate
 
I was exactly the same as you Cate. Had about 3 total melt downs as DSN was indicating everything will be great within a couple of months. Not the case for me. Felt it really took me 4 months b4 I could get the hang of meals that required extended bolus & the correct temporary basal programmes for activities.
Like you I am enjoying it now but takes lots of patience.
 
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