Pump or Injections?

[AshleighRutter]

I’ve been using a Mylife Omnipod system for the past 4/5 years (I’m currently 18) and have started developing problems with it.

I am a horse owner and therefore I am outdoors, in the typical UK winter weather, for numerous hours in the day.
Every so often, when I’m out sorting the horses, my pod fails/screams at me to tell me that an occlusion has occurred.

These occlusions are either occurring because the pod gets too cold or it is getting knocked (I have tried them on my belly and leg).

I have been in touch with both mylife and my hospital. Mylife were rather unhelpful and just told me to keep it warmer. My hospital said that multiple people have been having the same problem.

I was just wondering; would I be better off going back to injections or sticking with the pods in my situation? (very active, hates having the pod stuck to me constantly, always gets the pod caught on tack etc).

 

[Colin of Kent]

Hi Ashleigh,

I saw these OmniPods at a conference a few years ago, and they looked interesting. Personally, I'd be inclined to go for an ordinary pump. The tubing can be quite long, which means you can wear the pump almost anywhere on your body, i.e. somewhere it's less likely to get knocked. Many come with remote controls, too, meaning you don't necessarily have to have physical access to the pump most of the time.

My pump broke last year, and I went back to MDI for a few weeks. At first, it was nice not being connected to a device 24/7, but the novelty soon wore off, and I was grateful to be pumping again.

Hope you get a good solution soon.

 

[Engineer88]

As above, I would have recommended an animas vibe but they have just stopped providing them.

I could recommend a Dana RS if you can hold on until April. I couldn't think of anything worse than going back to MDI.

 

[AshleighRutter]

Hi Ashleigh,

I saw these OmniPods at a conference a few years ago, and they looked interesting. Personally, I'd be inclined to go for an ordinary pump. The tubing can be quite long, which means you can wear the pump almost anywhere on your body, i.e. somewhere it's less likely to get knocked. Many come with remote controls, too, meaning you don't necessarily have to have physical access to the pump most of the time.

My pump broke last year, and I went back to MDI for a few weeks. At first, it was nice not being connected to a device 24/7, but the novelty soon wore off, and I was grateful to be pumping again.

Hope you get a good solution soon.

They were great at the start and i really like the idea of them. But they're just not working at the minute. I go away on a 9 week racehorse training course in just over a week, so I'll be out in the cold all from 6am-6:30pm.
I have used an Accu Chek Combo Pump previous to my Omnipod. Same sort of situation, the cord would get caught on equipment and i would have no where to store the actual pump when out riding (jodhpurs never have pockets big enough!)
I'll be at the hospital on Friday afternoon to discuss the whole situation. I've told them I'd like to keep my Omnipod whilst I'm away, but have a recap on the injection system and have injection supplies given to me in case it fails too often.

 

[scotteric]

They were great at the start and i really like the idea of them. But they're just not working at the minute. I go away on a 9 week racehorse training course in just over a week, so I'll be out in the cold all from 6am-6:30pm.
I have used an Accu Chek Combo Pump previous to my Omnipod. Same sort of situation, the cord would get caught on equipment and i would have no where to store the actual pump when out riding (jodhpurs never have pockets big enough!)
I'll be at the hospital on Friday afternoon to discuss the whole situation. I've told them I'd like to keep my Omnipod whilst I'm away, but have a recap on the injection system and have injection supplies given to me in case it fails too often.

I tried the OmniPod for almost 4 years and went back to a tubed pump. I loved the idea of it but found it far more unreliable in practice than my MiniMed pump and sometimes more annoying than a tubed pump since the PDM is so big and difficult to carry around in a pocket. I tried MDI recently but found my control getting worse and worse as time went on, so went back to my MiniMed. Maybe you could try the untethered method with a tubed pump? Use Levemir, Lantus or Tresiba for most of your basal needs so you can disconnect it when you want?

 

[AshleighRutter]

I tried the OmniPod for almost 4 years and went back to a tubed pump. I loved the idea of it but found it far more unreliable in practice than my MiniMed pump and sometimes more annoying than a tubed pump since the PDM is so big and difficult to carry around in a pocket. I tried MDI recently but found my control getting worse and worse as time went on, so went back to my MiniMed. Maybe you could try the untethered method with a tubed pump? Use Levemir, Lantus or Tresiba for most of your basal needs so you can disconnect it when you want?

I will definitely mention this to my nurse and see what she thinks! I used to be able to disconnect my Accu Chek Combo whenever i wanted, as it was just clipped on to the cannula.
My control has never been perfect, so I'm not sure injections will be beneficial, as a permanent solution?

 

[donnellysdogs]

My pump stopped working for me due to my body after 5 brilliant years.

I went back to MDI. I love not having to wear it anymore to be honest. But my regime of insulin now is really difficult. I have 1 or 2 injections at 3.30am, another 2 at 8am and another at 8.30am just to get up, without eating...
and another basal at 4pm. Thats all a pain but to be honest I still prefer mdi.
Levels are so brilliant as they were but my body has gone thru hell in past few years so I'm ok with it all and I no there is no other option for me.

I had accuchek and the insight ones but I believe they currently only have the flex cannulas... with my activities and build I needed steel ones. Tried the medtronic but I hated it bevause it didnt have a remote control. Also it didnt work either as the problem is my body...

 

[Colin of Kent]

They were great at the start and i really like the idea of them. But they're just not working at the minute. I go away on a 9 week racehorse training course in just over a week, so I'll be out in the cold all from 6am-6:30pm.
I have used an Accu Chek Combo Pump previous to my Omnipod. Same sort of situation, the cord would get caught on equipment and i would have no where to store the actual pump when out riding (jodhpurs never have pockets big enough!)
I'll be at the hospital on Friday afternoon to discuss the whole situation. I've told them I'd like to keep my Omnipod whilst I'm away, but have a recap on the injection system and have injection supplies given to me in case it fails too often.

Lack of pocketage need not be an issue, you can get great pouches that fit close to the skin; I have one for when I go running. As for getting tubing caught, have you tried using micropore tape?

I've used the Accu Chek Combo, too, and two different Medtronics, and I vastly preferred the Medtronics for various reasons. It comes down to personal choice, but bear in mind that you'll have it four or five years, so worth doing your research.

 

[scotteric]

My control has never been perfect, so I'm not sure injections will be beneficial, as a permanent solution?

I tried MDI from September to last week. While I think a lot of it is user preference and an experienced insulin user can obtain good control using either regimen, I found it is much more difficult to obtain the level of control I had with my pump on MDI without more work and annoyance. I tried both Levemir and Tresiba but could not find a dose on either that worked consistently or as well as a pump for me. I also hated having to take multiple injections after eating slow-digesting foods to stay in range, and found that it was extremely hard to wake up with a good number if I ate before bed. I'm sure if I made adjustments to my diet and timing of meals I could obtain excellent control on MDI, but I honestly don't want to when I know there is an option that makes it so I don't have to do this - the pump. I think the untethered method with a tubed pump will address your needs as you will have the reliability of a tubed pump most of the time along with the benefits of pumping, but the ability to remove it periodically when it is inconvenient without your BG skyrocketing.

 

[catapillar]

@AshleighRutter my omnipod will fail in the cold (I'm not often getting knocked by horses), it definitely doesn't like the cold. But I have found that it's much happier when I'm out in the cold (usually 2-3 hrs rather than 12) if I wear it on my abdomen rather than my legs & wear a body warmer over the top. Don't know if that helps at all, but maybe worth seeing if keeping it warm stops it screaming.

 

[AshleighRutter]

@AshleighRutter my omnipod will fail in the cold (I'm not often getting knocked by horses), it definitely doesn't like the cold. But I have found that it's much happier when I'm out in the cold (usually 2-3 hrs rather than 12) if I wear it on my abdomen rather than my legs & wear a body warmer over the top. Don't know if that helps at all, but maybe worth seeing if keeping it warm stops it screaming.

I'll definitely try this. I usually wear a t-shirt, hoodie and waterproof coat. I actually thought about sticking a layer of bubble wrap over the pod as well haha. I suppose it's just trial and error, but thank you for sharing your experience