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Which Pump?

CarysMia2711

CarysMia2711

Member
Messages
14
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi I was diagnosed 18 months ago and have recently been offered a pump. I am stuck between the Aviva Insight and the Medtronic 640g. Does anyone have any recommendations or advice or has tried both and have a preference
 
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I'll tag @Juicyj as she has the Medtronic :) Of those two pumps, I've only used the Insight. Personally, I hated it with a passion, but there are people here who use it and like it.

So if I had that choice, I'd go for the Medtronic personally :) I've been pumping for 13 years and my current pump is an Animas Vibe (I had a choice of three pumps - the two you've mentioned and the Vibe. I got the Insight originally but had it swapped to the Vibe for the reason above).

I also suggest you write pros and cons for each, read lots of reviews, watch videos on YouTube - and go for what you think is right for you :)
 
CarysMia2711 said:
Quick question. @azure Why didn't you like the insight?
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A lot of reasons - it was painfully slow; didnt take proper insulin cartridges (a huge disappointment); had a poor choice of sets and cannulas; needed frequent recharging; has had a number of safety alerts; didn't have a proper manual.... I could go on.

I found it a massive disappointment after my previous pump, and I feel it was rushed out and poorly designed. Just my personal opinion @CarysMia2711
 
Hi @CarysMia2711 - am very happy with the 640g, yes it does have tubing but it can be discretely hidden and I wear a pump belt so it's comfy for bed, sport etc, it's waterproof but I always remove for showering and swimming, it's easy to bolus and adjust basal settings for sport, sickness etc and set changes are pretty quick, you need to find a cannula set to suit you though and after using the mio which is a spring loaded set I've moved onto the sure t as was getting a reaction to the plastic set. I have t used any other pump though so cannot comment on others :)
 
tircoed said:
Im on a omnipod at the moment but have been offered the Medtronic 640,do you prefer it to the omnipod.
Thanks Emms
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Oh yes the only downside of the medtronic so far is the tubing but I'm getting used to that now, it hardly bothers me. Also my kit has got more in it now. The only thing I miss is the pdm presets x
 
Juicyj said:
Hi @CarysMia2711 - am very happy with the 640g, yes it does have tubing but it can be discretely hidden and I wear a pump belt so it's comfy for bed, sport etc, it's waterproof but I always remove for showering and swimming, it's easy to bolus and adjust basal settings for sport, sickness etc and set changes are pretty quick, you need to find a cannula set to suit you though and after using the mio which is a spring loaded set I've moved onto the sure t as was getting a reaction to the plastic set. I have t used any other pump though so cannot comment on others :)
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Thanks
 
Lorraine1973 said:
I've just gone onto the medtronic 640g and so far I love it. Was on the omnipod before x
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Hi - I'd be really interested to know what made you decide to switch? I'm currently trying to decide whether to choose to move to the Omnipod system or to the medtronic 640g, from an animas Vibe as it is now out of warranty. Thanks
 
Tried to copy and paste link for you but failed, sorry. If you speak to your dn she might know if there doing the trial in your area x
 
I've not used the insight, only it's predecessor the Combo. I think the main differences between the two are that you generally do your control functions on the Insight using the remote control whereas with the 640G you do it on the pump. As a result, the pump bit is considerably smaller on the Insight. The other thing about the insight is that it only uses prefilled NovoRapid cartridges, so if you don't use NovoRapid, you'd have to change. The final thing is that the 640G includes integrated CGM (which the NHS wont' pay for) that allows Predictive Low Glucose Suspend, helping to avoid Hypos (which is a really great feature).

I think it is @Snapsy who uses an Insight, so worth seeing their comments, and this was my comparison of the 640G with the Combo.

Personally I don't like the idea of carrying a remote control for the pump around with me all the time as it's just something else you need to carry (and a bit of a pain if you forget it).
 
Hi @CarysMia2711 and thanks for the tag, @tim2000s . Tagging some other Insight users - @Gaz-M , @Medusa41 - and @Type1Bri is a 640g user with a superb blog about it.

I didn't have a choice of pump, but I've been on the Insight for over a year and a half, and I love it.

Pros
  • Prefilled cartridges so no faffing with vials and syringes
  • Comfy cannulas (I've only ever used the Flex ones, easy to insert with inserter, various cannula and hosepipe lengths - they do do other cannulas too so you have a choice)
  • You can have several basal profiles (I have a 'normal' basal, a 'cheese' basal and - brand new for this week - a 'heatwave' basal!)
  • Bolus calculations are all done via the meter/handset. Bolus ratios for carbs are programmed in and it does the maths for you.
  • Handset/remote control/bolus calculator/meter is SO handy! I would always carry my meter with me everywhere anyway, so I don't mind carrying it round with me, and the fact that I can use it to tell my pump what to do is really convenient. You can also press buttons on the pump though to tell it to do things.
  • Because of the remote you don't have to hoik your pump out of your pocket/belt/bra to do what you need to do. If you want it to stay tucked away, you can, and just steer it from the handset. To be honest, these days I'm happy to whip it out and fiddle with it if it saves time, but I only started doing that once I'd had the pump for a while (often these days, now I'm pretty adept at 'sugar surfing' with my Libre, I will pump-fiddle to turn the tap up or down, rather than do it on the handset).
......and speaking of saving time:

Cons
  • The handset takes a while to respond. Not aaaaaaages, but longer than, say, a smartphone. Doing a bolus calculation is multiple stages, and each stage takes its time.
  • The screen is nearly impossible to read in bright light outside - actually it's hard to read outside, period! Annoying, but bearable.
Roche customer services are brilliant. Delivery of consumables is convenient. They're really nice people.

I flipping love my Insight! To be honest though it's the only pump I've had, so just the fact that it's a PUMP makes me very happy!

:happy:
 
I am on the insight for around the same time as Snapsy, its my first pump so can't compare it really but as mentioned the handset can be a tad slow but a reboot speeds it up a little.

I've had problems with air bubbles forming in the tubing so had the first pump replaced but the second pump started getiing bubbles after around 4 weeks and is still ongoing, ( when I say air bubbles I mean 2.5 cm bubbles or 3-5 1 cm bubbles which roche are blaming novo nordisk for and vice visa ) so I have to prime them out first thing on a morning and sometimes atfernoon/evening time. So gone for having to do a full set change every 6 days I have to do it every 3 days costing the NHS more money than it should be ...

I have tried everything that the roche team have suggested and tried different compartments in the fridge, would I recommend it? not at this moment in time tbh and I am even thinking about going back to MDI until I can get the pump replaced. I don't mean to be off-putting but thats my opinion at the moment.

Good luck in which ever pump you choose :)
 
CarysMia2711 said:
Hi I was diagnosed 18 months ago and have recently been offered a pump. I am stuck between the Aviva Insight and the Medtronic 640g. Does anyone have any recommendations or advice or has tried both and have a preference
Click to expand...

I have only used the insight pump for 8 months, so can't compare. But I love my pump.

I haven't experienced any of the negative comments on this thread, (lucky me).

There are online PDF manuals that you can download. This helped me understand all the functions before starting with the pump. I received 3 manuals with the pump, which are good for reference when needed.
Yes the meter is slow, but only compared to a smart phone.

Good luck
 
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