Debating my choices of which insuling pump...help!

Hello- when I was 12 years old I went on the mini med pump and had an awful experience. Now at the age of 22 I'm going to be daring and give the pump another shot. I have one HUGE problem, I'm torn between the Omnipod and One Touch Ping. I was told by my Endocrinologist that the Omnipod mysteriously raises your BGL after changing it sometimes, so that has turned me off a bit. If I could get some advice that would be fantastic, Thanks!

-Shannon

I have the animas one touch ping and i love it!! First pump i ever had lol

Hi Shannon,

My son had a Mini-Med Paradigm pump for 4 years.  We did not like it as it broke and had to be replaced on 3 separate occasions, not to mention customer service issues.  We've now had an Animas pumps for 4 years this summer and will be upgrading to the Ping from a 1250.  Animas has been fabulous and their customer service has been top-notch.  We even were able to go and have a tour of the company, where they built the actual pumps!

Anyway, those have been our experiences over the past 7.5 years.  The Omni Pod looks appealing, not having the tube and all.  Another thing about Animas pump is that it's waterproof and we swim all summer... pools, lakes, oceans, and several different countries as well... it's handled it all beautifully!

Good luck in your decision :)

Beth

Hi Shannon,

I was so scared to go on a pump esp with all the tubing etc, but a year ago i went on the omnipod and love it. i would definitely recommend the omnipod above any other pumps, so easy, convenient, and barely noticable. it doesnt hol me back at all! If you have any questions please feel free to message me

-Elyse

Yea, I had a terrible experience with the mini med as well. Thanks so much!

Hey Elyse- my doctor kept insisting that after changing the Omnipod to a new spot, sometimes, blood glucose levels would randomly rise. Has that ever happened to you?

I started the OmniPod about a year ago and LOVE IT! So different without all the tubing! : )

I've had Medtronic Minimed for 3.5 years, no problem, love it always.  So I guess I'm not much help.

We have the Ping for our 4 yr old son. We love it. We went with it because it is waterproof, does very small increments (basal amounts as small as 0.025 units, which yes, we do actually use) and because of the meter remote. We felt the omnipod was too big for him. If he was older/bigger I may have considered it more. The only other drawback I saw to the omnipod is that if you lose/damage the meter remote, you're hosed, you can't control the pump. With the ping, if we lose the meter, I can just use an old meter to check BG and then use the pump itself to bolus.

I don't think that potential problem your endo mentioned is Omnipod specific. We were trained that you have to check several hours after a site change with any pump/site style to make sure you got the site in correctly and that it is delivering insulin, any type of site can get bent or occluded during a change. Just a risk of pumping.

Thanks for this thread... Also highly considering Omnipod and think I'm going to give a shot here in the very near future.  Looks like mostly good reviews about it! (:

Does anyone know when changing your Omnipod if your sugar levels increase sometimes?! I'm trying to think fast of which to choose, so I can get it before clinicals start.

Go with the OmniPod so you can chronicle your experience and pave the way for me to get mine soon :D

Hi Shannon -

My three year old also had a pretty bad experience with the pump.  We tried it in December, but she kept dropping very quickly, very rapidly and it was an extremely frightening experience for me.  A couple times she dropped into the 40's during the night and I could not wake her up to treat her which was downright terrifying.  The nurse I worked with at the pump company was making minimal adjustments to the basal rate, which I know contributed to all the lows.  Needless to say, Shelby's endo was very upset with the nurse and wants us to try again but this time around we will work directly with her (the endo) and the two nurses we met when Shelby was first diagnosed.  I don't want to give up on it either, as her numbers aren't that great and I am really praying this will get them under better control.  She has a long way to go!! 

I looked at the Omnipod as well and got very excited about it because of the no tubing.  Shelby's endo thinks she will be better on the ping (the one we tried in December) though.  She said she is too small right now for the Omnipod and will need to grow some more before we can try that one.  I plan on it though when she is older.

Best wishes to you this time around!  I am sure it will be a much better experience!  :-)

I have  used a minimed pump for over 7 years now. The few and small problems that I have had were corrected immediately by minimed. I love it!

Oh goodness, I had the same experience as your daughter and the nurse did not do a very good job at helping (we switched doctors after that). My doctor really thinks the Ping is a great choice too. He's not too fond of the Omnipob, but it's so intruiging to the eye!