To: Old Pod Users. Thoughts on the new pod?

We were told our next batch of pods will arrive a couple weeks from now and will be the new smaller pods. I know several members of this community are in the same boat. Just looking for feedback from people that have made the switch already. What do you think?

 

I was going to start my own thread but since your asking about the new pods I thought I would share 'our' experience with them. I just called Omnipod and told them to put a hold on any further shipments (I guess you can see where this is going - not good).
We are minimed users, but our son wanted to try tubeless from the summer - so we did 'cut the cord.' We had about a 70% pod failure rate - mostly occlusions on or before day 2. We tried pinching up - then no pinching of the skin. We switched from humalog to novolog - didn't make a difference. We were retrained by the rep and 2 hours after she left the pod failed !! We took a break and went back to our trusted minimed for a couple of weeks. Today we tried the pod again (replacement pod) - no failure per se, but started w a BG of 95 and after breakfast 260 - corrected and a low carb lunch - one hr later he was 316 ???
So we are back on the minimed, I wish all the luck in the world to the existing users who transition. Will be looking forward to seeing how it compares to the old pods. Best of Luck ! Very sad we couldn't make it work because our son really liked the tubeless feature

 

Sorry it didn't work out for you. I wonder what your experience would have been with the old pods. I'm curious about New vs Old comparisons.

 

We have only been using the new pods for about 2 weeks now. We love them so far! Knock on wood we have had no failures. It seems that I am noticing better absorption as well. That could be because of the size I am able to use places that the bigger pods couldn't go. The IOB has been working ok as well. I have over ridden it a few times but I did that with Medtronic before as well. It just depends on what the scenario is for us. Hope that helps some!

 

Glad to hear it's working for you!! Curious to hear others experiences w/ it ! I really wish they would hurry and get it out to all the existing users so that you could help out us newbies who are having a difficult time..

 

Hana used the old pods for almost 3 years. We've been using the new ones for about a month. I guess for her,the biggest thing is the thinner profile since she has to wear a swimsuit everyday. It's an improvement. If someones looking hard enough they can still notice it. We haven't had very many comments about it except some rude mothers at a swim meet who were pointing at her butt...anyway..that's another story.
We had a lot of failures and occlusions in the first box. Almost every one. Insulet did replace most of them.
I don't like the new screen that you encounter first before the regular screen. Not sure of the point of it. I do like being able to see IOB on the main screen. I don't like the the new temp basal screen. It asks if you want to increase or decrease basal. I liked the old one where you used the up or down arrow.
I guess the pink inserter tab is good to see if the cannula inserted is helpful too.
Other than that, everything's pretty much the same.

 

We are waiting to switch over until school gets out, which is tomorrow, so I will update next week when we make the change.

 

We used the old pods for almost three years and have been using the new ones since the beginning of May.

We are pleased with them.

For us, the smaller size did not seem as apparent until DD was wearing it--the overall shape is still kind of boxy, but it is much flatter and lighter. DD finds them more comfortable (we rotate between right and left arms, belly, and bottom).

The cannula seems shorter. I find it only a bit easier to see, but that, and the pink tab that indicates that it has fired, are fine.

The IOB calculation seems, so far, to be working well for us.

When using the old pod we often saw post-pod change highs--to the point where we routinely bolused 1.00 unit plus increased basal by 50% for two hours after a pod change. That drove me crazy as there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it. We do not see that at all with the new pods and I'm pleased to put that diabetes voodoo behind us.

The various confirmation screens on the PDM are fine--don't love them or hate them. I'm not convinced they really make things safer, but not really an issue either way.

ETA: Although we sometimes get an error--the range of the new PDM is much better. I've bolused DD from the bottom of a flight of stairs and from across the kitchen.

 

We have no issues with the new pod and as a previous poster mentioned, the absorption seems to be a bit better as the post change highs are much less now when I use a thigh placement. Never really had an issue with her belly.

I didn't like the new IOB calculations at first but it seems to be working fine now although I do need to add back sometimes.

I did already have the new PDM replaced as I kept getting the stuck key error every other day. The replacement is fine.

The reminder about checking her BG a few hours after a new pod placement is a bit annoying. The PDM keeps alarming until you acknowledge it. If we change the pod very late at night this is an issue. I haven't looked yet to see if I can switch that function off.

One thing I have noticed is that the tape MAY not be as strong....the edges seem to peel up a bit faster when it's on her belly. It could be that it was hot here recently and she was sweating more but I didn't remember the tape peeling up as quickly with the previous pods. I always use opsite on the pods anyway for extra assurance but the tape peeling up bothers her a bit. Again...not sure if my observation is entirely correct. Maybe more people will read this and say something to support or disagree with this.

 

Will it remind you if you've already checked within that timeframe?

 

I tested a little over an hour after a pod change last night and it still started alarming at 90 minutes.

 

They added some pretty annoying bells and whistles to the new PDM.

 

Well that's going to suck for us as she tends to "forget" to change her pods till she's going to bed. Well maybe it'll get her to do it sooner.

 

Good question that I cannot answer! Since she has a cgm unless she is high we normally don't do sticks that often. I will pay attention for next change and get back to you.

 

Ahh never mind I guess someone else answered it already!

 

We're halfway through our second box and I think we had one screamer - occlusion. We had some issues with going high and we adjusted basals.

Lately we have tried to insert into new areas to give the normal sites a little rest and now we seem to be feeding basals a bit more than I like. Our 14 day average is around 120. No scary lows but we did treat a couple of 50s. I'm not sure if we have a body change or the new sites absorb better.

As for being different, the PDM was the biggest adjustment with the new IOBs. I know people are complaining about "all the new confirmation steps" but I couldn't care less. I can't honestly say I see any functional difference in the new pods over the old ones.

 

It's definitely not my favorite feature. I did the check right before my son fell asleep last night, and even though I had the alarm on vibrate, the screen lighting up and the PDM vibrating woke him back up. (I should have remembered it was going to go off even though I had already checked, but we're new to the new pods...)

The PDM stays in a drawer during the day at day care, so I'm thinking that's it's just going to be buzzing and lighting up in a drawer until lunch time on days when we change it in the morning. Since we CGM, I've never asked them to do extra BG checks after I change a pod. That probably won't do much for the battery life.

 

So, batteries are your biggest concern. Really.

 

No, it's not a big concern (which is why I added the smiley.) Just something different from the previous system.

 

I just finished training for the pod on Thursday, since my daughter is a brand new Pod Person. They explicitly told us to change pods in the morning. Part of the reason for this was that you would want to be awake and up and about during the day each time you have a new pod so you can see quickly if it's failed for some reason.

Now I see there is another reason, primarily that you want to be able to sleep.

Similarly, we always do new Dexcom sensor insertions in the morning since it needs a calibration at 2 hours. Additionally, we always calibrate it right before bed, since it will start buzzing for a sample after 12 hours. No sense in that thing going off in the middle of the night for no good reason.

I supposed changing the pod earlier in the day is just one of those maintenance things that has to be done.