Which pump?!

[Inka]

@SB2015 You've mentioned the battery before but it’s not relevant IMO. I mean that politely not rudely. Yes, it’s a ‘special’ battery but there is a generic replacement you can buy that would tide you over.

But mainly - it’s hardly a fault of the pump, if people neglect to take enough kit with them. The batteries are tiny and come in perforated strips of 3. I always toss one battery in my bag when I’m away for the night, just as I pack a couple ofextra set/cannulas even if I’m not due a set change until I get back. It’s just common sense.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I have very much liked the Tandem tSlim so far, and I’ve found the Dexcom G6 that I self-fund to be excellent.

Control IQ (the hybrid closed loop software) can’t quite keep up where things are overly wobbly... but if you have your ratios and basal tweaked it really does help to smooth off a decent BG day and make it a surprisingly good BG day. In fact for the first time ever in my CGM- wearing experience I've had a few days which were 100% within 3.9-9.0. And not necessarily ‘easy’ days either!

Particularly helpful are the ‘sleep’ setting for overnight, and the. ‘exercise’ setting for activity, which change the way the algorithm responds. My overnight traces have rarely looked flatter, and I don’t get the post-suspend bounces that would sometimes happen with my MM640G.

 

[grainger]

I have very much liked the Tandem tSlim so far, and I’ve found the Dexcom G6 that I self-fund to be excellent.

Control IQ (the hybrid closed loop software) can’t quite keep up where things are overly wobbly... but if you have your ratios and basal tweaked it really does help to smooth off a decent BG day and make it a surprisingly good BG day. In fact for the first time ever in my CGM- wearing experience I've had a few days which were 100% within 3.9-9.0. And not necessarily ‘easy’ days either!

Particularly helpful are the ‘sleep’ setting for overnight, and the. ‘exercise’ setting for activity, which change the way the algorithm responds. My overnight traces have rarely looked flatter, and I don’t get the post-suspend bounces that would sometimes happen with my MM640G.

thanks for this...

do you think tslim would be worth it if you don’t have the G6? I could potential self fund it as I currently self fund libre (you’ve seen my post on that - outcome currently is go back to finger prick tests for 3 months and prove you are testing enough is apparently my only option right now). Dexcom is more expensive I believe but given its capabilities would warrant the extra money do you think?

I’m keen to get my exercise levels right especially and I have stupidly signed up to run half marathon next year so want something in place I’m comfortable with by then!

 

[grainger]

I was out off the Dana RS which requires its own battery, rather than generic ones. One person I met had big issues with this and got caught out abroad, and had to revert to pens.

However I know that there will be horror stories about every pump from someone.
Just keep going with the questions. Does your hospital have any that you could go an have a hold of. It is pretty important that you are comfortable with whatever you choose. Our clinic are letting people have appointments at the hospital if needed.

My hospital are currently offering a zoom meeting re pump if we can’t decide from the details given. No mention of appointments as yet.

 

[grainger]

I’ve been pumping for almost 17 years and have had various pumps over that time. The Insight was the only pump I actually hated and the only pump I’ve ever given back.

Jenny, from memory we’ve had this discussion before.... but to be clear my dislike of the Insight was based on the pump not Roche (I’ve had Roche pumps before) and nor is my dislike a comment on anyone like yourself who has an Insight.

My ideal pump is faff-free. I want to get on with my life and forget it. I want it to be high-precision, high quality and totally reliable. I also want high quality sets and cannulas and a reliable customer service. I want to be able to choose what insulin I put in my pump, not be tied in to some kind of deal that’s only to the benefit of the pump company and that particular insulin company that’s agreed a deal with them. I don’t want fiddly extra cr@p that needs charging every day or two, and I want a safe pump.

The Insight was none of those things IMO. It was painfully slow, had extraneous stuff to recharge, was fiddly, only allowed you to use the pre-filled cartridges so basically made you have to use Novorapid whether you wanted to or not. In the short time I had it, I had a number of Alert Emails from Roche warning about various things and Field Safety Notices, in particular, the risk of an accidental bolus. That’s not safe. But more than the safety, it was the utter faff of it - all for a substandard piece of kit in my opinion. I had high hopes of it and it felt nice when I first held it, but it turned out to be awful and a massive let-down.

The DANA RS is the latest DANA pump so is pretty recent. It wouldn’t be the one Sue mentioned above. It’s none of the above Insight awfulness. To me, it’s perfect and I can’t think of a single fault with it. Genuinely.

It’s as fast as my phone (I basically don’t need to touch the pump except to refill/change sets and batteries). The batteries last weeks (the company says 3 weeks but I get 6+), there’s no extra guff to carry around or recharge. it’s accurate, reliable, high quality, has high quality sets and is really well-designed. There are lots of tiny little things that show the design quality and intelligence eg the set tubing is designed to make bubbles easier to see when priming, you get a little blue tube in with the O Sets that’s simple but clever (it acts as a proper needle shield and also an extra tool to help with cannula insertion.

It also comes with a very smart and very well filled bag that contains a belt clip, leather case, soft case, various bits and pieces - lovely to look at and very useful (the pump rep told me everyone always comments on the case )

It’s one of the tiniest and lightest 300 unit pumps but it’s amazing build quality. It’s just such a clever design, and that clever design makes it a pleasure to use. It’s obvious someone has spent a huge amount of time getting things just right - and it shows.

The company who make it have been making pumps for decades and made the first commercially available pump way back in 1980. They have an excellent history, but more than that, they produced a high quality, very user-friendly pump.

thanks for this. Have you ever had a situation where the pump has failed and what was the customer service like? I only ask as I’ve had pump failures with Medtronic and I’ve had a new pump in my hands within 6 hours.

 

[Inka]

thanks for this. Have you ever had a situation where the pump has failed and what was the customer service like? I only ask as I’ve had pump failures with Medtronic and I’ve had a new pump in my hands within 6 hours.

You’re welcome 🙂

No, my DANA RS pump has never failed. I’ve had it just over 2 years now and have had zero issues with it. By customer service, I meant their phone service and the ease of ordering and getting pump consumables. I get the consumables in 24 hours usually with just their normal service so I have no reason to think they couldn’t get a replacement pump to me extremely quickly by courier. The DANA RS is made by SOOIL and in the U.K. is sold (if that’s the right word) by Advanced Therapeutics who are based in the Midlands. So very central for sending anything out.

BTW, my comment didn’t mention anything about looping with the DANA RS but this is because I currently can’t afford a Dexcom and so have no experience and not really much knowledge about it. It is something I’d be looking at if I had the Dexcom though as I understand it gives excellent results, having seen someone’s graph showing how their blood sugar was controlled so well. It was impressive.

I did find this brief article for you though - not too techy but explains a little about it, including the links with #wearenotwaiting and how the pump was designed with ease of looping built-in:

https://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/dana-rs-insulin-pump-embraces-wearenotwaiting#1

 

[grovesy]

You’re welcome 🙂

No, my DANA RS pump has never failed. I’ve had it just over 2 years now and have had zero issues with it. By customer service, I meant their phone service and the ease of ordering and getting pump consumables. I get the consumables in 24 hours usually with just their normal service so I have no reason to think they couldn’t get a replacement pump to me extremely quickly by courier. The DANA RS is made by SOOIL and in the U.K. is sold (if that’s the right word) by Advanced Therapeutics who are based in the Midlands. So very central for sending anything out.

BTW, my comment didn’t mention anything about looping with the DANA RS but this is because I currently can’t afford a Dexcom and so have no experience and not really much knowledge about it. It is something I’d be looking at if I had the Dexcom though as I understand it gives excellent results, having seen someone’s graph showing how their blood sugar was controlled so well. It was impressive.

I did find this brief article for you though - not too techy but explains a little about it, including the links with #wearenotwaiting and how the pump was designed with ease of looping built-in:

https://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/dana-rs-insulin-pump-embraces-wearenotwaiting#1

I don't have pump but I have used Advanced Therapeutics, as i used a Dario Meter and they are the supplier and they always dispatched my strips quickly.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

do you think tslim would be worth it if you don’t have the G6? I could potential self fund it as I currently self fund libre (you’ve seen my post on that - outcome currently is go back to finger prick tests for 3 months and prove you are testing enough is apparently my only option right now). Dexcom is more expensive I believe but given its capabilities would warrant the extra money do you think?

Well the tslim is a smart, small, neat, nice looking pump, with very usable and fairly intuitive software layout, so I would saybit’s well worth having without sensors.

You can try the ‘starter pack’ of dexcom for £150ish to see how you get on? The transmitters last 120 days, so you could but extra sensors if you are getting on well.

Long term there’s a subscription model £1908pa with the transmitters for the full year.

But... the sensors can be restarted. I’ve only ever restarted them once as I want a flow of reliable data... but I‘m getting really good accuracy for 20 days per sensor rather than the regulation 10. And I’m buying transmitters when they expire (£200 each ~3 a year needed). Which makes £1524 for the year.

Fully self finded Libre at 14 day wear and no failures would be £1248.

So it is more than Libre... but for me is worth the extra - my hypo awareness is improving no end!

 

[grainger]

Thanks

Well the tslim is a smart, small, neat, nice looking pump, with very usable and fairly intuitive software layout, so I would saybit’s well worth having without sensors.

You can try the ‘starter pack’ of dexcom for £150ish to see how you get on? The transmitters last 120 days, so you could but extra sensors if you are getting on well.

Long term there’s a subscription model £1908pa with the transmitters for the full year.

But... the sensors can be restarted. I’ve only ever restarted them once as I want a flow of reliable data... but I‘m getting really good accuracy for 20 days per sensor rather than the regulation 10. And I’m buying transmitters when they expire (£200 each ~3 a year needed). Which makes £1524 for the year.

Fully self finded Libre at 14 day wear and no failures would be £1248.

So it is more than Libre... but for me is worth the extra - my hypo awareness is improving no end!

Thanks. That’s really helpful.

I’ma little concerned the bit that comes out of the pump then has a knobbly bit (don’t know how to describe it so I hope you get what I mean) could be annoying/get caught on things? Have you had any issues?

honestly I just don’t know what to do. I’m really confusing myself!

 

[grovesy]

Thanks


Thanks. That’s really helpful.

I’ma little concerned the bit that comes out of the pump then has a knobbly bit (don’t know how to describe it so I hope you get what I mean) could be annoying/get caught on things? Have you had any issues?

honestly I just don’t know what to do. I’m really confusing myself!

It is understandable!

 

[Sally71]

Thanks


Thanks. That’s really helpful.

I’ma little concerned the bit that comes out of the pump then has a knobbly bit (don’t know how to describe it so I hope you get what I mean) could be annoying/get caught on things? Have you had any issues?

honestly I just don’t know what to do. I’m really confusing myself!

My daughter wondered that, but now she's got it she says it's great for fiddling with! And no, we haven’t had any problems catching it on things.

We ran the tslim just as a basic pump with no Dexcom for the first few weeks and it's a good pump, I don’t know if I’m imagining this but BGs seemed to be bouncing up and down a little less than on the Combo, maybe due to increased precision. And then since we got the sensors it's got even better!

 

[Inka]

@grainger It is confusing and a little stressful. I found I was going round in circles to start with. But I narrowed it down to two pumps (2 or 3 would do) and then made a comparison list, circling any special feature or features that might concern me.

I then watched a lot of videos, read a lot of reviews, and made another list of my priorities. I then scored each pump according to my priority list. It took a while but it meant I was happy with my choice and knew I’d made a good choice and had considered everything.

Don’t forget the consumables, customer service and integration with anything else you might get tech wise. Also, think about your lifestyle and how each pump on your shortlist would fit in.

 

[grainger]

@grainger It is confusing and a little stressful. I found I was going round in circles to start with. But I narrowed it down to two pumps (2 or 3 would do) and then made a comparison list, circling any special feature or features that might concern me.

I then watched a lot of videos, read a lot of reviews, and made another list of my priorities. I then scored each pump according to my priority list. It took a while but it meant I was happy with my choice and knew I’d made a good choice and had considered everything.

Don’t forget the consumables, customer service and integration with anything else you might get tech wise. Also, think about your lifestyle and how each pump on your shortlist would fit in.

that’s a great plan. At the moment I have reduced to 3: the Medtronic, the Dana RS or the tslim.

The tslim seems to be giving me the most questions - it looks great but until I’ve tried charging it while attached etc it’s hard to tell what it would be like. I like the idea of not going through loads of batteries though.

The Medtronic is simply because it’s what I know, I get on with it and there’s no need to learn anything new etc.

The Dana RS I like the fact you can control from an app on your phone.

I’ll spend some more time tomorrow making lists I think!

 

[trophywench]

I'm going to work on the idea that the Dana RS sound very much like it's virtually everything the Insight was/is supposed to do, but just doesn't do it very easily - the only 'anti' that I personally have fathomed so far, is the fact that muggins has to fill the reservoir - but in comparison to making my life easier, that's negligible.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thanks


Thanks. That’s really helpful.

I’ma little concerned the bit that comes out of the pump then has a knobbly bit (don’t know how to describe it so I hope you get what I mean) could be annoying/get caught on things? Have you had any issues?

honestly I just don’t know what to do. I’m really confusing myself!

Yes I know just what you mean, and I really didn’t like the look of it either - it’s the ’luer lock’ connection between the tubing and reservoir.

In reality I haven’t noticed it in use at all, It certainly hasn’t been obvious or noticeable when I’ve tucked the tubing in. It’s not got caught on anything or got in the way at all 🙂

 

[trophywench]

The Combo one does too, thought the outer cover at the top of the reservoir which anchors the reservoir inside the pump, has a 'hole' through it which conceals a large part of the luer. The main thing to remember about luers is that they are actually luer locks so cannot be accidentally dislodged, they must be physically turned to remove them.

 

[SB2015]

The Dana RS I like the fact you can control from an app on your

That was the draw for me to the Insight, and now the Medtronic 780.
Bluetooth connection for bolusses is top of my criteria.
Now I have added in the facility to use sensors and the possibility of automode

The 780 isn’t available yet but it is expected before the end of the year and others have suggested to wait for it rather than have a 670. So I have decided that even if it is not out at my changeover date I will chug along with my Combo until it is available

I look forward to hearing what you choose.

 

[grainger]

DSN called me today, and after chatting about pumps for a while we agreed that I’d go into hospital so I could physically hold/look at the tslim and the Dana RS, I already have a Medtronic so no need to see that one.

Also had another chat re libre - unfortunately situation is still the same and I’ve been told currently the only way for me to get funded is to do 3 months of 8+ tests a day. I can’t mentally bring myself to do that so will continue self funding for now. She has recommended I start complaining and making noise basically to show how frustrated I am. So I guess there will be lots of emails/letter writing etc over the coming months.

one step closer to deciding on the pump though - at the min I feel tslim may be the choice but I’ll wait until I’ve actually seen it etc to decide.

 

[Inka]

It’s good you can hold the pumps 🙂 TBH, I haven’t ever held any of mine prior to having them. I did watch videos and look at pics though to get a feel for size and build quality. Reading reviews allowed me to look for weak points eg one pump had a number of people talking about cracks for no good reason.

Good luck in choosing 🙂 You’ll be confident in your choice having put so much work into researching them.

 

[grovesy]

DSN called me today, and after chatting about pumps for a while we agreed that I’d go into hospital so I could physically hold/look at the tslim and the Dana RS, I already have a Medtronic so no need to see that one.

Also had another chat re libre - unfortunately situation is still the same and I’ve been told currently the only way for me to get funded is to do 3 months of 8+ tests a day. I can’t mentally bring myself to do that so will continue self funding for now. She has recommended I start complaining and making noise basically to show how frustrated I am. So I guess there will be lots of emails/letter writing etc over the coming months.

one step closer to deciding on the pump though - at the min I feel tslim may be the choice but I’ll wait until I’ve actually seen it etc to decide.

Glad you get to see and touch pumps, it is a shame about the Libre.