780 Users

SB2015

SB2015

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
There have been quite a few posting that they are about to start or have recently started using the 780, so I thought it might be useful to gather our experiences together in one thread, so that we can support each other.

Fire away with any questions about the system and finding workarounds for anything.
There seem to be a few more of us now using the system in closed loop (Smartguard - which confusingly is what they called their previous system which was not closed loop with the 640)

I am aware of @Fio62 @matthewthomas @Annette Arundell @JohnWhi and @Phil65 using the 780.
I know some others have been offered a choice and may not have made the decision yet.
 
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I found the switch to the 780 difficult as I was moving from another manufacturer so not familiar with Medtronic’s terminology. I previously used a Combo along with a Libre. In spite of the sensors I found that I still had loads of hypos On my old pump as I did not have the auto corrections and switch off with my Combo. I was then offered the 780 and the option of self funding the sensors to use it as closed loop. This has reduced my hypos to about one per week (apart from when I had to adapt to this extreme heat) , and I think about my diabetes a lot less. I am now very used to it, and would not want to be without a closed loop system.

The others I did my training with (via Zoom with someone from Medtronic alongside the DSN who was also learning with us), were already used to the 640 and found the switch a lot easier. The trainer tailored the training to suit us and I ended up 1 to 1 after the first session. She could not have been more helpful. The Pump support team are excellent and we’re very patient helping as I struggled with the switch. There is access to online support but I still tend to phone.

The ordering system for consumables seems to vary, but I have generally had very few problems once things were set up. You will read of others that have had some issues with this. If I want to change my regular orders I have to get my DSN to email them, but that is reasonable since it is them that is paying for those. having read on here the issues that others have had I make sure that I plan ahead and don’t leave things to the last minute. I have got caught out when away on holiday and they have always helped and had stuff delivered to where I was staying.

I self fund my sensors and set up an account with them which gave me access to these at a reduced price. I have recently been told by my consultant that I should get funding by the end of the year.

I recently switched from Guardian 3 to Guardian 4 sensors. I am amazed at their claim that you only need one finger prick at the start and that is it. But it is true. One for callibration at the start of a sensor and that is it.

I would always want to be using closed loop now. You will read of irritations using the 780 and also ones from those using the t-slim. No pump is perfect but we each find workarounds that work for us. If you have any questions happy to help. There are now a few of us on here using the 780, or about to start.

Any questions and ideas, just add them on.
 
@SB2015, I started using the 780g last November. I self funded the actual pump part of the system but couldn’t afford to do the sensors too so lived with the libre 2 for the past wee while… tomorrow I go “live” with the guardian 4 sensors though!
 
I hope all goes well today @mindii
Let us know how it goes.
 
I hope Percival behaves well. Mine is Hermione (a more friendly name for the replacement for Humphrey - He got quite a lot of abuse in the first few weeks)
 
I’m loving that people have named their pumps! Percival is behaving beautifully so far! And I can’t believe that already I’m in range 90% of the time (it has only been 24 hrs but I’m counting the win and looking for it to continue! ) x
 
mindii said:
I’m loving that people have named their pumps! Percival is behaving beautifully so far! And I can’t believe that already I’m in range 90% of the time (it has only been 24 hrs but I’m counting the win and looking for it to continue! ) x
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Yes I didn’t know people named them and I am so here for it!
 
mindii said:
I’m loving that people have named their pumps! Percival is behaving beautifully so far! And I can’t believe that already I’m in range 90% of the time (it has only been 24 hrs but I’m counting the win and looking for it to continue! ) x
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I hope that things continue to work well. I know that I now enjoy regular nights of sleep with no checking in the night.
 
SB2015 said:
I hope that things continue to work well. I know that I now enjoy regular nights of sleep with no checking in the night.
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It’s the low alarms I would like to get rid of
 
For me those are now a rarity overnight as the pump makes adjustments throughout and catches any drops, and also sorts out any miscalculations if carbs within four hours from the end of my meal.
During the day I still get the odd hypo where the change is too quick for the pump to sort it, eg during intense or prolonged exercise.
I think lots and lots of sleep is one of the biggest bonuses of looping.
 
SB2015 said:
For me those are now a rarity overnight as the pump makes adjustments throughout and catches any drops, and also sorts out any miscalculations if carbs within four hours from the end of my meal.
During the day I still get the odd hypo where the change is too quick for the pump to sort it, eg during intense or prolonged exercise.
I think lots and lots of sleep is one of the biggest bonuses of looping.
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That’s all I want in my life, I can manage the days but I need level nights to help me stay healthy and sane. Some weeks I don’t get a night of full sleep :(
 
I had a couple of times in the last couple of days when my pump went into the three dots in the shield.
My initial reaction was that my new sensor was faulty but ….

I have remembered stuff that I read at the start again and looked at the list of reasons why this could happen, apart from a faulty sensor and the circumstances were all around rapidly rising glucose levels
  • I put my new sensor in quite a while before breakfast as we had visitors staying. Breakfast was two hours later and soon after that the warm up ended So it wanted my BG. I had not been able to pre bolus as I had no idea when the visitors would be up for breakfast so I was spiking. The pump kept telling me it was updating
    Solution
    I now know that I should have snoozed the BG request for 45 min and also in those circumstances had a smaller carb breakfast to reduce the rapid rise

  • We were at a funeral and timings etc were all awry, so again no pre bolus time. Too many nibbles from the buffet and a bounce after a hypo from walking to the wake. Rapidly changing BG and the dots appeared again and an updating message again As well as high glucose warning
    Solution
    I think in such circumstances I would possibly go back to manual mode and do an extended bolus as I would have done before. (Or be more sensible with food, but it is difficult to focus on that in those occasions)
Smartguard is great but Inhad completely forgotten that it will get a bit stroppy if my BG and SG are rapidly becoming mismatched.
 
(Totally Off Topic here, I know, but it just occurred to me. I named my very first Combo, El Pumpo. Now I'm 2 years into my second Combo it plain that El Pumpo hasn't moved forwards whatever, still thinks he's in 1970, expects me to have a scrunch dried perm, be size 12 and active. Were he a person, he'd have a comb-over. I would have had a 780, but was only allowed to choose the 640 at the time so discounted that) Time the ruddy clinic and the CCG moved on as well as their ruddy pump choices ....
 
Hey SB2015, I’m doing well thanks. Had the odd disaster with bleeding when placing sensors but other than that I love the whole system! How are you? X
 
mindii said:
Hey SB2015, I’m doing well thanks. Had the odd disaster with bleeding when placing sensors but other than that I love the whole system! How are you? X
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Good to hear that it is going well Mindii. Cannulas and sensors went wrong at times when I was on my old pump, but with this system suddenly the pump expects me to start doing more stuff again!! How unreasonable. The hiccoughs I have had are good reminders of how different the new system is.
 
I have been AWOL a long time as I became somewhat obsessive and decided to stop checking in as part of relegating diabetes to where it belongs in my list of “interests”!

However my third pump (accu chek Combi #2 after a 6 year stint with a Spirit) has now reached the end of its warranty and I have been offered the choice of a Medtronic 780G, Omnipod Dash or Tandem T-Slim. In an ideal world I’d like another Combi but that’s not a possibility.

The Medtronic is top of my preferences, mainly because of deal-breaking features of the other two (rechargeable batteries, lack of buttons, inability to adjust pump position).

I moved from MDI having done DAFNE to a Spirit first which had no remote control, no bolus wizard etc so I got very accustomed to doing all the sums in my head. Apart from very rare occasions on cruises where wardrobe requirements meant I had to, I don’t use the meter as a handset to control the pump, and just press the buttons on my pump to dose insulin. I don’t feel I need the closed loop system, especially since having the alarm on my Libre.

Am I right in thinking that this is possible with the 780 please? I don’t want to tell my pump my full life story every time I eat. Can I just use it as a standalone insulin delivery device?
 
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