Omnipod dash pdm issues

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uselesspancreas

uselesspancreas

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
After the week from hell. Today tops it off
A bit of background . . .
I changed my pod last night before bed bolused for supper no issues.
Woke up at a 6.5bg so pump all good
Had breakfast bolused no problems

A couple of hours later I attempted to bolus for a yogurt
PDM says move closer no connection I tried repeatedly no luck
Rang omnipod the person on the phone tells me to remove battery and then turn it back on.
It starts but shows error messeges so whilst on the phone I changed the pod and it connected yaaaay !!

Attempted to bolus for the yogurt .
But it won't use the calculator or tell me what's on board till 7.05pm !!!!
It's been so long since I injected I'm trying to do an almost nil carb lunch and tea.

Has this happened to anyone else ???

They've said if I doesn't connect at 7.05pm they'll send me a new pdm, any ideas how long that will take?

And if you've got this far you deserve to treat yourself to something nice like ☕
 
uselesspancreas said:
Attempted to bolus for the yogurt .
But it won't use the calculator or tell me what's on board till 7.05pm !!!!
Click to expand...
I don’t use a pump so forgive my ignoreance but can’t you just tell it how many units to give? So if yoghurt is 15g carb and your ratio is 1u to 10g then is there no function on the pod or on your backup insulin pens to just give 1.5units (or whatever the dose is)
 
Do you have back-up pens and insulin cartridges for them? I was advised to do an injection in the event of a problem. The problems I have had do not sound like yours. There have been one or two where I knocked the cannula out although the pod was still attached and a couple where the insulin vial I had filled the pod with had gone off. It may be a couple of days before you receive the PDM.
 
Lucyr said:
I don’t use a pump so forgive my ignoreance but can’t you just tell it how many units to give? So if yoghurt is 15g carb and your ratio is 1u to 10g then is there no function on the pod or on your backup insulin pens to just give 1.5units (or whatever the dose is)
Click to expand...
It's difficult Lucy with the PDM if it's not talking to the pod. The OPneeds to inject I think.
 
Pattidevans said:
It's difficult Lucy with the PDM if it's not talking to the pod. The OPneeds to inject I think.
Click to expand...
It shouldn’t be a complicated process to inject for a yoghurt though? Just divide carbs by the ratio, I understand pump users keep them all written down and stored with their backup injection kit.
 
Lucyr said:
It shouldn’t be a complicated process to inject for a yoghurt though? Just divide carbs by the ratio, I understand pump users keep them all written down and stored with their backup injection kit.
Click to expand...
I don’t, but then again I know what my ratios are. I do keep a list of my hourly basals in order to reset a new PDM. i have said all along the OP needs to inject for the meal, but if the PDM isn’t talking to the pod then @uselesspancreas will not be getting basal. Nor could I work out how much basal to inject given the tiny amounts the pump delivers per hour. E.g there are some hours when I only need 0.05u.

I haven’t really been over-impressed with Insulet customer service, but in the event the PDM has failed they should send a new one by Express.
 
Lucyr said:
I don’t use a pump so forgive my ignoreance but can’t you just tell it how many units to give? So if yoghurt is 15g carb and your ratio is 1u to 10g then is there no function on the pod or on your backup insulin pens to just give 1.5units (or whatever the dose is)
Click to expand...
You can only tell a pump how much insulin to give if you can talk to it.
The OmniPod has no controls on the pump - they are all via the PDM (effectively a remote control) which is far more than a dose calculator.
If the PDM is not talking to the pump, all you can do is leave the pump to do the basal but not the bolus. And you cannot change the basal pattern, do a temporary basal change or change the pump.
 
helli said:
You can only tell a pump how much insulin to give if you can talk to it.
The OmniPod has no controls on the pump - they are all via the PDM (effectively a remote control) which is far more than a dose calculator.
If the PDM is not talking to the pump, all you can do is leave the pump to do the basal but not the bolus. And you cannot change the basal pattern, do a temporary basal change or change the pump.
Click to expand...
Surely you could calculate the dose yourself and give it via an insulin pen though? I thought pumpers have to keep ratios written down and insulin pens easily accessible to bolus in pump failures, not just avoid eating any carbs.
 
@uselesspancreas have you spoken to the Omnipod (Insulet) people? Or is the PDM talking to the pod now?
 
Lucyr said:
Surely you could calculate the dose yourself and give it via an insulin pen though? I thought pumpers have to keep ratios written down and insulin pens easily accessible to bolus in pump failures, not just avoid eating any carbs.
Click to expand...
Yes we can but the reason we have pumps is for greater flexibility and smaller doses. For example, I often take less than half a unit and use different insulin to carb ratios at different times of the day which impacts the total dose by less than half a unit but, as I am sensitive to insulin, it can make a significant difference to my BG.
Having a pdm that does not communicate with the pump is like having an insulin pen and no needle - you can dial up the dose but cannot give it to yourself.
I do not carry my insulin pens around with me all the time because that would be a waste of insulin cartridges (and space in my bag).
Before you ask, I carry a syringe and a vial of insulin as a back up when out for a few hours.

Yes, pens are suitable as a back up if your pump is not working for a day or more but there is a good reason why we use pumps and it is not the convenience.
 
I keep meaning to write down my hourly basal rates but being as this is me we're talking about, it's just another one of the many things I just haven't got round to yet ........ even though - how long ago was it?? - I was personally presented with one of the early produced physical round tuits that went around most offices last century! Think it can just wait now until after my D clinic appt next week - cos I know very well that no sooner have I committed it all to paper and stored somewhere safe than consultant will suggest I 'just try' something slightly different 'and see how you get on with that for a while' ........
 
I think we've got a bit off topic - apologies to @uselesspancreas who's original question was how long would a replacement PDM take to arrive. @trophywench when we were both on Combo pumps didn't Roche guarantee to replace faulty pumps/handsets within 24 hours or less.
 
Pattidevans said:
I think we've got a bit off topic - apologies to @uselesspancreas who's original question was how long would a replacement PDM take to arrive. @trophywench when we were both on Combo pumps didn't Roche guarantee to replace faulty pumps/handsets within 24 hours or less.
Click to expand...
I think it seems to depend upon the contract that the clinic has with the pump manufacturers. Many moons ago when I had an Animas, they would take 2 or 3 days and not move a muscle outside of hours.
In contrast, Medtrum get something out for next day delivery via DPD whenever I need something whether it is a replacement pump or pump supplies.
I have no experience of OmniPos and Insulet.
 
uselesspancreas said:
After the week from hell. Today tops it off
A bit of background . . .
I changed my pod last night before bed bolused for supper no issues.
Woke up at a 6.5bg so pump all good
Had breakfast bolused no problems

A couple of hours later I attempted to bolus for a yogurt
PDM says move closer no connection I tried repeatedly no luck
Rang omnipod the person on the phone tells me to remove battery and then turn it back on.
It starts but shows error messeges so whilst on the phone I changed the pod and it connected yaaaay !!

Attempted to bolus for the yogurt .
But it won't use the calculator or tell me what's on board till 7.05pm !!!!
It's been so long since I injected I'm trying to do an almost nil carb lunch and tea.

Has this happened to anyone else ???

They've said if I doesn't connect at 7.05pm they'll send me a new pdm, any ideas how long that will take?

And if you've got this far you deserve to treat yourself to something nice like ☕
Click to expand...

Only had one handset go faulty so reported it to Abbott, they sent out a replacement & it arrived following morning, so can't fault that service from them.

Whilst waiting just used bolus pen for meals, didn't use basal pen as pod had only been on for a day & basal delivery is unaffected by faulty pdm so all good.

Been Omnipod user for past 10 years, always found customer service helpful & had very few issues with pump overall.
 
Yes @Pattidevans we were indeed both told that. (Might have worked in office hours on weekdays if you resided in Burgess Hill, don't know - but certainly not otherwise!)
 
My pump got a crack in the screen, and it still worked but I phoned and they sent a replacement within 48 hours. If it hadn't have been working pens would be a pain, but thankfully it was functioning, they didn't want it back so now I have a backup spare.
 
Should add the crack was growing with usage and it would have broken at some point.
 
I had a similar situation this week with my Omnipod dash, I tried to bolus and got the same error, restarted the pdm and tried again and it gave me an error telling me to change the pod, so I did. Once changed it wouldn’t allow me to use the calculator as it didn’t know how much of the previous bolus was given (I know none was given). I had to wait out the 4 hours to use the calculator but I was able to just type in the number of units myself which is did to cover my lunch.
 
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