Greetings all,
I'm still managing my diabetes old-school, with Lantus and Humalog. I'm looking into getting a pump or constant glucose monitor or both. I remember reading that the Paradigm devices work with constant glucose monitoring.
My questions are:
1. Do the Paradigms have their own CGM capabilities?
2. How "tied down" are you users to the devices? How easy is it to bath, swim, sleep, exercise, and live life?
Thanks, All,
Dan
Hi Dan, I've had a MM Paradigm pump for about 3 years now and just started on the CGM about a week ago. I like that the MM pump has it's own CGM and I only have to have one device - keep in mind you'll steed need to wear 2 sites on your skin, one that's hooked-up for the insulin and one "wireless" one for the CGM - but so far, it hasn't been as a big a deal as I thought it was going to be. I know a lot of people on this site don't really like MM and don't mind using two different devices and have gone with the Dexcom and the Animas Ping, so I guess you can keep that in mind. But in 3 years I've been very happy with MM. Their customer service has been great and I love my pump.
I had a lot of the same concerns you seem to have about being "tied down." I'll be honest, you do have to get used to it, but after a few months I loved the flexibilty and freedom that the pump gave me that I would never even consider switching back to MDI. It's nice to be able to make treatment adjustments on the fly. If I'm unexpectedly really active one day, I can just turn the basals on my pump down. I do a lot of long bike rides, running, and swimming and the pump has been awesome for my training. Also, if I'm eating dinner and decide I want to get more mashed potatoes, just a few button pushes instead of another injection. I recently had to be without my pump for a few days (a long story) and it was actually a nice reminder of just how awesome the pump is for me and how much I love the flexibility. I'm not going to lie, it was a little nice to not be "hooked up" for a few days, but the trade off was definitely not worth it.
Check out this site: http://www.2betr.com/ It has some pretty good points and is hilarious (IMO, but I have a really sarcastic sense of humor!) The guy behind it works for Nike. I met him at a Diabetes Expo and what he said to me and reading his pamphlet really helped change my mind about the pump. If there's a Diabetes Expo coming up in your area, I'd highly recommend going. You can talk to the different pump company reps and even try some of their infusion sets. It might help you with your decision. I think you can find out about expos in your area on the ADA website. Good luck!
Hey Candace,
Thanks for the reply. Which Paradigm model were you using? Ping is very cool, but it's not constant and doesn't tell you what the trend is. I have some literature on the Dexcom, but I don't want to carry 2 devices.
I have the Paradigm 722. The only difference between it and the 522 is the size of the insulin resevoir. I got the bigger one because I was planning on a pregnancy at the time and thought I'd need the bigger one to accomodate increased insulin needs while pregnant. I never fill it all the way up as I only use about 30u of insulin per day and it holds 300!
I'm on a Minimed pump, model 722. I am much less tied down than I was when I was on daily injections. I could go on, giving you a whole bunch of examples, but I'm sure I would take up too much room. I say go for it.
Hey Dan,
I have been using the Minimed Pumps for the past 9 yrs. I have had the paradigm for a while but it took a little bit of time to get the CGM approved by my insurance. A lot of people don't like MM but, I have had very minimal problems with it over the years. I like the fact that the pump and cgm are integrated. I definitely don't want to wear two different receivers. That is annoying. I do like being able to see the trends and pump all in one.
As far as swimming and water. In the shower if I run the water really hot the tape comes up and I have to get new pieces to hold down the cgm part but, I have never had a problem with the infusion set ever coming up in the shower or while swimming. The CGM that is connected to your skin needs to be taped down because only certain parts of it have tape. The actual transmitter can get caught on something if you are not careful. Sensors can be pretty pricey so you don't want to waste any. I have had my entire site pulled out walking past something and getting caught, and it can hurt and bleed a lot. I try not to be in the water too much when i have my sensor on because I am afraid that something will cause the transmitter to fail or something. But, I think it is approved to be in water for 30 min intervals.
Overall, I like the Minimed pump/cgm. Hope this helps you?
G
CGM stands for "continuous glucose monitor", not "constant glucose monitor". What are you thinking of that's supposed to be constant?
[quote user="Dan Teaman"]
Hey Candace,
Thanks for the reply. Which Paradigm model were you using? Ping is very cool, but it's not constant and doesn't tell you what the trend is. I have some literature on the Dexcom, but I don't want to carry 2 devices.
[/quote]
Hey Dan,
I'm not really following where you went with this. The Ping is an insulin pump, so you're right that there is no "trend" to inform you of. If you are thinking of the Dexcom (which many people use alongside the Ping, including myself... and which will also become integrated soon), it does tell you which way you are trending, and how rapidly that change is taking place. I'm not sure what you mean by "not constant"... it gives you a reading every 5 minutes. Could you elaborate a bit? We might be able to provide better feedback that way.
Dan,
in answer ta your question about CGM's i cannot help there they have told meh that i have ta wait until i turn 18 for some odd reason. health risk they say. wish i could help.
on the other hand i have had minimed pumps for 8 years. i was doing injections for 5 years before i got tha pump. i used ta love my pump when i got it.
ive had tha 722 Paradigm Link pump and meter for about 4 years. it is a pain in ma big butt. tha last couple replacements they have sent meh give meh tha same issues as ma orriginale one. tha pump deffenitaly helped meh out a lot. personally i wouldnt recomend tha 722 Paradigm Link. there are many different kind though. and tha 722 is na tha only kind of Paradigm. i understand that everyone has their own opinions. ba i figgured i would give you ma 2 cents.
well good luck with getting tha pump. hope all goes well :))
always,
Jessa
Hey Tom,
Thanks for the correction. Too many fracking acronyms in my life to keep straight!
As I understand things, the Ping is a pump that is connected wirelessly to a OneTouch meter. That's cool and fairly convenient, but I'm looking for both a CGM and pump combination in one device. From what I've been hearing here, Mimimed seems to have a good product.
Thanks!
Ah, okay. You are correct that Minimed is the only one on the market right now with an integrated CGM and pump.
And they released the new pump for ordering after the FDA ok's it for selling. The new one is the 523/723.
Sounds like they really improved the software...it is badly needed.
[quote user="sjwprod"]
And they released the new pump for ordering after the FDA ok's it for selling. The new one is the 523/723.
Sounds like they really improved the software...it is badly needed.
[/quote]
WHAT!
What else do you know about this?! I hadn't heard anything about a new Minimed pump.
[quote user="Ideen"]
[quote user="sjwprod"]
And they released the new pump for ordering after the FDA ok's it for selling. The new one is the 523/723.
Sounds like they really improved the software...it is badly needed.
[/quote]
WHAT!
What else do you know about this?! I hadn't heard anything about a new Minimed pump.
[/quote]
This was news to me too! But check out their site: www.minimed.com They've got new info out about "Revel"
I've not seen any info on the 523/723 devices, but the Revel looks interesting. Good find, Candace.
Check the purchase info, the Revel is the new 523/723 pump. The info can be found on the minimed site.
Quote from Minimed:
We are pleased to offer insulin pump upgrades to customers who are currently in-warranty on a MiniMed Paradigm® 515/715 and 522/722 Insulin Pump. By upgrading you will receive a recertified MiniMed Paradigm 523 or 723 Insulin Pump with valuable new features.1
Couldn't resist joining this discussion on Minimed. I've been using a 722 for almost threee years after 45 years of injections. It is absolutely wonderful although I had problems for the first 2+ years with bad lows and one single-=car hypoglycemic-induced car accident.
Due to the hypoglycemic issues, I tried the Minimde CGM that is integrated with the pump. It was not covered by insuranceand didn't work so well for me as it lagged behind when I was going up or down. Considering its expense and the diffiuclty thta I had injecting the sensor under my skin, I gave up on it. But I know that some of us have had far better experiences. I rely on 7 to 10 finger sticks a day to monitor myself and have pretty much gotten my hypos under control.
I travel a lot, and I find that the pump makes it oh so much easier to deal with air travel on crowded planes. Once on a trans-atlantic flight, I got into the lav and was delayed because of turbulence in getting my shot done. A woman statrted banging on the door when I had just been in the lav for about three or four minutes fiolling the syringe (wasn't using a pen at that time). So I just opened the door, held up my syringe, and asked her if she wnted to try an insulin injection, too. I had no idea what she must have thought, she looked so flabbergasted - probably lucky I din't get arrested.
[quote user="Frank Devlin"]
So I just opened the door, held up my syringe, and asked her if she wnted to try an insulin injection, too. I had no idea what she must have thought, she looked so flabbergasted - probably lucky I din't get arrested.
[/quote]Frank, this made me laugh out loud. Thank you for that.
MM's customer service was the worst!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I changed to an Animas pump in Sept and have had absolutely no problems. I am working on getting a CGM from Dexcom, they arte working with Animas to pair the devices soon. Another thing that is good with Animas is that it is waterproof. I would do alot of research before I made the committment!!