I have has T1D for 29 years and recently I have been having a lot of trouble with Lantus and keeping my blood sugar stable. My endo has strongly encouraged me to go on the pump. With my insurance I can choose between the Animas Ping/Vibe or the Tandem T-slim. I would appreciate any feedback anyone has on either of these pumps, I want to make an educated choice and have a pump I will be happy with. I appreciate any help or advice!
sorry but I think it’s strange that your insurance would cover only those 2 manufacturers, are you sure about that?
out of them, the Animas (Johnson & Johnson) has been around longer and has better financial backing as a corporation. Can’t tell you if that is a good or bad thing, but a company that has a strong business behind it should have better chances of being there when you need them.
Other than financial stability of the parent company, both pumps work, they both have the same basic function: programmable basal rates, temporary basal rates, programmable bolus, and use fast acting insulin, so your issue around having to deal with lantus should go away with either pump.
pumping is harder than MDI, it requires you to test more, there are buttons to push, new alarms, new procedures (like filling the reservoir, infusion sets, etc), Even though there are more moving parts - pumping has been a great decision for me and it has been very much better than MDI for my own control.
there is a great book called “Pumping Insulin” which I recommend. It explains the system and it is not specific to any manufacturers.
good luck.
I have zero experience with either of these pumps (I wear a Minimed pump myself), but my only suggestion would be to get the Animas Vibe because it has a built in CGM feature with the Dexcom. One of the reasons I’ve been with Minimed for 15 years now is that (up until very recently) they were the only company to offer a pump and CGM combination, which I prefer over having to carry around a separate CGM receiver. If you have ANY interest in also using a CGM go with the Vibe (now or in the foreseeable future).
I would double check to see if they will cover a Medtronic Minimed. Maybe they won’t cover the CGM portion, but they should cover the pump itself. It’s the “Toyota/Honda” of pump manufacturers. Very reliable and excellent service, even if they don’t have the latest bells and whistles like a touch screen. I’ve heard some issues with Animas support and their screen fading, but I think they’re OK. Can’t speak for the T-slim, not much of a track record there.
I spent four months researching the same options and talking with people at the San Diego Insulin Pumper support group meetings before choosing a tslim in January. Deciding factors for me were the reliability and user satisfaction rates expressed by members of the group, the tslim’s touch screen interface that lets me enter carb counts and insulin doses directly on a keypad instead of holding down a button until the display reached the number I want, the rechargeable battery that reduces the amount of toxic trash I generate, and the independence from a particular brand of bg meter or CGM.
I’m okay with the idea that the tslim doesn’t yet display cgm data. That just means my pump won’t be obsolete the moment a new cgm tech hits the market. I expect we’ll be using smartphones as the display and Nightscout-type transmitter pretty quickly anyway. (Really, doesn’t it make more sense that a CGM display be able to call for help in an emergency and send GPS data too?)
I have had Medtronic, Animas, and just recently got the t-slim. Here is a list of my pros and cons for each one. Keep in mind that I LOVE all forms of technology and innovation. Also, keep in mind I use the angled sites instead of the 90 degree ones
Minimed
Pros: very dependable, been around the longest, least amt of customer support issues, great customer support, most well-known, is paired w/ cgm and a bg monitor now, holds 300 units of insulin
Cons: lack of features of other pump companies, black and white screen–hard to see even when illuminated, design is not attractive, difficult site changes w/ seperate injector, not waterproof
Animas
Pros: attractive design, waterproof, color screen-easy to see, integrates w/ cgm now, easy site changes w/ built in injector, can refill the reservoir if run out of insulin
Cons: only holds 200 units of insulin, have to replace battery cap every 6 months and insurance doesn’t cover that, screen has a film that gets grimy after a while,
T-slim
Pros: most attractive pump by far, color and touch screen, very quick to enter carbs and bg, reminders to test/do site change, charge w/ a usb–no buying batteries, has great computer software for upload, holds 300 units of insulin, good customer service.
Cons: site changes take longer and take some getting used to, reservoir is not refillable if insulin runs out, not waterproof, more issues here and there due to technology,
If you want a simple pump that has a good track record, go with Animas or Medtronic. If you want a pump paired w/ CGM also go w/ Animas or Medtronic. If you want one that holds more insulin, go w/ Medtronic or T-slim. If you want a pump you can swim w/ get the Animas. If you want a fun pump that is technological and fun and makes things quicker go w/ T-slim. T-slim will be integrated w/ CGM in about a year too just so you know. Get whichever one fits you best. I enjoyed alot of aspects of them all.
My family are all on the Animas Ping. They all love them. They are one of the most reliable ones as well. Both my kids are also on a Dexcom CGM. My husband just switched to the Animas Vibe which has the CGM included. It is new.
Thank you to everyone who has replied it has been helpful. I have one more question- I am leaning towards Animas and I have the option of the Vibe or the Ping, does anyone prefer one over the other? I have a Dexcom CGM and I love it, I don’t mind having the separate receiver and mine has the update so I am worried that the outdated version on the pump would bother me, even if it’s only different by a few points… Also, I know some people love the remote on the ping and since I have the Dexcom already I just wonder if having the “newest” version is worth it in this case? Any thoughts? I want to make the best informed decision that I can because moving to a pump after all this time is a big step for me.
I’m not sure why Animas decided to drop the Ping’s remote control option from the Vibe design, as that was my favorite feature on first comparison.
That said, the Ping remote uses the Ultra 2 test strips. One Touch has already started moving people away from the Ultra 2 technology toward the Verio devices, so when they discontinue the old test strips you could find yourself needing to carry the Ping pump plus the remote plus the CGM receiver plus a new Verio bg meter to use for CGM calibration.
With the Vibe, you’d need to pull out the pump to bolus or check the CGM, but you’d only need to carry the pump and your bg meter of your choice.
FWIW, I really thought pulling out a pump to bolus would be annoying, but it’s working out okay with my new tslim.
I’ve used two Dexcom CGMs. The pumps have been Medtronic 823(?), Animas Ping and presently on the Animas Vibe. The Ping has been in use the majority of the time, but am now getting used to the Vibe. I have a real problem with hypoglycemic unawareness in which I had 4 episodes while driving. Everything did turn out okay, but I had been off the CGM for too long. The Vibe is wonderful! Animas and Dexcom together! My only problem is just what was mentioned previously, the Vibe is not controlled by the meter, and I miss that aspect of it. But anyone that is questioning the best product for the user, I have to say Animas and Dexcom for sure!