Pump Recomdations

[Burmese]

I have been told I will have to start using a Insulin Pump to get better control of my blood sugars. What I was wondering is what pumps people are using and do you have a preference to a certain pump?

Thanks
Chris

[spike]

I have been told I will have to start using a Insulin Pump to get better control of my blood sugars. What I was wondering is what pumps people are using and do you have a preference to a certain pump?

Thanks
Chris

Most of us like the pump we are currently using so each respondent will likely tell you that their pump is the best.

here's what's available in the US
Medtronic Minimed 515 and 715
Animas Corp pumps
Deltec pumps

they will all gladly send you literature, as they cost over $5,000 a copy...

[Cyborg]

I just started the animas 1250 yesterday. I love the amount of features. It's such a powerful tool. Probably as many features, if not more, than any other pump on the market. Couple advantages that I found while shopping around were that the animas pump is waterproof, it has a built-in food database, and animas and lifescan just got bought by johnson and johnson (which will surely give medtronics some serious competition). I heard alot of complaints about Medtronics customer service, but don't know how true this is.

It's a tough choice. Get the reps to come out to your home or office and give you a demo. Do your research on the internet, newsgroups and forums. Don't get suckered in by the promise of closed-looped systems being "right around the corner". Sure, they may be here in 5 years if we are lucky, but making a pump decision now on a promise of something that is not here now and not yet approved by the FDA is not wise in my opinion.

The pumps are smart. They could be smarter... Much much more power is available to you with a pump than with a syringe. Just takes time to get the tool mastered (the process I have just started).

Good luck !

[JediSkipdogg]

[QUOTE=Cyborg]It's a tough choice. Get the reps to come out to your home or office and give you a demo. Do your research on the internet, newsgroups and forums. Don't get suckered in by the promise of closed-looped systems being "right around the corner". Sure, they may be here in 5 years if we are lucky, but making a pump decision now on a promise of something that is not here now and not yet approved by the FDA is not wise in my opinion.[QUOTE]

And keep in mind that most of the times your insurance will allow you a new pump every 3-4 years. Pump warranties I believe are 4 years (correct me if I'm wrong) and once the warranty is out it's very expensive to repair. So insurance companies know this and allow new ones to be bought usually when the old ones run out.

[Cyborg]

From the service I've been getting, including comments like, "if you drop it, send it to us and we'll send you a new one", I'm quite impressed. Either they must really want our business and/or they must make good money on the supplies, even though most of the attachments are non-proprietary. They even have a program where they will lend you a second pump when you go on vacations, just-in-case...

[Tokyo Cate]

I used Minimed Pumps for 12 years and found their customer service to be excellent as both a Canadian consumer and an ex-pat Japanese consumer. If I voiced a suspicion that my pump was malfunctioning, they had a new one to me the following day (and in one case, I discovered I was wrong--the problem continued with the new pump and wasn't caused by the device). However, to give a balanced view, I had problems with the infusion sets in my final months before I went back to MDI and think they should/could have been more supportive in communicating between the San Francisco office (that I called for support) and the Tokyo office (that I should have called for support), for example, they didn't offer to send different infusion set samples that could have resolved my problems and they didn't respond to a complaint about faulty tape that came with my infusion sets. Likely, had I been capable of voicing those concerns to the Tokyo office, I would have been more satisfied, but my Japanese ability is appalling and I didn't try hard enough.

I was happy with Minimed (even with the archaic, 506 pump I was using) and would recommend it, but it would be an uninformed recommendation because I have only used one kind of pump; however, the fact that I used the same model for 12 years does say something about durability.

[kgm0612]

I started on the pump in December. I went with the Mini Med 515 because my younger brother and several of my online friends are using MM pumps and I figured I would have some support if I needed it down the road.

[Doetsch]

I have used both the Animas 1200 & the Cozmore. It would be best to ask for Demos or Literature due to people needing the pump features for different reasons. I personally enjoy my Cozmore more due to the Personalization and extended Boluses. Again it is different with everyone and you need to make an informed decision on what would be best for you due to the 5,000.00 Price Tag. Keep in mind that the MM has a Proprietory Infusion set so you won't have as much choice in that field other than what MM has to offer you. As for the customer service -> I have not had a MM but I hear from Everyone including my Doctor that their Customer Service is Sub-Par.

[amccrazgrl]

I have the Deltec "Cozmo"re pump and love it. I been pumping since July and no problems yet.
I'm sure with a simple search you will find lots of info on various pumps along with picutres in the Cozmore Pump Picture thread.

[Cyborg]

The animas pump also has the combo bolus and it has a temp basal feature which can be used as a type of custom extended bolus.

Check this out for precision. It has a feature that allows me to set target blood glucose, like most pumps I assume, for now since it's only my second day on the thing it's set to 120. I test, bolus and eat (first meal of the day) then about 2 3/4 hours later, I check my bg. It reads 125.

I eat 2 peices of sugar free gum and bolus. The pump has a feature called Insulin On Board (IOB) that helps prevent insulin stacking. So I punch in 2 g carb for the gum, 125 for the current bg reading and it takes into consideration the IOB (for which it subtracts a tiny amount of inslulin) and suggests 0.35 units of insulin). So I bolus.

Unreal ! These pumps are so precise that it can calculate and deliver 0.35 units of insluin in no time flat and I didn't even get out of my chair !!!!!!!!! Such a world apart from MDI. I can't even imagine what it's like once they're fine tuned. :)

Good luck with your pump selection.

[Carwy]

Hey if you go to this part of the forums there is a lot of links that will give you info about all the pumps. Trying to get tony to make it a stick post or something in the forums.
http://www.diabetesforums.com/feedback-comments/8059-tony-one-moderators-question-about-pumps.html