Deciding to get an insulin pump & CGM was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. The amount of control I have with my Omnipod insulin pump is UNREAL. Gone are the days of shooting up with liquid lava (aka lantus) 2x a day and struggling with highs and lows because a pen and syringe just couldn’t offer the precision I needed.

Once I decided to get an insulin pump I had to figure out which one I wanted.

The Reasons Why I Chose the Omnipod Insulin Pump

There were two main qualities I was looking for in a pump. It had to be tubeless and it had to be waterproof for me to make the switch from MDI to a pump.  I knew it was a tall order, but what I didn’t expect was that it would narrow my selection down from six pumps to just one.

1. It’s the Only Tubeless Pump on the Market

The #1 reason I was so against having an insulin pump was because of the tubing. I thought all insulin pumps had tubes, so clearly, I was not interested. The hassle of getting undressed, trying on clothes, always having it clipped to my belt or jeans, worrying about where to clip it when I wear a dress or have to pee, the fear of it getting tangled or ripped when working out or getting frisky, and just that feeling of being tethered down by something all made it a big fat NO for me.

Now, of course, type 1’s are pretty savvy and those that have non-Omnipod insulin pumps have found ways to get around the above list, but for me it wasn’t worth jumping the MDI ship to be tethered down by tubing.

Tubing can also cause a siphoning effect which studies have shown contributes to inaccurate dosing. While this isn’t a reason to jump ship if you have a tubed insulin pump, it is interesting. The Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology studied ^[1] the position of the pump relative to its infusion site and the rate of delivery. They found when the pumps (with tubing) were above the infusion site they delivered up to 123% of expected insulin. When the pumps (with tubing) were below the infusion site they delivered between 75-100% of expected insulin. Because the Omnipod is sans tubing it was most often within one or two percent of expected insulin delivery, never exceeding more than seven percent.

2. It’s Waterproof

Not all insulin pumps on the market are waterproof. Which means every time you shower or go swimming or get thrown into a lake by your significant other because they think it’s funny, your pump will fail.

Some other bonus features of the Omnipod are…

• Self inserting system – Once you’ve place the pod on your body you’ll just have to push “start” on the PDM and it inserts itself. No courage needed.
• Easy hands free application – Because it’s a self inserting system you can put it in so many more locations on your body. Want it on your back? No problem, just stick it and forget it.
• Pod recycling program – Diabetes management can create a ton of waste, and Insulet (the makers of Omnipod) know it. They’ve created a pod recycling program to help cut down on their pod-footprint.
• Lots of space for coloring or pump peelz – I love to write on my pod. For my wedding I even bedazzled it! There are also websites like Pump Peelz that offer stickers for your pod and dex
• They are working on an artificial pancreas too – Read about it here.
• PDM is a glucose meter – This is awesome because it’s one less device to carry. The PDM has a little slit where you can slide a test strip into. However, the only strips that it will read are Freestyle.

If you’ve just started doing your research, some great pump comparison articles are here and here.

Interested to see how the Omnipod works? Check out this two minute video.

Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2825629/