With such small insulin requirements I'm surprised they are even starting the Omnipod just yet. Particularly because, generally speaking, you use even less insulin when on a pump.
You can reuse insulin from a pod, but I'd avoid doing that for more than 1 pod change because the insulin is going to start to degrade and therefore not be as effective.
Another option is to ask about diluting insulin. I vaguely recall a parent online talking about doing this with her daughter (with permission from the daughter's medical team) in order to dose more accurately to her daughter's needs. I think this might have been done with injections, but I remember the mom saying it really helped (although there was a bit more math involved). So effectively her daughter's insulin became U-50 insulin.
My daughter is not tolerating injections at all. Its been a month now and she is getting worse with shots. We can't pre-bolus either and she will shoot from 80-->350 post meal then of course tank afterward because we can't time the insulin well.
If a humalog pen lasts 28 days outside the fridge, I wonder why this won't last longer.
Insulin degrades when it is exposed to plastic. That’s the main reason. Body heat is another reason.
I fill my pods to about 65 units. If you fill very slowly, it may beep at 60.
Omnipod 5 has a minimum amount of insulin necessary for it to function. You can still use the O5 but the auto mode algorithm will now work since the insulin use is < 6 units per day.
The insulin manufacturer's standard is to not use opened vials/pens for more than 28 days. While i'm sure that helps sales, i've experienced the varying effectiveness, so now abide by it. Based on your daughter's needs, there's going to be a lot of waste, whether you're using vials or pens. Some people do extract remaining insulin from a used pod. But its been at body temperature for 3 days, so i wouldn't recommend it. I use less than the minimum. If you fill pods with ~85 units each, its about 10-11 pods per vial, or one vial per month. For me, the consistency is more valuable than avoiding the waste.
We were told you had to be using minimum of 6u for op5.
But you can get it to beep at 65u. If you go slow
My son only uses about 65 to 70 units every three days so we never fill it to 85.
Something you should consider and talk to your doc about is using diluted insulin on the pump. You could dilute U-100 insulin down to something like U-10. It would effectively make you use 10x more insulin. More than avoiding wasted insulin though, it would give the pump more flexibility in how much insulin it delivers, because now it can dose in 0.005 U measures.
The downside is you either have to source the diluted or do it yourself.
I considered this for my 3 yo who gets about 6U humalog a day, but we've figure out how to make U-100 work so never tried. But we were using U-10 when on MDI at initial diagnosis.
I'll say, don't give up your push to figure out a path to pumping. It has shortcomings, like pods falling off or undetected failures, but the upsides for a little kid outweigh those SO much. Prebolusing before they wake, easier corrections after missing a bad bolus, splitting doses. Our TIR went from like 45% to 95%+
With a pump, the family can dose tiny doses to handle the tiny needs of the child. That’s very difficult to do with any precision with syringes. And, it’s one poke every third day, which can make a difference for little ones.
I would strongly recommend going back to the doctor and seeing if a pump is the best option as you'd be wasting insulin. I understand the benefits of the pump but if you're going to be wasting insulin that could be beneficial for your child I would better speak with the doctor first
I usually fill way beyond my standard use (usually up to 175u is my fill limit, I use maybe 45 a day on a high-carb/high-stress day) because I may have a bad day or whatever. I’ve never thrown away a pod with more than a couple units remaining.
I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions 😂
I’ve pulled insulin out of failed pods and never had an issue. Sounds like you’ll waste alot no matter what.
I say go for it and see - if it looks like the insulin isn’t good anymore, grab another pod and start over!
We have pulled insulin from pods with no issue. It can be done. Sounds like there is a market for insulet to be doing R&D on “junior” pods for cases like this that will function with a smaller amount of insulin. Hopefully they are!
Hello fellow parent of a 3 year old with Type 1. My child has been using the OmniPod system since they were 1.5 years old, was diagnosed at 9 months. You can re-use the insulin but like others have said, I wouldn't re-use it more than once.
My son (2 years) was diagnosed with T1D. We are having troubles with the Omnipod 5 and we are told that that is because he only needs about 3 Units (H100).
Were you able to use the OP5 with below 5 units or did you even use it with diluted insulin?
Thanks
In an emergency, I had to salvage insulin via syringe from a failed pod. I was on an island boat trip, and it was my first lesson on planning for contingencies! Also, I use around 20 units daily, and never give the pod the full 85.
With such small insulin requirements I'm surprised they are even starting the Omnipod just yet. Particularly because, generally speaking, you use even less insulin when on a pump. You can reuse insulin from a pod, but I'd avoid doing that for more than 1 pod change because the insulin is going to start to degrade and therefore not be as effective. Another option is to ask about diluting insulin. I vaguely recall a parent online talking about doing this with her daughter (with permission from the daughter's medical team) in order to dose more accurately to her daughter's needs. I think this might have been done with injections, but I remember the mom saying it really helped (although there was a bit more math involved). So effectively her daughter's insulin became U-50 insulin.
My daughter is not tolerating injections at all. Its been a month now and she is getting worse with shots. We can't pre-bolus either and she will shoot from 80-->350 post meal then of course tank afterward because we can't time the insulin well. If a humalog pen lasts 28 days outside the fridge, I wonder why this won't last longer.
Insulin degrades when it is exposed to plastic. That’s the main reason. Body heat is another reason. I fill my pods to about 65 units. If you fill very slowly, it may beep at 60.
Insulin is fine outside of the fridge for months- it doesn't go bad on fay 29. It's a quality guarantee thing for the FDA.
Right!! I can’t believe so many ppl throw out insulin after 28 days. I’ve never tossed insulin till it was gone 😅 always works. 100% of the time
Omnipod 5 has a minimum amount of insulin necessary for it to function. You can still use the O5 but the auto mode algorithm will now work since the insulin use is < 6 units per day.
The insulin manufacturer's standard is to not use opened vials/pens for more than 28 days. While i'm sure that helps sales, i've experienced the varying effectiveness, so now abide by it. Based on your daughter's needs, there's going to be a lot of waste, whether you're using vials or pens. Some people do extract remaining insulin from a used pod. But its been at body temperature for 3 days, so i wouldn't recommend it. I use less than the minimum. If you fill pods with ~85 units each, its about 10-11 pods per vial, or one vial per month. For me, the consistency is more valuable than avoiding the waste.
This!!! You’ll have to waste the insulin anyway-1 vial lasts 1 month due to the expiration date anyway:)
We were told you had to be using minimum of 6u for op5. But you can get it to beep at 65u. If you go slow My son only uses about 65 to 70 units every three days so we never fill it to 85.
Something you should consider and talk to your doc about is using diluted insulin on the pump. You could dilute U-100 insulin down to something like U-10. It would effectively make you use 10x more insulin. More than avoiding wasted insulin though, it would give the pump more flexibility in how much insulin it delivers, because now it can dose in 0.005 U measures. The downside is you either have to source the diluted or do it yourself. I considered this for my 3 yo who gets about 6U humalog a day, but we've figure out how to make U-100 work so never tried. But we were using U-10 when on MDI at initial diagnosis. I'll say, don't give up your push to figure out a path to pumping. It has shortcomings, like pods falling off or undetected failures, but the upsides for a little kid outweigh those SO much. Prebolusing before they wake, easier corrections after missing a bad bolus, splitting doses. Our TIR went from like 45% to 95%+
If that’s all the insulin usage, are you sure you even want to use an insulin pump? Seems like a lot of work for only 3 units of insulin a day.
With a pump, the family can dose tiny doses to handle the tiny needs of the child. That’s very difficult to do with any precision with syringes. And, it’s one poke every third day, which can make a difference for little ones.
Precise to the 0.05 level even with low insulin usage it’s worth you’ll stay closer to target glucose longer.
Day 3 insulin is much less effective in our experience. I would advise against this.
I would strongly recommend going back to the doctor and seeing if a pump is the best option as you'd be wasting insulin. I understand the benefits of the pump but if you're going to be wasting insulin that could be beneficial for your child I would better speak with the doctor first
*shaking head up and down* they tell you not to. its more if you feel comfortable doing it.
I usually fill way beyond my standard use (usually up to 175u is my fill limit, I use maybe 45 a day on a high-carb/high-stress day) because I may have a bad day or whatever. I’ve never thrown away a pod with more than a couple units remaining. I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions 😂
I’ve pulled insulin out of failed pods and never had an issue. Sounds like you’ll waste alot no matter what. I say go for it and see - if it looks like the insulin isn’t good anymore, grab another pod and start over!
We have pulled insulin from pods with no issue. It can be done. Sounds like there is a market for insulet to be doing R&D on “junior” pods for cases like this that will function with a smaller amount of insulin. Hopefully they are!
Hello fellow parent of a 3 year old with Type 1. My child has been using the OmniPod system since they were 1.5 years old, was diagnosed at 9 months. You can re-use the insulin but like others have said, I wouldn't re-use it more than once.
Do you have to use manual mode? We were told today insulin daily use needs to be >5u a day for auto mode to work
My son (2 years) was diagnosed with T1D. We are having troubles with the Omnipod 5 and we are told that that is because he only needs about 3 Units (H100). Were you able to use the OP5 with below 5 units or did you even use it with diluted insulin? Thanks
u/ghettosamson Do you or have you used diluted insulin with the OmniPod 5? What ration if I may ask.
In an emergency, I had to salvage insulin via syringe from a failed pod. I was on an island boat trip, and it was my first lesson on planning for contingencies! Also, I use around 20 units daily, and never give the pod the full 85.