Diabetes Talking

Question:

Guys, about the static problems with your pump…I put a dryer softner sheet (unsented) in the leather case along with the pump…fixed that problem for me.  Mic Always, be, and stay AWARE!

Response:

what was the relative humidity Randy?

I have no idea, but I’m in the northeast US, and this happened during winter time. did you have the pump in a leather case?

I hate using the leather case. They haven’t figured out how to make the plastic window clear enough or flexible enough for my comfort. It mostly happened without the case, but even when they told me use the case it continued, albeit less. do you get static shocks when touching doorknobs?

Yes. I had my 508 reset after accidentally dragging bed sheets over it while it was out of the leather case (a rarity).  Ultimately I got a replacement unit and haven’t had a problem with resets in more than a year and a half. My wife’s 511 reset a couple of times and they replaced hers; no further problemos since.

The "shocks" causing errors were never audible or visible or tactile. In fact, the bolus would begin, after the pump was inserted into the plastic belt holster, and 30 seconds later it would stop, for no apparent reason. The audible/visible/tactile shocks I would get from touching doorknobs never caused the pump to malfunction. The replacement pump performs perfectly, even without the leather case. Randy – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m sure this has been discussed hundreds of times, but I’ve searched the archives as best I could, as well as searching the web in general, and I haven’t found much help. My wife is type 1, and she is planning on going onto a pump (mostly to reduce the number and severity of hypos she’s had) We’ve looked at the options availiable, and it looks like the Minimed 512 and Cozmo are the best options for us.  We’ve met with the sales reps, and both pumps look like they’d suit us fine. What I’ve seen in my seacching so far is a lot of complaints about the minimed, and almost nothing about the Cozmo (lots of ‘It looks great, I’m getting mine soon’ but not much data after that). I’m one who has complained about the Minimed customer service department. It used to be stellar, but has plummeted since the Medtronic takeover. There appears to be no desire on their part to improve it. Their pumps are decent products, however. I really like the fact that the Cozmo will retain its memory  even if the battery is left out, and think it is idiotic that the Minimed doesn’t offer this feature. I don’t know why Minimed can’t get that right either. I’m on my 2nd or 3rd 512 since my purchase of one last year. The last cause for replacement was an almost daily ESD (electro static discharge). I’d be bolusing for a meal and the pump would cease to function, and need to be completely reprogrammed. I was told to learn to live with it when it happened weekly, but then it increased and they exchanged pumps for me. The mechanical/electronic problem wasn’t as annoying as the way in which they responded to my concerns. Okay, so with all that out of the way, can anyone give me anecdotal evidence for or against the above two pumps? After moving from a 506 to a 507 to a 511 and now to a 512, I will no longer support Minimed. If and when it comes time to replace my current pump, I will be looking at Animas, Cozmo, and whatever else might be out there. Best of luck, Randy

Response:

com: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m sure this has been discussed hundreds of times, but I’ve searched the archives as best I could, as well as searching the web in general, and I haven’t found much help. My wife is type 1, and she is planning on going onto a pump (mostly to reduce the number and severity of hypos she’s had) We’ve looked at the options availiable, and it looks like the Minimed 512 and Cozmo are the best options for us.  We’ve met with the sales reps, and both pumps look like they’d suit us fine. What I’ve seen in my seacching so far is a lot of complaints about the minimed, and almost nothing about the Cozmo (lots of ‘It looks great, I’m getting mine soon’ but not much data after that). From my perspective, Minimed has a much larger number of pumps out there, so they are likely to have more problems (raw numbers), and of course the dissatisfied complain the loudest, so I don’t really have a good handle on how happy their average user is. I did notice that they seem to nickle-and-dime you for everything. The software costs extra, upgrades cost extra, little things like that, which seems pretty pathetic considering how much they make off your typical pump user.  Deltec may do this too, but it isn’t as evident to me so far. I have also seen lots of messages about people being mad that the pump isn’t waterproof.  I asked the rep about this, and she said ‘while they are waterprrof when they leave the factory, we don’t want the liability risk of having failures on a pump that has been in use for a year and may or may not continue to be waterproof’  To me that is just spin, designed to placate the buyer, but my wife doesn’t lead that active of a lifestyle that this is a limiting factor. I really like the fact that the Cozmo will retain its memory  even if the battery is left out, and think it is idiotic that the Minimed doesn’t offer this feature. Okay, so with all that out of the way, can anyone give me anecdotal evidence for or against the above two pumps? I’m not interested in knowing how Company X won’t give you stuff you ‘deserve’ for free, or how they ‘ripped you off’.  I am interested in shortcomings you’ve found in the pump or sets, unexpected issues that you’ve found in using the pump, and anything positive you have to say about the pump you are currently using. Thanks for any help you can provie, Geoff

I had to replace my MiniMed 507C a couple months ago and came to the same conclusion, new MiniMed or Deltec Cozmo.  I chose the Cozmo.  It was a tough pick, MiniMed is the 500# gorilla in the (US) market and since the buy out is acting like it. Deltec is a relatively new and small player, at least in the insulin pump market.  They haven’t sold enough to be listed in the Insulin Pumper’s Organization statistics which show MiniMed with about 75% of the (mostly US) market.  See http://insulin-pumpers.org/about.shtml They archive their chat rooms and I found a little discussion about the Cozmo there in December.  There may be more now. I finally decided to go with the Cozmo.  I am quite happy with it, but have never worn a 512 so it is difficult to compare directly. Pump preferences are much like operating system preferences, much depends on what you first use and get used to and  much depends on idiosyncratic preferences.  The things that are listed in the comparison charts are often not the things that turn out to annoy you or that you find comforting.  For example, I miss the clicking of my 507C.  Some people thought the clicking was horrible.  I like the fact that a standard bolus is possible on the Cozmo when an extended bolus is already in effect.   This would probably not make much difference to most people.  I don’t need no stinking remote.  I know a guy who is very paranoid about people finding out he is a diabetic and uses the remote on his MiniMed all the time.   I use the MiniMed Quick infusion sets which have a standard Lurer lock that matches the Cozmo syringe.  The new Quick Plus sets have a proprietary lock that only works with the MiniMed new style syringes.   Eventually this may become a problem when the older MiniMeds die off. — ——- Charly Coughran

Response:

Randy.  You can use a baby sock to put your pump in and pin it anywhere you want…a softner sheet will fit in there too.  JMO….Mic   OR, wear a bra, it fits great in those too!  LOL Always, be, and stay AWARE!

Response:

I think sometimes one pump is much more sensitive to resetting itself than another.  Like you said, when they replaced it, you stopped having problems.  I get stubborn with their tech support when I know that I’m having a problem with my pump that only a replacement will fix. dave – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – what was the relative humidity Randy? I have no idea, but I’m in the northeast US, and this happened during winter time. did you have the pump in a leather case? I hate using the leather case. They haven’t figured out how to make the plastic window clear enough or flexible enough for my comfort. It mostly happened without the case, but even when they told me use the case it continued, albeit less. do you get static shocks when touching doorknobs? Yes. I had my 508 reset after accidentally dragging bed sheets over it while it was out of the leather case (a rarity).  Ultimately I got a replacement unit and haven’t had a problem with resets in more than a year and a half. My wife’s 511 reset a couple of times and they replaced hers; no further problemos since. The "shocks" causing errors were never audible or visible or tactile. In fact, the bolus would begin, after the pump was inserted into the plastic belt holster, and 30 seconds later it would stop, for no apparent reason. The audible/visible/tactile shocks I would get from touching doorknobs never caused the pump to malfunction. The replacement pump performs perfectly, even without the leather case. Randy I’m sure this has been discussed hundreds of times, but I’ve searched the archives as best I could, as well as searching the web in general, and I haven’t found much help. My wife is type 1, and she is planning on going onto a pump (mostly to reduce the number and severity of hypos she’s had) We’ve looked at the options availiable, and it looks like the Minimed 512 and Cozmo are the best options for us.  We’ve met with the sales reps, and both pumps look like they’d suit us fine. What I’ve seen in my seacching so far is a lot of complaints about the minimed, and almost nothing about the Cozmo (lots of ‘It looks great, I’m getting mine soon’ but not much data after that). I’m one who has complained about the Minimed customer service department. It used to be stellar, but has plummeted since the Medtronic takeover. There appears to be no desire on their part to improve it. Their pumps are decent products, however. I really like the fact that the Cozmo will retain its memory  even if the battery is left out, and think it is idiotic that the Minimed doesn’t offer this feature. I don’t know why Minimed can’t get that right either. I’m on my 2nd or 3rd 512 since my purchase of one last year. The last cause for replacement was an almost daily ESD (electro static discharge). I’d be bolusing for a meal and the pump would cease to function, and need to be completely reprogrammed. I was told to learn to live with it when it happened weekly, but then it increased and they exchanged pumps for me. The mechanical/electronic problem wasn’t as annoying as the way in which they responded to my concerns. Okay, so with all that out of the way, can anyone give me anecdotal evidence for or against the above two pumps? After moving from a 506 to a 507 to a 511 and now to a 512, I will no longer support Minimed. If and when it comes time to replace my current pump, I will be looking at Animas, Cozmo, and whatever else might be out there. Best of luck, Randy

Response:

On the other hand, one complaint I’ve heard about the Cozmo is that bolus delivery is quite rapid. The importance of that is that if, after starting a bolus, you find you’ve made a mistake, and wish to stop the bolus delivery, you have very little time to do so.  With the minimed, bolus delivery is extended over a long enough period of time that you can easily stop it before much insulin has been delivered.  

This is a good instance of why it is difficult to compare pumps without really living with them both for a while.  It is true that the Cozmo has a fairly rapid bolus delivery, but it also has pretty good resolution on the extended bolus, 15 minutes.  It may not be what you consider a perfect bolus length, but it does get around the problem. I remember when I got my 507C, MiniMed was making a big deal out of it’s combined extended and immediate bolus, a feature that the Disetronic didn’t have.  With a Disetronic you could, of course apply a bolus and a modified basal for a given duration and produce nearly the same result. Solving the practical day to day issues with a given pump is comparing where the rubber meets the road, rather than from a comparison chart.  I think for my next new pump, I’ll push the rep’s for a 30 day loaner for all of the short list candidate replacements.

Response:

Randy.  You can use a baby sock to put your pump in and pin it anywhere you want…a softner sheet will fit in there too.  JMO….Mic   OR, wear a bra, it fits great in those too!  LOL

Mic, Thanks for the suggestions. A bra would not be one I would ever consider. On the other hand, the replacement pump I did finally receive has had none of the ESD problems, so I am now comfortable using the belt holster without the leather case. Randy

Response:

I really like the fact that the Cozmo will retain its memory  even if the battery is left out, and think it is idiotic that the Minimed doesn’t offer this feature. Okay, so with all that out of the way, can anyone give me anecdotal evidence for or against the above two pumps?

My CDE felt that the menu and button setup on the cosmo was a bit poorer.  She felt it tended to take more button pushes, with the pump asking you to confirm and "are you sure" kind of things.  apparently to make it more idiot proof, but she thought they’d overdone it  But at least one user of the pump who I know, loves it, and I think it may be slightly smaller and lighter, which the ladies like when it comes time to try and hide the thing somewhere in an evening gown. (My friend managed to clip hers to a neck strap on her gown, so it was hidden under her long hair.  A novel approach, if I say so myself) And nobody I know has complained that the cosmo isn’t sufficiently waterproof, though i don’t know about that.   One important comment is that some of the appeal of the 512 is the whole linked meter system.  My own experience with that meter (made by bd) is that it’s a faulty, untrustworthy device.  Readings are not accurate or consistent, at least with the one i got.  I’ve kept it only because I still need it to link the pump to the computer.  On the other hand, one complaint I’ve heard about the Cozmo is that bolus delivery is quite rapid. The importance of that is that if, after starting a bolus, you find you’ve made a mistake, and wish to stop the bolus delivery, you have very little time to do so.  With the minimed, bolus delivery is extended over a long enough period of time that you can easily stop it before much insulin has been delivered.   Also, at least with my 712, your worry about loosing settings without the battery is a little overstated, as you can leave the battery out for, so I’m told, around 20 minutes without loosing settings.  At least that’s what’s claimed.  i’ve not tested that myself. Hope that helps. Peter Rowe

Response:

what was the relative humidity Randy?  did you have the pump in a leather case? do you get static shocks when touching doorknobs?  I had my 508 reset after accidentally dragging bed sheets over it while it was out of the leather case (a rarity).  Ultimately I got a replacement unit and haven’t had a problem with resets in more than a year and a half. My wife’s 511 reset a couple of times and they replaced hers; no further problemos since. dave – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m sure this has been discussed hundreds of times, but I’ve searched the archives as best I could, as well as searching the web in general, and I haven’t found much help. My wife is type 1, and she is planning on going onto a pump (mostly to reduce the number and severity of hypos she’s had) We’ve looked at the options availiable, and it looks like the Minimed 512 and Cozmo are the best options for us.  We’ve met with the sales reps, and both pumps look like they’d suit us fine. What I’ve seen in my seacching so far is a lot of complaints about the minimed, and almost nothing about the Cozmo (lots of ‘It looks great, I’m getting mine soon’ but not much data after that). I’m one who has complained about the Minimed customer service department. It used to be stellar, but has plummeted since the Medtronic takeover. There appears to be no desire on their part to improve it. Their pumps are decent products, however. I really like the fact that the Cozmo will retain its memory  even if the battery is left out, and think it is idiotic that the Minimed doesn’t offer this feature. I don’t know why Minimed can’t get that right either. I’m on my 2nd or 3rd 512 since my purchase of one last year. The last cause for replacement was an almost daily ESD (electro static discharge). I’d be bolusing for a meal and the pump would cease to function, and need to be completely reprogrammed. I was told to learn to live with it when it happened weekly, but then it increased and they exchanged pumps for me. The mechanical/electronic problem wasn’t as annoying as the way in which they responded to my concerns. Okay, so with all that out of the way, can anyone give me anecdotal evidence for or against the above two pumps? After moving from a 506 to a 507 to a 511 and now to a 512, I will no longer support Minimed. If and when it comes time to replace my current pump, I will be looking at Animas, Cozmo, and whatever else might be out there. Best of luck, Randy

Response:

Actually the IR-1200 has a 200 U reservoir.

[snip] – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I should still be able to get 4 days with a 175 u reservoir. The thought of keeping an infusion set in for longer than that kinda gives me the creeps Luckily hub’s insurance covers all the consumables (with the possible exception of batteries), the resistance I had was over the cost of the pump itself.

Response:

I’m sure this has been discussed hundreds of times, but I’ve searched the archives as best I could, as well as searching the web in general, and I haven’t found much help. My wife is type 1, and she is planning on going onto a pump (mostly to reduce the number and severity of hypos she’s had) We’ve looked at the options availiable, and it looks like the Minimed 512 and Cozmo are the best options for us.  We’ve met with the sales reps, and both pumps look like they’d suit us fine. What I’ve seen in my seacching so far is a lot of complaints about the minimed, and almost nothing about the Cozmo (lots of ‘It looks great, I’m getting mine soon’ but not much data after that).

I’m one who has complained about the Minimed customer service department. It used to be stellar, but has plummeted since the Medtronic takeover. There appears to be no desire on their part to improve it. Their pumps are decent products, however. I really like the fact that the Cozmo will retain its memory  even if the battery is left out, and think it is idiotic that the Minimed doesn’t offer this feature.

I don’t know why Minimed can’t get that right either. I’m on my 2nd or 3rd 512 since my purchase of one last year. The last cause for replacement was an almost daily ESD (electro static discharge). I’d be bolusing for a meal and the pump would cease to function, and need to be completely reprogrammed. I was told to learn to live with it when it happened weekly, but then it increased and they exchanged pumps for me. The mechanical/electronic problem wasn’t as annoying as the way in which they responded to my concerns. Okay, so with all that out of the way, can anyone give me anecdotal evidence for or against the above two pumps?

After moving from a 506 to a 507 to a 511 and now to a 512, I will no longer support Minimed. If and when it comes time to replace my current pump, I will be looking at Animas, Cozmo, and whatever else might be out there. Best of luck, Randy

Response:

Geoff –  Check out:   http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_technology/insulinpumps.php  And click on the brand names across the top to see info on each pump.  The don’t list the Nipro Amigo. Their home page is:   http://nipro-diabetes.com/  It’s a very Shockwave/Flash/PC page, so, depending on your browser,  you might not see much…  The Feb or Mar issue of Diabete Interview had a resource guide that  included a nice table comparing features of insulin pumps. Maybe your  doctor or local library has a copy.  - Tere – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m sure this has been discussed hundreds of times, but I’ve searched the archives as best I could, as well as searching the web in general, and I haven’t found much help. My wife is type 1, and she is planning on going onto a pump (mostly to reduce the number and severity of hypos she’s had) We’ve looked at the options availiable, and it looks like the Minimed 512 and Cozmo are the best options for us.  We’ve met with the sales reps, and both pumps look like they’d suit us fine. What I’ve seen in my seacching so far is a lot of complaints about the minimed, and almost nothing about the Cozmo (lots of ‘It looks great, I’m getting mine soon’ but not much data after that). From my perspective, Minimed has a much larger number of pumps out there, so they are likely to have more problems (raw numbers), and of course the dissatisfied complain the loudest, so I don’t really have a good handle on how happy their average user is. I did notice that they seem to nickle-and-dime you for everything.  The software costs extra, upgrades cost extra, little things like that, which seems pretty pathetic considering how much they make off your typical pump user.  Deltec may do this too, but it isn’t as evident to me so far. I have also seen lots of messages about people being mad that the pump isn’t waterproof.  I asked the rep about this, and she said ‘while they are waterprrof when they leave the factory, we don’t want the liability risk of having failures on a pump that has been in use for a year and may or may not continue to be waterproof’  To me that is just spin, designed to placate the buyer, but my wife doesn’t lead that active of a lifestyle that this is a limiting factor. I really like the fact that the Cozmo will retain its memory  even if the battery is left out, and think it is idiotic that the Minimed doesn’t offer this feature. Okay, so with all that out of the way, can anyone give me anecdotal evidence for or against the above two pumps? I’m not interested in knowing how Company X won’t give you stuff you ‘deserve’ for free, or how they ‘ripped you off’.  I am interested in shortcomings you’ve found in the pump or sets, unexpected issues that you’ve found in using the pump, and anything positive you have to say about the pump you are currently using. Thanks for any help you can provie, Geoff

Response:

Hi Vicki You can change the infusion sets (including tube) and not change the cartridge. My daughter changes her sites every 3 days, but we use the cartridges until they have less then 10 units in it, that’s about every 4 days with the 300 unit cartridge. We don’t have any pump related coverage so we try to use things as long as safely possible. Have you checked out http://www.insulin-pumpers.ca/Provincial/ont.html ? There are some good tips on the Hamilton Group’s site as well as the home page. Heather (mom of a teenage Animas pumper)  http://www.execulink.com/~craig/diabetictag.html  http://www.execulink.com/~craig/pouches.htm

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Vicki If you are thinking of upgrading to the IR1200 keep in mind that it has a smaller insulin cartridge then the IR1000, which means you will be changing it more often and that will increase your supplies costs. Heather (mom of a teenage Animas pumper) http://www.execulink.com/~craig/diabetictag.html http://www.execulink.com/~craig/pouches.htm Hi Heather I should still be able to get 4 days with a 175 u reservoir. The thought of keeping an infusion set in for longer than that kinda gives me the creeps Luckily hub’s insurance covers all the consumables (with the possible exception of batteries), the resistance I had was over the cost of the pump itself. Vicki

Response:

I’m sure this has been discussed hundreds of times, but I’ve searched the archives as best I could, as well as searching the web in general, and I haven’t found much help. My wife is type 1, and she is planning on going onto a pump (mostly to reduce the number and severity of hypos she’s had) We’ve looked at the options availiable, and it looks like the Minimed 512 and Cozmo are the best options for us.  We’ve met with the sales reps, and both pumps look like they’d suit us fine. What I’ve seen in my seacching so far is a lot of complaints about the minimed, and almost nothing about the Cozmo (lots of ‘It looks great, I’m getting mine soon’ but not much data after that). From my perspective, Minimed has a much larger number of pumps out there, so they are likely to have more problems (raw numbers), and of course the dissatisfied complain the loudest, so I don’t really have a good handle on how happy their average user is. I did notice that they seem to nickle-and-dime you for everything.  The software costs extra, upgrades cost extra, little things like that, which seems pretty pathetic considering how much they make off your typical pump user.  Deltec may do this too, but it isn’t as evident to me so far. I have also seen lots of messages about people being mad that the pump isn’t waterproof.  I asked the rep about this, and she said ‘while they are waterprrof when they leave the factory, we don’t want the liability risk of having failures on a pump that has been in use for a year and may or may not continue to be waterproof’  To me that is just spin, designed to placate the buyer, but my wife doesn’t lead that active of a lifestyle that this is a limiting factor. I really like the fact that the Cozmo will retain its memory  even if the battery is left out, and think it is idiotic that the Minimed doesn’t offer this feature. Okay, so with all that out of the way, can anyone give me anecdotal evidence for or against the above two pumps? I’m not interested in knowing how Company X won’t give you stuff you ‘deserve’ for free, or how they ‘ripped you off’.  I am interested in shortcomings you’ve found in the pump or sets, unexpected issues that you’ve found in using the pump, and anything positive you have to say about the pump you are currently using. Thanks for any help you can provie, Geoff

Response:

Vicki If you are thinking of upgrading to the IR1200 keep in mind that it has a smaller insulin cartridge then the IR1000, which means you will be changing it more often and that will increase your supplies costs. Heather (mom of a teenage Animas pumper) http://www.execulink.com/~craig/diabetictag.html http://www.execulink.com/~craig/pouches.htm

Hi Heather I should still be able to get 4 days with a 175 u reservoir. The thought of keeping an infusion set in for longer than that kinda gives me the creeps Luckily hub’s insurance covers all the consumables (with the possible exception of batteries), the resistance I had was over the cost of the pump itself. Vicki

Response:

Vicki If you are thinking of upgrading to the IR1200 keep in mind that it has a smaller insulin cartridge then the IR1000, which means you will be changing it more often and that will increase your supplies costs. Heather (mom of a teenage Animas pumper) http://www.execulink.com/~craig/diabetictag.html http://www.execulink.com/~craig/pouches.htm

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – First thing is to get a copy of the book Pumping Insulin from MiniMed. Its not pump specific, and will provide lots of information whichever pump you choose. Then try inserting each infusion set, and see just how easy/painful it is. I would wear it for a day too.  May help you mak up your mind. — George Eberhardt (732)224-8988 You don’t even have to let Medtronic/Minimed know you’re interested in a pump – I’m sure they’ll start a sales campaign on you…They did on me while I was fighting my insurance company. You can order Pumping Insulin through amazon.com or chapters.indigo.com in Canada or your local bookseller can order it for you. I got my copy earlier this week. That’s "Pumping Insulin – Everything You Need For Success With An Insulin Pump" 3rd edition, by John Walsh, P.A., C.D.E. and Ruth Roberts, M.A.  ISBN 1-884804-84-5 Published by Torrey Pines press. I decided on an Animas pump (an IR1000 with a free upgrade to the IR1200 when it becomes available in Canada), Geoff, and I go for my training Monday.  I can’t give you much insight into pumping yet as I’m a rank newbie. HTH Vicki

Response:

First thing is to get a copy of the book Pumping Insulin from MiniMed.  Its not pump specific, and will provide lots of information whichever pump you choose. Then try inserting each infusion set, and see just how easy/painful it is. I would wear it for a day too.  May help you mak up your mind. — George Eberhardt (732)224-8988

You don’t even have to let Medtronic/Minimed know you’re interested in a pump – I’m sure they’ll start a sales campaign on you…They did on me while I was fighting my insurance company. You can order Pumping Insulin through amazon.com or chapters.indigo.com in Canada or your local bookseller can order it for you. I got my copy earlier this week. That’s "Pumping Insulin – Everything You Need For Success With An Insulin Pump" 3rd edition, by John Walsh, P.A., C.D.E. and Ruth Roberts, M.A.  ISBN 1-884804-84-5 Published by Torrey Pines press. I decided on an Animas pump (an IR1000 with a free upgrade to the IR1200 when it becomes available in Canada), Geoff, and I go for my training Monday.  I can’t give you much insight into pumping yet as I’m a rank newbie. HTH Vicki

Response:

First thing is to get a copy of the book Pumping Insulin from MiniMed.  Its not pump specific, and will provide lots of information whichever pump you choose. Then try inserting each infusion set, and see just how easy/painful it is. I would wear it for a day too.  May help you mak up your mind. — George Eberhardt (732)224-8988

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m sure this has been discussed hundreds of times, but I’ve searched the archives as best I could, as well as searching the web in general, and I haven’t found much help. My wife is type 1, and she is planning on going onto a pump (mostly to reduce the number and severity of hypos she’s had) We’ve looked at the options availiable, and it looks like the Minimed 512 and Cozmo are the best options for us.  We’ve met with the sales reps, and both pumps look like they’d suit us fine. What I’ve seen in my seacching so far is a lot of complaints about the minimed, and almost nothing about the Cozmo (lots of ‘It looks great, I’m getting mine soon’ but not much data after that). From my perspective, Minimed has a much larger number of pumps out there, so they are likely to have more problems (raw numbers), and of course the dissatisfied complain the loudest, so I don’t really have a good handle on how happy their average user is. I did notice that they seem to nickle-and-dime you for everything.  The software costs extra, upgrades cost extra, little things like that, which seems pretty pathetic considering how much they make off your typical pump user.  Deltec may do this too, but it isn’t as evident to me so far. I have also seen lots of messages about people being mad that the pump isn’t waterproof.  I asked the rep about this, and she said ‘while they are waterprrof when they leave the factory, we don’t want the liability risk of having failures on a pump that has been in use for a year and may or may not continue to be waterproof’  To me that is just spin, designed to placate the buyer, but my wife doesn’t lead that active of a lifestyle that this is a limiting factor. I really like the fact that the Cozmo will retain its memory  even if the battery is left out, and think it is idiotic that the Minimed doesn’t offer this feature. Okay, so with all that out of the way, can anyone give me anecdotal evidence for or against the above two pumps? I’m not interested in knowing how Company X won’t give you stuff you ‘deserve’ for free, or how they ‘ripped you off’.  I am interested in shortcomings you’ve found in the pump or sets, unexpected issues that you’ve found in using the pump, and anything positive you have to say about the pump you are currently using. Thanks for any help you can provie, Geoff

Response:

While I don’t appreciate Minimed’s take over by Medtronic, due to their heavy handed business practices I find no fault with my 508.  I’ve used their pumps since ‘96.  My wife has a 511.  The sets work fine (I use the MMT-315), the pump is easy to program, I’ve had a few failed pumps over the years, but never a failure that comes on without warning.  The ship a replacement overnight. I haven’t seen the other brands nor do I know anyone personally that has one. There is one huge caveat that you need to know up front: Your endo may be only prescribe one pump; the one they are familiar with.  My endo refuses to prescribe the Cozmo.  Doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it, but he is familiar with the MiniMed and that’s what he prescribes.  If I was a doctor, I’d be nuts to prescribe a piece of hardware that I didn’t know backwards and forwards. If you want to speak on the phone you can email me your phone number to dave1812dave123456 "at" yahoo "d o t" com leave out the number string 1 thru 6 after "dave" dave – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m sure this has been discussed hundreds of times, but I’ve searched the archives as best I could, as well as searching the web in general, and I haven’t found much help. My wife is type 1, and she is planning on going onto a pump (mostly to reduce the number and severity of hypos she’s had) We’ve looked at the options availiable, and it looks like the Minimed 512 and Cozmo are the best options for us.  We’ve met with the sales reps, and both pumps look like they’d suit us fine. What I’ve seen in my seacching so far is a lot of complaints about the minimed, and almost nothing about the Cozmo (lots of ‘It looks great, I’m getting mine soon’ but not much data after that). From my perspective, Minimed has a much larger number of pumps out there, so they are likely to have more problems (raw numbers), and of course the dissatisfied complain the loudest, so I don’t really have a good handle on how happy their average user is. I did notice that they seem to nickle-and-dime you for everything.  The software costs extra, upgrades cost extra, little things like that, which seems pretty pathetic considering how much they make off your typical pump user.  Deltec may do this too, but it isn’t as evident to me so far. I have also seen lots of messages about people being mad that the pump isn’t waterproof.  I asked the rep about this, and she said ‘while they are waterprrof when they leave the factory, we don’t want the liability risk of having failures on a pump that has been in use for a year and may or may not continue to be waterproof’  To me that is just spin, designed to placate the buyer, but my wife doesn’t lead that active of a lifestyle that this is a limiting factor. I really like the fact that the Cozmo will retain its memory  even if the battery is left out, and think it is idiotic that the Minimed doesn’t offer this feature. Okay, so with all that out of the way, can anyone give me anecdotal evidence for or against the above two pumps? I’m not interested in knowing how Company X won’t give you stuff you ‘deserve’ for free, or how they ‘ripped you off’.  I am interested in shortcomings you’ve found in the pump or sets, unexpected issues that you’ve found in using the pump, and anything positive you have to say about the pump you are currently using. Thanks for any help you can provie, Geoff

Response:

Have you checked out the Animas Pumps? They are waterproof. My 13 year old has been on an Animas pump for just over a year now & we have had no complaints. Cozmo pumps are fairly new to my understanding, that may be why you can’t find out much about them. Heather http://www.execulink.com/~craig/diabetictag.html http://www.execulink.com/~craig/pouches.htm

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m sure this has been discussed hundreds of times, but I’ve searched the archives as best I could, as well as searching the web in general, and I haven’t found much help. My wife is type 1, and she is planning on going onto a pump (mostly to reduce the number and severity of hypos she’s had) We’ve looked at the options availiable, and it looks like the Minimed 512 and Cozmo are the best options for us.  We’ve met with the sales reps, and both pumps look like they’d suit us fine. What I’ve seen in my seacching so far is a lot of complaints about the minimed, and almost nothing about the Cozmo (lots of ‘It looks great, I’m getting mine soon’ but not much data after that). From my perspective, Minimed has a much larger number of pumps out there, so they are likely to have more problems (raw numbers), and of course the dissatisfied complain the loudest, so I don’t really have a good handle on how happy their average user is. I did notice that they seem to nickle-and-dime you for everything.  The software costs extra, upgrades cost extra, little things like that, which seems pretty pathetic considering how much they make off your typical pump user.  Deltec may do this too, but it isn’t as evident to me so far. I have also seen lots of messages about people being mad that the pump isn’t waterproof.  I asked the rep about this, and she said ‘while they are waterprrof when they leave the factory, we don’t want the liability risk of having failures on a pump that has been in use for a year and may or may not continue to be waterproof’  To me that is just spin, designed to placate the buyer, but my wife doesn’t lead that active of a lifestyle that this is a limiting factor. I really like the fact that the Cozmo will retain its memory  even if the battery is left out, and think it is idiotic that the Minimed doesn’t offer this feature. Okay, so with all that out of the way, can anyone give me anecdotal evidence for or against the above two pumps? I’m not interested in knowing how Company X won’t give you stuff you ‘deserve’ for free, or how they ‘ripped you off’.  I am interested in shortcomings you’ve found in the pump or sets, unexpected issues that you’ve found in using the pump, and anything positive you have to say about the pump you are currently using. Thanks for any help you can provie, Geoff

Response: