It has been one heck of a crazy week. I got the Tandem tslim X2 pump and was crazy stoked! The thing will not keep Dexcom signal, drops it nonstop. I asked the Tandem FB group for help, they said try to make sure the screen is out if you are wearing it on your body, did that, said to make sure theyre on the same side of your body, did that, nothing worked. I have really no idea how this pump can have such a hard time keeping signal, I hope its just this fluke pump. I read in the group of many many people having the same issue. So why did Tandem not fix this issue before releasing this pump and how is this pump in the closed loop patient trials? I finally called Tandem, they sent me a new transmitter to try to fix the issue and Im really glad they tried that. That did not fix my issue though. It worked great all day long and I thought it was fixed.
So stupidly, I went to bed relying on it. I think because of all the walking we did for trick or treating I had a delayed bg drop. At 243 a.m. I woke up in a puddle of sweat, heart pounding, the typical I feel like I am going to die low, but not REALLY die of course, I have not had a low this bad in YEARS because of my Dexcom. I take my pump out of the band of my underwear (because for 8 years I have worn my pump in a like bralette type thing in a baby sock so I can HEAR alarms, but this pump the BRAND NEW X2 will not keep a damn signal there)...screen out so the signal will work, so I thought and it had the no signal icon! Then it comes up and says 41! Great 41! I felt 41 for sure. The kicker was that I just had also broke my Samsung Note 5 so I did not have the back up reliability of my phone, it NEVER loses signal. It would have been screaming at me for going under 55 and my followers phones would have also been screaming. I was super low for over 30 freaking minutes...obviously my glycogen stores had been working. I was super duper mad my damn pump wasnt alarming me. Also the fixed low alarm on the pump is WAY TOO QUIET, please DO NOT RELY ON IT! It of course alarmed after I got up and went downstairs to proceed to eat half my kitchen.
So now I have gone back in tech and Im using the Dexcom reciever. Unreal. My replacement pump will be here today. My fingers are crossed that it actually does what they say it is suppose to.
Tandem gave me all sorts of excuses for their crappy tech. The case is all metal, make sure its on the same side as your transmitter (which I in turn replied the whole reason I stayed with Tandem and Dexcom was the 20 foot range and not needing to be like Medtronic and have to have my pump on the same side practically on top of the transmitter) these are both lame reason Tandem. Fix these issues. Make your case out of something that will allow a signal to pass through, make your antenna stronger, I mean come on...Medtronic is going to bury you otherwise...they have already buried how many pump companies?!
This new pump had better work. How in the hell is this the pump in closed loop, you cant have a closed loop with a cgm signal drop issue! Also why are the alarms so stinking quiet...cant hear them under covers and with a fan on in your room...so again need the pump up by your head but it wont work that far away and through sheets. Sooooo lets hope the new one actually works.
We have the older T-Slim (before Dex integration) and have had it for 2-1/2 years with no problems, and now all of the sudden can't keep the darn thing working for occlusion alarms. Every time I call tech support they mention re-training us! I don't need re-trained, I need a pump that works! We have to use Apidra as my daughter is allergic to Humalog and Novalog, but rather than try to fix the pump they basically keep calling it user error! Be lucky their sending you a replacement!
ReplyDeleteAndrea I hope you know Apidra is not approved to work in the tslim. It gels up in the tslim. You might join some facebook support groups to ask for guidance. Im unsure if Apridra gels in the Medtronic pumps. They sent me a replacement because my pump cannot keep Dexcom signal.
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