YpsoPump: Eight Weeks Old!

I was full of enthusiasm when I learned that I would have the opportunity to road test a new diabetes toy in the YpsoPump.

The YpsoPump does have a fair few differences to traditional insulin pumps, but for the majority of my eight week adventure these differences were far outweighed by its sleek and lightweight nature.

With a stockpile of supplies belonging to my late Animas Vibe sitting in the wardrobe, I made the decision to pull my old pump out of retirement two weeks ago. It actually has reminded me of some of the features that I have been missing.

One of my biggest issues with the YpsoPump has been occlusion alarms. Unfortunately, at least 1 or 2 infusion sets in each box that I have used so far have triggered occlusion alarms. There have been no visible signs of site failures such as kinking or bleeding. High blood sugars clearly indicated that insulin was not getting through, however the alarms only seemed to trigger during a decent bolus of at least 3 units.

I’ve been connecting to a new infusion site at mealtimes where I’ll give a decent bolus, hoping that any occlusions will be triggered. I have reported the issue to Ypsomed with little answer, although I was pleased that my level of diabetes knowledge was acknowledged over the phone. I do wonder if this is simply an issue of me being too thin and lacking enough tissue to cushion the cannula beneath my skin.

I do also miss having the option of having infusion sets that sit on an angle beneath my skin. I can really feel the Ypsomed sites ‘digging in’ when I’m lounging on the couch or sleeping. The marks and bumps left on my skin after removing an infusion set also seem bigger, presumably from the sets ‘digging in.’

Being fairly thin, I don’t think the Orbit inserter is the best practice for me to apply a new infusion site. Inserter devices didn’t agree with me on my late Animas Vibe. While my experience was better than the Animas insets, I definitely intend on manually inserting my sets when I next use the pump.

The one thing I would change about this pump is its lack of a built in bolus calculator. While performing bolus calculations on my iPhone is largely okay, I have found myself slacking off here and there. I’d also like to see more customisation in Ypsomed’s bolus calculating app, such as being able to adjust insulin to carb ratios for things like physical activity.

It was also far too inconvenient having to wait for the app to sync with the pump for insulin data to perform a bolus calculation. Bluetooth was also a significant drain on the pump’s battery. I have since switched the bolus calculator to Multiple Daily Injections mode, instead relying on my ability to log all of my bolus calculations to obtain accurate insulin data. With Bluetooth switched off, I’ve also managed to get a more decent 21-24 days from an Energiser AAA battery.

The thing I like most about the YpsoPump is its sleekness, size and lightweight nature. I have definitely missed that in these past two weeks, especially when I’m travelling and have other things to carry around in my pocket as well. I feel confident that I can live with those differences in return for its weight – particularly in the Summer, when pump complacency is a real issue for me.

The YpsoPump has definitely been a learning curve over these past eight weeks, but as with all other aspects of managing diabetes, I’ve learned how to best make it work for me.

Disclosures: Ypsomed Australia provided me with a YpsoPump, infusion sets, reservoirs and an inserter to trial at a launch event in Sydney. There was no expectation that I would blog, or even trial the pump itself. All opinions expressed here are, as always, my own.