I’ve been on Omnipod for a while and was intrigued by the ilet when it first came out. Since there is no commitment with Omnipod I could have switched - but iLet wasn’t covered by my insurance.
I started on Medicare this year and to my surprise I found that it covers the ilet! My coverage has been verified and I can start once I have a c-peptide test and my doctor writes the rx and provides the necessary documentation. I can try it for 90 days and return it no questions asked if I don’t like it or it doesn’t work for me.
For those who are - or were - on the iLet, would you share your opinions? There was a post asking for some back in 2023 but the most recent comments are from that same year.
I’ve watched some videos and like the Omnipod the iLet learns your body over time and you may (probably will?) run higher than normal for a while. That said, as I recall for the first few days you are not supposed to snack at all between meals, so if you experienced lows, how did you handle them?
When I used a tubed pump I confess I left them in for more than 3 days. Can you do that with the iLet, or - like Omnipod - do you have to start fresh?
How readable is the screen “in the wild”? In the few videos I did watch it was very hard to see when people displayed it but that may have been a function of the way it was recorded.
I will say up front that I’ve worn tubed pumps before and that’s not a problem for me. And on a continuum between
“I’m a control freak and want to do things for myself” and
“I can use all the help I can get”
… I know the Islet is geared more towards the latter.
Hi Dorie I don’t have an ilet but I’ve read the user manual. what I can tell you regarding your questions I got from the manual. The ilet holds 180 units maximum. So you can run it till it ends it doesn’t matter how many days.
The ilet will stop working if you don’t have a working CGM. The pump allows 72 hours (after it programs your typical basal or 48 hours max if it has not) of “run mode” where it asks you for a finger stick to keep operating. Tha screen can also be your phone using the ilet app so even if the pump display stinks you can use your phone.
The pump offers activity mode, pause and stop. And you can disconnect You cannot program your own basal rates and you can’t program your own I:c but you can lie to it with respect to meal “size” This is definitely a “please do it for me” pump
The few people I know who use ilet really like it. There’s no better judge than you. Good luck!!
Thanks @joe ! I average 40 units/day and every extra day counts. Thanks for reminding me about using my phone as the controller, and the “cheats.” If I switch it will be in the new year so don’t hold your breath but do cross your fingers . Thanks again!
Hi all. I had my iLet training yesterday morning and am up and running. I was getting multiple low alerts on Omnipod despite adjustments to my settings. I got one yesterday, and another around 2:00 this morning, and that’s it! ILet has specific guidelines on how to treat lows (it’s not the 15/15 rule) - and when. I won’t share the details because it is designed for their algorithm, but it involves significantly less than what I was having to use before. I was skeptical but it worked both times. Starting off great and it will take a week or so for things to settle in. Will keep you posted.
s]I wish you well, Dorie @wadawabbit with your new device and hope that it “fits” you better than your previous pumps.
When you say low “alerts” from OmniPod, were they false warnings or was your glucose actually low? I scrapped the 15/15 rule [which was around in the 1940s] decades ago and now with the available technology have customized my glucose corrections to avoid spikes - mostly based on the type of carb.
Hi @Dennis ! Always nice to hear from you. I was having actual lows unfortunately despite trying various solutions and it’s been taking longer to recover from them than it used to. Was just trying frustrated with the whole business so when this became an option I decided to try it. Yes, I too ditched 15/15 - just threw that in for reference. You might take a look at the iLet. As I recall your happy with your device but your analytical mind would enjoy digging into how this one works.
Dorie @wadawabbit , I’m staying warm here in Florida by wearing my northern gear whenever I go out; we have strong possibility here of snow flurries on Sunday, but not the 4-6 inches that fell in northern Florida last weekend.
I did look at the iLet 2 years ago when I was getting a new pump and listed it as a “finalist”; since then, when called in for consultation, I have recommended it for other patients for whom I believe it has worked well. I’m waiting to hear your thoughts after you have been using it regularly for a few months.
I’m enjoying not having to pre-bolus!
One thing to know about alerts: I’ve given a couple for low glucose (but much less frequently than with Omnipod) - but they sound continuously until you acknowledge them. My pump is only 23” away (shorter tubing) but you can never find something and shut it down fast enough if you’re trying to watch a movie or are in a public setting. You can adjust the volume. Thankfully they are much less frequent.
I have cats so don’t want to just leave my pump on the table to charge so I’m keeping it close to me while it powers up and I’m holding it in place to keep it secure. It actually doesn’t take too long but I wish there were an adapter similar to the one for the Mobi.
I looked at the charger for iLet and my first impression is it reminds me of an 8-track player … let me know if you need a helper or fixture for it Dorie, I am sure we can come up with something
@wadawabbit, Sorry I have not used this site in a long time - switched to the Beyond Type 1 app. Hope your iLet journey is still going well! I’ve been on it since end of 2023. Some items I learned when using the pump are:
Prefill your cartridges and store them in the fridge! I leave the sterile wrapping on my cartridges and poke though it to prefill them then put them in the fridge. I travel with prefilled cartridges instead of viles, syringes, needles and empty cartridges. Have never had an issue with it.
The pause feature is awesome and I use it when I know that I’m going to be doing a physical activity that will lower my BG’s. The activity and zero basil help to counteract each other and limit low’s.
When I lose CGM connection I still find my iLet will continue with basil doses but will prompt you for a manual BG reading every once in a while.
I have mine set to lowest targets and it keeps my BG’s at a 130 average. Will change it to higher targets when doing things like surgery (had 3 of them with my pump connected to me through the procedures and had zero issues - just be sure to show them how to pause it just in case).
I turn my sound to the lowest setting and can still hear it and feel it buzz at night. My phone on the other hand is far louder than my iLet!
Am hearing that they are in FDA testing with two features 1) phone dosing and 2) support for a glucagon cartridge - there are two cartridges slots in the pump and that is what the other slot is for once they get approvals.
And yes to your above comments on how to treat lows. I typically only need 3 smarties (1g carb) to treat them as the pump would have stopped all insulin delivery well before you went low.
Be sure to ask Beta Bionics for another charger. They gave me a second one for free along with a box of 10 spare insets in case you run into any issues with them and insurance.
Thanks so much for sharing! I did pre-load some cartridges - like you, anything to save some time! I’m a gadget fiend so when I saw these on Etsy I ordered a couple - one for home and one to carry with me. They have caps too. The smallest they could make holds three cartridges due to the hinge size.
![IMG_1686|375x500]
(upload://iVLRmLWcmF6FzlNCq3qa7qABxK8.jpeg)
I was going to set my CGM target to Higher but went with the instruction to keep it at Usual. I might turn it down a notch with time.
Thanks got sharing about upcoming developments. The glucagon option really attracted me when I first heard about the device but given how things are going I’m thinking it may not be as necessary for me as for some. I don’t think I’d heard about phone dosing but I had my training follow up today and was told they are working on a patch pump that may be available in 2027 if not late this year.
Does your endo have access to your iLet data? I let them know once I started so they could connect and got a message saying “Did it,” but I don’t see any connections as I do with Dexcom. Am I supposed to do something, or just wait for them?
I’m in approximately the same situation as you; I’ve been using an AIDS based on OmniPod (Dash in my case) for some years but I’ve been having problems with site issues and I felt that changing to a tubed pump might help; more non-problem sites.
When I talked to my endo about it a couple of weeks ago he told me that he had a number of people on the iLet but they found they were getting repeated low BGs and the available adjustments did not help. He does have guys on the O5 and other AIDS; he specifically suggested I could look at the Mobi (no Android support, so not for me…)
Well, I’m probably not typical (I use Dash+AAPS, certainly DIY) and so I’m interested at this point that you reported low BG with the O5, I think. I didn’t quite grok your comment from 8 days ago:
So you were getting multiple lows with O5, but are not now with iLet?
I should add, it’s not just this one question; I’ve a lot of questions Changing to a tubed pump on Medicare is a really big deal; it saves about $2000 a year but there is a buy in. It’s good to know about the 90-day no-questions-asked guarantee!
I’m really pleased with iLet and how it is keeping me in a much better range, which has varied from the upper 70s to mid/high 80s! There was a low TIR of about 70% day before yesterday but overall from day 1 The Beast (as I am considering naming it) has been doing its thing. All I can theorize is that let’s algorithm works better for me - although that may not be the same for everyone. With Omnipod I could go down to the 50s, and it took longer than it used to for my CGM numbers to start pulling up (even accounting the lag time between CGM and BG readings), or for me to start feeling the recovery. So naturally I was a bit concerned about lows on the let and their treatment instructions - which use less than I was using: but I’m leveling off in the 60s even before I start treatment and their treatment recommendation works nicely overall! I might need to add a bit more but not much during recovery, whereas with Omnipod I was over treating because it was taking so friggin’ long.
Different pumps have their own algorithms and the important thing to remember is that not every algorithm will work for every person. During the trial period with any device you simply might find that it simply doesn’t work for you but in my case it’s not much of an exaggeration to say the total number of lows I’ve gotten since starting ilet the 28th of January is less than I’ve had over a couple of days on Omnipod. Omnipod worked fine for some time and it could be argued that I had not found new settings that would work - but finally I maxed out on frustration with those efforts.
Regarding sites (and sets) when I used Tandem - and I think Medtronic prior to that - there were options for inserting angles: 90 degree and I think 45. I liked to switch things up now and then in the hope it would do even more to help avoid scar tissue. Those pumps also offer a cannula length of 6mm or 9mm - doctors generally choose one based on patient’s body type: (don’t be offended anybody - I myself am a big girl and my doctors choose 9mm for me). ILet offers only a short cannula with 90 degree insertion (Omnipod’s is 45) but it’s working just fine. Our only options are 6mm teflon and steel (and no fun colors as Tandem has).
That may not be a big deal - what very well may be is - what happens if I don’t get my sensors? The iLet will function in BG run mode for up to 3 days so you have to use finger sticks - hopefully manageable if your order is delayed. The device works with both Dexcom and Libre 3+ and in the event of a long term shortage you could try switching to the other. I have a supply of pods left over and could use them - or I could use pens: the start of each year I have my doctor prescribe some in case of emergency or for a pump break. It’s important to know how to go old school and since I was diagnosed when school was old I’m confident I can go back if it comes down to it.
I’m happy to share more about my personal experience but try to offer a balanced viewpoint since - great as it may be for me, it won’t be universal. If I’m not doing that please let me know in the interest of accountability.
Great to hear that your confident in the pump as your low’s are less than they were before! My pump target settings are to “lower” and for my 90-day I’m at 0.0% very low and 0.5% low. I am fairly active at times and during those times I use the pause feature that keeps me from going low. For longer active events, like skiing, my BG’s will start to rise from being on pause so long and then when I get to around 150-160 I’ll unpause the pump and autocorrects kick-in and slowly bring me back down to 100-120 range. This pump is amazing how you can go from a spike and then have a soft landing in the same range all the time. The BG graphs are like watching a plan landing where I did literally nothing to make it happen!
A patch pump would be great as long as it still has the glass cartridges as they are game changing in themselves.
Yes, my endo has access to all my iLet pump data. Just met with him two weeks ago and the first thing he said was how crazy good my numbers are. 94% in range and the funny thing is that I’m really only a small part of that by doing meal announcements and keeping the pump fed and charged. Believe you should just wait for them as setting up access for them in your app is all you should need to do.
Thank you @rpeyser47 . I’m extremely happy with it so far. Most of the points in the article aren’t issues for me:
I did not get the pre-filled cartridges, which are for Fiasp, and I’m okay filling my own.
I didn’t have to charge Omnipod but was accustomed to doing it when I had Tandem and Medtronic, and like my phone I’m in the habit of “plugging in” while I’m just sitting around so it’s not a big deal - in fact I did that earlier today. I asked my trainer about chargers and was told I could use other cordless ones - and keep one in my purse in case it’s needed when I’m out so I should be okay.
I was surprised about the limited infusion set options, but I’m fine with 90 degree insertion.
The BG targets are fine for me - I’ve had issues with lows before and like to give myself a cushion. This pump is doing ann amazing job of managing them and I might set my Therapy target from usual to lower but I’m not aiming for super tight control.
The main concern for me would be not having access to my CGM for an extended time. If there were a Dexcom shortage I would see about switching to Freestyle temporarily if they were available. I like to think that in a situation such as that provisions would be in place to expedite alternatives but I have a supply of Omnipod’s I could use as Plan B, and I have pens I can use as well.
I think things will be okay but time will tell how these points play out. Thank you for sharing!
Oh, and for the others who said they struggled with the iLet it comes down to mainly one thing which I learned early on from a Stanford diabetic nutritionist who got the pump a couple months before me… As the bolos announcements are lower, usual and more then it is important to set a personal range of what a breakfast, lunch and dinner usual is. For me my usual breakfast is 20-25g of carbs, my lunch usual is 40-45g and dinner is 50-60g. The way the algorithm works is a less meal is 50% less than your usual and a more is 50% more than a usual. Meaning my less lunch is 20-25g and my more lunch is 60-65g. So lets say I have a roughly 90g lunch… I will take a more lunch and then a less lunch (basically two boluses) to make up the amount of carbs I think I’m eating. You can also break up these doses over different times as what if you start to get a stomach issue and are only half way through your meal… so instead of taking a more and less dose at the same time I’ll take a more at time I eat and a less when I’m finished.
The iLet pump algorithms will change based on your eating habits. So lets say you start dosing a usual breakfast (which was 20-25g) but then you only eat 15-20g of carbs - well, the pump will reset your usual to 15-20g if you repeat that for 3 days. The pump takes a 3 day average of your usual for breakfast, lunch and dinner so is constantly changing as your eating habits change. You can increase what your usual meal the same way as well. The pump manages this great as when you announce a meal it never gives you the full amount of that dose at the time of meal announcement - it always gives you less and uses the remaining meal dose amount over time as part of their autocorrect algorithms making it very flexible. This is important as it’s a feature that minimizes low’s, which as we T1D’s know… are far more important than going a little higher.
I’ve adjusted my usual meal announcements up/down many times over the past 1.5 years on iLet. Currently I’m bringing my usual dinner carb range amount down a bit as I got into a phase of wanting more carbs and now I’m wanting more protein in my meals. And remember you don’t have to just select the “usual” meal to adjust up/down your carb eating habits, but can also eat a bit less of a “lower” or “more” dinner announcement to bring down the amount of carb in each of those ranges as they always follow the less is 50% less than usual and more is 50% more than usual. And no, even with these fine tuning tips you still don’t have to be accurate at counting carbs and remembering this! All you have to do is just focus on what a less/usual/more carb meal looks like to you over time and the pump will auto adjust for you. This pump is leaps and bounds the closest technology to the capability of a fully functioning pancreas. And with glucagon cartridge support you will be able to set a range of what BG you feel best at and the pump will be able to be far more aggressive on insulin deployment and glucagon micro-adjustments to keep you in that range all the time.
. Thanks again!
… let me know if you need a helper or fixture for it Dorie, I am sure we can come up with something
. I don’t think I’d heard about phone dosing but I had my training follow up today and was told they are working on a patch pump that may be available in 2027 if not late this year.
Changing to a tubed pump on Medicare is a really big deal; it saves about $2000 a year but there is a buy in. It’s good to know about the 90-day no-questions-asked guarantee!
).