This title kind of had to be. My new insulin pump was really just waiting for it. Keeping with my music-themed post titles, I’m borrowing from Eminem with a disclaimer that I have no idea what that song is actually about – I just found it amusing in this context. I’m a little over one month into using my brand new insulin pump, the Tandem Diabetes T:Slim X2 (see what I did there?), so figured it was time for a review.
I’ve been using insulin pump therapy for roughly 18 years, but have always had Medtronic pumps. For the last several years, I had United Healthcare, so I had no choice but to have Medtronic pumps. If you are not aware of that matter, please read this statement from JDRF regarding United Healthcare’s (ridiculous and harmful) decision to no longer cover insulin pumps for children by any other manufacturer than Medtronic – a policy already in place for adults on their plans: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jdrf-statement-on-united-healthcare-insulin-pump-agreement-with-medtronic-300789089.html
Last June, I got new insurance coverage and was able to step away from Medtronic, which honestly, was a bit difficult. They were all I knew. My endocrinologist was very keen on me using the T:Slim X2 pump and Dexcom G6 CGM. I upgraded to the G6 from the G5 then too.
So, one month in and how do I like it? Here’s a rundown of my experience so far with my new T:Slim X2 in a pros and cons list.
Pros:
- First and foremost, I LOVE the Basal IQ feature on this pump! It has kept my blood sugar from plummeting almost every day and it is a wonderful feature for overnight! For those not aware, Basal IQ is a feature that shuts your pump off when your blood sugar is dropping fast and/or near or below your preset low threshold number. It’s one side of a closed-loop system. You can see the red vertical lines in the pictures above. That’s the Basal IQ at work.
- Updates are downloadable – that’s a big deal. With Medtronic, I’d have to wait up to 4 years to get a new pump.
- I like the look of the pump – sleek and slim (as the name suggests).
- I like that when using a temp basal, if Basal IQ has to kick in, the pump will return to the preset temp basal.
- I found out recently that if my phone app is not working for whatever reason, I will STILL see my blood sugar number from my Dexcom G6 on my pump! That’s huge! My phone had locked up and needed restored, which took a good chunk of time, so no Dexcom app for my Dexcom to connect to.
- It is watertight to a depth of 3 feet for 30 minutes. I never swim with a pump on, but for the accidental soaking, I like this feature.
- The pump will vibrate for highs or lows, which is nice when I don’t want sound from my phone app and I won’t miss an alert.
- No batteries to replace. The T:Slim X2 recharges with a USB mini charger, which is fine. I tend to plug it in when I’m in the shower. This was never a huge deal for me with my old pump, which took one AAA battery – I just had to make sure I had one with me. I’m sure it took up a good bit of space in the inner workings of the pump too. I’ll put this in the pros list.
Cons:
I have to say, there are quite a few things I really don’t like about the T:Slim X2.
- My main complaint is that the damn thing sets off metal detectors! I travel a lot by plane every month. I got TSA Precheck so I could get through the lines quicker. Since you only need to go through metal detectors with TSA Precheck, that also got me off the hook of needing to get the full pat down. Sigh. I now have to either get the pat down or physically take my pump off, hand it to a TSA agent, and ask them to hand check it. I will have to do this anytime I need to go through a metal detector – airports, train stations, court houses, any federal building, some concert or sporting venues. It gives me anxiety to think of traveling to foreign countries. I have to let everyone know I have diabetes now. It takes away my choice in that matter and that sucks. It was nice to just be like everyone else for a moment. I really find it hard to believe that pump manufacturers would not know this is a big deal.
- I don’t like the cartridge filling process – too many steps and multiple parts.
- I don’t like the infusion set insertions. They are very easy to screw up and the built-in inserter kind of sucks – it is very hair trigger and the needle portion can get yanked out and mess up the whole thing, which has happened to me too many times already. I then need to start over with a new set. To be fair though, Tandem has sent me new infusion sets to cover the failed ones so far.
- I don’t like the t:lock connector thingy on the tubing. It gets in the way and is harder to hide under clothing. Does it really need to be that bulky? It bugs me to no end that I can’t disconnect the tubing right there when I need to hand over my pump to, oh, say a TSA agent.
- I don’t like how many steps it takes to deliver a bolus.
- I don’t like that I have to enter the blood sugar number into the pump to bolus. Why can’t it automatically sync that number?
- The pump will disconnect from my CGM readings way more often if my pump insertion site is on the other side of my body than the CGM insertion site, e.g., pump site on left thigh, CGM site on right arm.
- The screen text is small.
- I wish it had a remote control. My old Medtronic had one, and while I rarely used it, it came in handy for the occasional fancy dress, so when bolusing, I didn’t have to fish my pump out of wherever I had cleverly stashed it.
- It cost me a fortune even with insurance coverage. I realize that has a lot to do with my actual insurance policy, but the things are so expensive just to start. All insulin pumps are expensive though, so I can’t really single Tandem out here, but that’s a subject for another post.
- Oh, and I hate the case that comes with it.
As you can see, my con list is longer than my pro list. Is the Basal IQ and the other pros worth all the other hassles? I’m not sure yet. I was over the moon with this new pump when I first got it. My blood sugars seemed more stable and I didn’t get lows, as the Basal IQ would head them off at the pass. I’m not as thrilled by it anymore. I seem to be back in the same old patterns. Again, the Basal IQ is great. It often keeps me from completely dropping. When Tandem unveils the new updates to make this a closed-loop system – sometime later this year they say – I’ll revisit my review. As it is though, this is my insulin pump for at least the next four years. The challenge is set, T:Slim: impress me!
