It is beyond rare that I post anything about my diabetes, but after the god damn awful night I just had, I just need to vent. Long post warning.
And warning to people to never get the Medtronic pump if you have the choice.
Quick medical summary about me; Iâm type 1 diabetic, got it back in 2001 when I was two years old. I live in Sweden, so Swedish health care system. I got my first pump when I was 13 years, and first glucose sensor when I was 17.
So on to the hell that is Medtronic.
I got a dexcom sensor when I was 20, and this was by far the best choice I ever done regarding my diabetes. The issue was that I got it with Omnipod, and while that it work wonders at first, I started having problems with that the omnipod started leaking. As time vent on it would only last for around 20 hours before it started leaking.
So after talking with my nurse at the hospital, it was decided in 2022 that I had to change to a new pump pretty damn fast. So we got a bunch of pamphlets from different brands, vent over which one seemed to be best. After reading through them, I landed on Medtronic.
When people ask if you could go back in time and tell past you something, what would that be? This is the moment for me, I would go back and tell past me to NOT get the Medtronic pump, for it is the worst decision I done in my entire life. Not just regarding my diabetes, but the worst decision ever.
The issues started from day one. I got the guardian 4 sensor, the representative from the company told me the best location for it was on the arm, and my first thought was just âhow the fuck are you supposed to deal with this with only one hand?â. Anyone who had the g4 can tell you that you must use two hands for that stupid thing. But at the moment, I didnât bothered too much with that. I always had the dexcom on my stomach without any issue, so I thought I could just use the g4 there aswell.
It was a constant loop of sensors dying within 5 days, they are supposed to last 7. Many of them wouldnât even start at all. The constant âsensor updatingâ messages, and on occasion some sensors even measured extremely wrong!!!
At first I thought it was just user error, so I tried working around it. Trying every advice I could find, nothing work. Eventually I did try putting it on my arm aswell, but as I live alone that really wasnât an easy task, and many of them failed because I couldnât pull the needle out correctly, or they would just start pissing blood.
I lasted for about 3 months before I had fucking enough, and told my nurse I didnât wanted to continue with Medtronic. Her answers? The hospital had signed a contract with Medtronic, so I canât change.
Like are you fucking kidding me? There had been nothing but problem since I got it, I talked to the nurse multiple times, talked with Medtronic support multiple times, there are a clear log proving that it doesnât work. Surely that could null the contract?????
Nope. So I been stuck with this hell since. There have been multiple instances where after a sensor failed I just said fuck it and didnât replace it, and just went that day with pricking my finger like I did before I got my first sensor. And that I mentioned that I tried every advice I could find? I really did try everything, no matter how likely to work or stupid it sounded. I mean, this shit isnât working anyway!!!!!!
Eventually I got in contact with the representative from Medtronic for the regional area I live, and she of course started going on about âhave you tried doing this? Or this? Or this?â. Yes indeed I have, multiple times in fact! In different versions and colors too!!!!!!!! It. Never. Works.
So she just went âO thatâs odd. It works wonders for my seven year old boy!â
Are you serious? There is quite a large different between a seven year old boy, and a (at the time) 25 year old woman. Like Iâm pretty sure your son donât have to deal with periods for example. And donât get me started on how much my cycle messes with the sensor.
And the worst part? When the sensor actually does work, the smart guard function is generally amazing. My HbA1c have never in my life been this good, which is why they refuse to null the contract. The fact that the sensors keep failing, the extreme mental stress I been through, the fact that I feel my diabetes in a way I never have before is completely ignored.
As I mentioned I got my diabetes when I was two years old, so everything about it have just always been normal day to day stuff for me. Taking insulin shots and pricking my fingers have always been as normal as putting on clothes in the morning for me. During my childhood and teenagers years, I never felt diabetic. But when I got the Medtronic system and all the problems with it, I felt that I was diabetic in a way I never done before.
Last year I got the Simplera sensor and thought that finally this hell would be over.
Iâm still in hell, just lesser hell. The problems with application is gone, and the failing because itâs pissing blood, but it still fails within 5 days, there is still that god damn update loop, ending in sensor failure.
This morning it woke me up at 3 FUCKING AM because of sensor update, then it kept me awake before it eventually ended in sensor failure. And I have zero fucking patience or energy to fix that now, so I will just go about the day pricking my fingers like I did before! Iâm currently writing this on my commute to work, no active sensor, running on about 3 hours of sleep and rage. So fuck my life!!!
I hate this so much. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK MEDTRONIC YOU SHIT PIECE OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT!!!!