Medtronic 723 is annoying, Medtronic 723 asks too many questions Options

[Fernando_G]

I am having a hard time with the switch from Medtronic 722 to Medtronic 723. Everything now takes twice as long, because they have added tons of silly questions all over the place. The official word is that it is FDA required. They have turned a nice and useful device into an unbearable annoyance. Shame on Medtronic.

[Arlene S.]

I am having a hard time with the switch from Medtronic 722 to Medtronic 723. Everything now takes twice as long, because they have added tons of silly questions all over the place. The official word is that it is FDA required. They have turned a nice and useful device into an unbearable annoyance. Shame on Medtronic.

Unbearable? Wow! We've discussed this before.They've added safety features that could be important to other people and the extra seconds that it takes to push a button are no big deal. You'll get used to it.

[Linda B]

You REALLY will get used to the extra button pushes. I know it's annoying, but it becomes second nature after you've had it for awhile.

Linda B.

[JohnG]

I am having a hard time with the switch from Medtronic 722 to Medtronic 723. Everything now takes twice as long, because they have added tons of silly questions all over the place. The official word is that it is FDA required. They have turned a nice and useful device into an unbearable annoyance. Shame on Medtronic.

If you had started with the 723 you would have never known the difference...;-) The 723 has many new features for CGM users...
and the meter now works as avertized.....very nice.

There's no difference in how a bolus or temp basal is set up...just a couple more button pushes when installing a new res.

I didn't like the rewind procedure on the 723 at first but after few res changes I just got used to it.

[Fernando_G]

Unbearable? Wow! We've discussed this before.They've added safety features that could be important to other people and the extra seconds that it takes to push a button are no big deal. You'll get used to it.

I fully understand that the ton of extra safety features are important/essential for some users. My suggestion: make them optional at set-up time. I know that 10 years down the road I will need some of those features. But right now, they are a waste of my time. And it is not just a FEW extra seconds. When I test with my meter, and fail to respond the questions IMMEDIATELY, that calibration is lost. Only an hour later I find out that I have to calibrate because the last calibration was lost. That means: one more strip test, one more needle stick, 15 minutes with no sensor readings, until it catches up. It is a mess. It is annoying. All I ask for is to make questions like "BG to update sensor?" optional, or let me set the default to Yes. But FDA/Medtronic have decided to ruin a good thing.

[Fernando_G]

You REALLY will get used to the extra button pushes. I know it's annoying, but it becomes second nature after you've had it for awhile.

Linda B.

And where does it stop? My days are still 24 hours long. The extra minutes I have to add to pump care (sometimes it add to an extra hour a day) have to come from somewhere else. Do I cut down in my sleep to do the "extra button pushes"? Do I give up my job to keep the FDA happy? Come on! Give us options, and we can decide what to use and what not to use.

[Liz]

I fully understand that the ton of extra safety features are important/essential for some users. My suggestion: make them optional at set-up time. I know that 10 years down the road I will need some of those features. But right now, they are a waste of my time. And it is not just a FEW extra seconds. When I test with my meter, and fail to respond the questions IMMEDIATELY, that calibration is lost. Only an hour later I find out that I have to calibrate because the last calibration was lost. That means: one more strip test, one more needle stick, 15 minutes with no sensor readings, until it catches up. It is a mess. It is annoying. All I ask for is to make questions like "BG to update sensor?" optional, or let me set the default to Yes. But FDA/Medtronic have decided to ruin a good thing.

If you don't respond to the "Do you want to calibrate" question right away, you can go into the sensor menu and choose Calibrate. If you have used the link meter for the BG test and if it was in the last 12 minutes, the BG will still be there. When you choose Calibrate, the meter reading will pop up.

[Fernando_G]

If you don't respond to the "Do you want to calibrate" question right away, you can go into the sensor menu and choose Calibrate. If you have used the link meter for the BG test and if it was in the last 12 minutes, the BG will still be there. When you choose Calibrate, the meter reading will pop up.

If I am lucky to notice within those 12 minutes. Usually the "Calibrate now" message comes well after those 12 minutes have passed, and the testing gets wasted.

[JohnG]

I fully understand that the ton of extra safety features are important/essential for some users. My suggestion: make them optional at set-up time. I know that 10 years down the road I will need some of those features. But right now, they are a waste of my time. And it is not just a FEW extra seconds. When I test with my meter, and fail to respond the questions IMMEDIATELY, that calibration is lost. Only an hour later I find out that I have to calibrate because the last calibration was lost. That means: one more strip test, one more needle stick, 15 minutes with no sensor readings, until it catches up. It is a mess. It is annoying. All I ask for is to make questions like "BG to update sensor?" optional, or let me set the default to Yes. But FDA/Medtronic have decided to ruin a good thing.

I think the yes/no question is a good thing...if my meter reading does not look right (meters sometimes can be random number generators) I will retest or maybe
my BG is to high or low to do a good cal. One of the complaints many CGM users had was "We do not always need the pump to calibrate and many of us calibrate
at set times during the day not when the pump is demanding a calibration. I do calibrations everyday at 5am-11am and 10pm, and when I restart a sensor after the
first 72hrs I will do the second cal as soon as possible so it gives me 12hours to chose a good time to calibrate the sensor.

You can set your pump so it asks you early for a cal and you can also set it to remind you several times before you go beyond the time limit.



Safety features...there part of the system turning them off would be like saying seat belts are optional. All of the pump company's went to a FDA hearing
a few months before the 723 was released. There where several groups of individuals involved in litigation with the manufactures demanding stricter safety features
and public discloser when pumps have any kind of problem...If this meeting had happened a few months earlier we would all still be using the X22 pumps.

This post has been edited by JohnG: Sep 21 2011, 10:54 PM

[Arlene S.]

I fully understand that the ton of extra safety features are important/essential for some users. My suggestion: make them optional at set-up time. I know that 10 years down the road I will need some of those features. But right now, they are a waste of my time. And it is not just a FEW extra seconds. When I test with my meter, and fail to respond the questions IMMEDIATELY, that calibration is lost. Only an hour later I find out that I have to calibrate because the last calibration was lost. That means: one more strip test, one more needle stick, 15 minutes with no sensor readings, until it catches up. It is a mess. It is annoying. All I ask for is to make questions like "BG to update sensor?" optional, or let me set the default to Yes. But FDA/Medtronic have decided to ruin a good thing.

It wasn't a "good thing" and having the default as "yes" was the subject of many complaints. I assume you used the 722. Perhaps you may recall the notice Medtronic sent out informing users that they should turn of the COMM option on the Ultralink meter because it automatically calibrated the pump. That would mean that the pump could be calibrated many times per day, depending on how many times the pumper tested. One of the important improvements (requested by 722 users) was having "no" as the default but with the choice to calibrate. It has been great to be able to use my UltraLinks with the COMM feature turned on. As Liz pointed out you do not have to answer immediately. You can use the Sensor/Calibrate option.

[Bec]

I love the 723. If it takes me 2 seconds longer to bolus, hell even 30 seconds, my vote still goes to the 723. It's a whole lot faster than the days of MDI. Sure I want my pump to be improved upon in the future (like, for example, adding a temperature sensor) but are a few seconds of button pushing really worth complaining about?

This post has been edited by Bec: Sep 22 2011, 05:01 AM

[Arlene S.]

I love the 723. If it takes me 2 seconds longer to bolus, hell even 30 seconds, my vote still goes to the 723. It's a whole lot faster than the days of MDI. Sure I want my pump to be improved upon in the future (like, for example, adding a temperature sensor) but are a few seconds of button pushing really worth complaining about?

I agree with you, Bec. I have been pumping for 18 years (actually my anniversary is October 4). I had 7 (MM) pump models before the 723 and I've been grateful for each improvement and the link option is one of them. Also, it takes a nanosecond to push the buttons when changing sets and three seconds to calibrate.

[Arlene S.]

If I am lucky to notice within those 12 minutes. Usually the "Calibrate now" message comes well after those 12 minutes have passed, and the testing gets wasted.

You can calibrate whenever you wish to do so. Unless you are just starting a sensor you don't have to wait for the "METER BG NOW" alert.

[JohnG]

I think my X23 is great...it has everything I need. The predictive alerts, IOB on main screen, and the wireless meter fix
was well worth the price of a up grade. We where lucky the MM x23 was approved just before the FDA crack down I don't
think there has been any new name brand pumps approved in the US sense the big FDA meltdown.

[Linda B]

If I am lucky to notice within those 12 minutes. Usually the "Calibrate now" message comes well after those 12 minutes have passed, and the testing gets wasted.

As soon as the Meter BG is transferred to the pump, the pump beeps and asks if you want to use the BG reading to calibrate the sensor. You have the choice of saying yes or no. You do not have to wait for a Meter BG Now message. You SHOULD be calibrating only 2 -4 times a day, and picking times when your BG is stable.

The old way, where if you used the link feature it AUTOMATICALLY calibrated was not a good thing. Calibrating too often or when your BG is changing rapidly will throw off the accuracy of your sensor. In fact, MM sent out a letter telling CGMS users to turn off the link feature completely because it could hurt the accuracy of your CGMS.

This way is MUCH better.

Linda B.

[Fernando_G]

Calibrating too often or when your BG is changing rapidly will throw off the accuracy of your sensor.

Linda B.

Wrong and right!. Rapidly changing sugar levels is the wrong time to calibrate. There is not "too often"
as far as calibrating goes. The more interpolation points you have, the better the interpolation. The fact
that you don't NEED to calibrate more than twice a day, doesn't mean you SHOULDN'T.

Just to clarify, the sensor is not affected in any way by a calibration. It is the pump that does the
calibration, combining the ISIG readings from the sensor and the BG readings from the meter.

For those of us who use a sensor more than 3 days, calibrating more often than every 12 hours becomes
important in the last leg of the sensor.

[JohnG]

Unfortunately for many of us there is no more than 3 or 4 really good times each day to calibrate...any 4-6 hour time period after I eat is a bad time
for me to do a calibration. I try to never calibrate when I have any IOB.

Like our insulin regiment every successful CGM user has his/her own personal routine...there are no two of us alike.

[TonyK]

Maybe I'm missing something, I assume your pump is right with you when you Check? The calibration question is immediate, yes or no. If you say yes it's done, maybe 5 seconds total? As for any other questions such as when refilling/rewinding, maybe another 5 seconds? Like I said maybe I'm missing something?

[karen]

This just made me laugh. A lot can happen in 5 seconds!! Just kidding, I bet it is not even 5 seconds total for the question and the answer if you are ready. I might be missing something, too. I sure don't miss the old pump that had a hinged door and you could just push the plunger if you wanted to. Improvements are a good thing, even if they require some thought (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Maybe I'm missing something, I assume your pump is right with you when you Check? The calibration question is immediate, yes or no. If you say yes it's done, maybe 5 seconds total? As for any other questions such as when refilling/rewinding, maybe another 5 seconds? Like I said maybe I'm missing something?

[soap9er]

I am looking to buy a new pump and CGM and just want to get some thoughts on which is better and more convenient (price, supplies cost, easier, etc) (Medtronic vs. Animas).