# Tandem T-Slim or Medtronic 640G...5 year old



## Kazz86 (Nov 16, 2020)

Hi all

Just had an appointment with my son’s diabetic Consultant, we have been offered either the medtronic 640G or tandem T-slim... my son is 5. Any thoughts on people’s preferences?

thank you all 

Karen


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## everydayupsanddowns (Nov 16, 2020)

I would opt for the tandem out of those two. The MM640G is quite an old pump now (I had one for 4 years and loved it). I now have the tandem tslim, and it has features that the MM640 can't match (you would need the more recent MM670G or MM780G for those)

The tSlim (if running with Dexcom G6) can predictively act to help avoid both highs and lows, whereas the MM640G only has predictive low glucose suspend (if running with Guardian G3 sensors).


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## SB2015 (Nov 20, 2020)

I am very surprise that they are still offering the 640.  The 780 behaves like a 640 if not used along with the sensors, but then offers the option of self funding the sensors to go into auto mode.


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## Thebearcametoo (Nov 20, 2020)

Are you planning on funding a CGM or been offered one?

We self fund dexcom and have a tslim and whilst it needs quite a lot of input it’s working well with the two talking to each other.

Look at your insulin use, especially the basal and see if one has the ability to give smaller amounts of insulin through the day if that’s relevant as he’s so young.


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## Pumper_Sue (Nov 20, 2020)

I have the 640 and hate it.


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## SB2015 (Dec 16, 2020)

I have just started in the 780.  I had a very wobbly day yesterday as I needed to get basal rates and ratios adjusted.  I was very impressed by the support I got from the pump care line.  No other experience to report on as yet, and no experience of the T-Slim


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## trophywench (Dec 17, 2020)

I could have had the 640, the Tslim, an Omnipod or another Combo, as my hospital don't let you have another Insight despite me wanting one rather than anything newer without a remote control.

First person with a pump I ever met - @Pumper_Sue !! and she's used a number of different makes and models, utterly hates the 640 for starters and rightly or wrongly as we've never actually met - I do actually trust her and hence am put off that one for starters.  I tried a dummy Omnipod, and was gobsmacked how big it is - I have a lot of non absorbing areas of flesh plus as it happens my entire torso is liberally peppered with seborrheic keratoses, each of which has its own individual  network of peripheral blood vessels and hence you should not perforate them with the introducer needle and actual internal cannula, so that's tricky enough using pens or syringes as it is, let alone ruddy cannulas.  So I met a Tslim rep who told me that she loved hers but that it would be pretty useless without her Dexcom alongside.  Well thanks for that luv, Coventry CCG will simply NOT fund CGMs unless the consultant can make a VERY special case for you - and that certainly isn't the case for me.  So, I've had to make the decision to go back to another Combo.  Get it on 8th Jan.


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## Pumper_Sue (Dec 17, 2020)

The 640 has far to many button pushes for my liking . Silly mare of rep told me it was a safety device  to stop children delivering insulin when they shouldn't! Considering it lights up and almost shouts push this button it does seem very pointless. It also quite chunky. Customer service take an age to answer and when they do say your prayers and hope you have someone who speaks English in a clear precise way. The cartridges are a pain in the article to fill due to a simple design fault that allows air into the cartridge whilst filling it. ( The rubber seal on the plunger is not airtight) 
I ordered supplies the other day and what I received was not what I ordered. Oh well only another 2 1/2 years before I can have another pump.  

Other people love their moronic pumps I certainly do not.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Dec 21, 2020)

I think different pumps suit different people. I had the MM640 for 4 years and got on really well with it, especially the predictive low glucose suspend.

I am only aware of the reservoir vents Sue mentions in relation to boluses being properly delivered, and never found they gave me any problems filling the reservoir. I certainly found them air-tight because I always filled under a slight vacuum.

I do agree about the huge number of button presses though - but that seems to be connected to FDA approval, and medical devices being designed for the hard of thinking. I just wish there was a way you could enable/disable ‘training mode’ to halve the presses and screeds of information that have to be OKd

I’m now on a Tandem TSlim, and the reservoir filling on that is a lot more fiddly than the MM640.

It’s a real shame, I think, that you can’t have a trial of a pump for a couple of weeks before committing to 4 years. It’s a big decision to take based on just a 5 minute hold and a few questions of a rep/dsn.


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