how long on pm untill you need it changing???

hey all was wondering iff anyone could shed abit of light hre for me, i had pm check today n i have 9 months left on it, when roughly do you have it changed (battery life left on it).......do they leave it till like the last 2-3 weeks or do they do it month or so before??? my docs didnt tell me thank you xx

2 Comments

depends

by Tracey_E - 2012-12-05 08:12:16

Depends on your dr, your insurance, how quickly you're using it and how they're reading the number.

Est battery life is usually a range, like 9-12 months. This can vary, the range would have been calculated based on your usage/settings at the time they checked it.

There are two stages at the end of a pm life. The first is ERI, or elective replacement mode, and it lasts about 3 months. It's like the gas light on the car- it's still fully functional but you're about out of gas. If at all possible, get it done sometime during this period so you have a little flexibility in choosing your time and you don't feel the effects of EOL

The last stage is EOL, or end of life, and it's also 3 months or so. At this point, the pm shuts down all the optional functions in order to conserve juice. If you are fully dependent, you will definitely know as soon as it goes to this mode because your rate will stop going up and down but rather pace at a steady rate. You'll be safe but most likely feel bad. If you don't pace much, you may not notice. Some drs wait until this point, and some insurance requires waiting unti EOL.

The only way to know for sure is to ask! Know that 9 months is a guess and it sounds like they didn't say if it was 9 mos to ERI or EOL. It could be 6 months or a year or more, you've got a 6 month cushion when it gets to ERI mode.

asfasf

by boxxed - 2012-12-08 10:12:07

They typically always mean "X months until ERI". The devices all calculate in that way, tech support always calculates in that way.

I haven't come across a situation where that hasn't been the case. But again, let's not talk in terms of speculative absolutes, especially when it comes to a person's health. I'd double check just to be sure.

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