@mermaidspla2

?? I’m completely over this whole situation. I’m going to be calling Cymed again at the first of the week. 

@tammyb1022

Same here, its been an awful change and I hope enough people complain that they will switch back to a higher quality product. 

I started the process of replacing my defective Cymed pouches a couple months ago.  They started by replacing two boxes so we could see if there was any improvement.

The replacement pouches were better than the defective ones, but not as good as the ones from before they made the change to the problem pouches.  The new pouches are slightly narrower and longer, which is actually better for me since I wear my pouches horizontally.  The plastic is definitely better than the problem ones, but probably not quite as good as they used to be.  The tail closure on the roll-up velcro-style closure is smaller, which makes it more difficult to empty, but I can live with that.  I haven't had any issues with the new pouches except for the attachment to the barrier.  I had 2 of 10 in the first replacement box detach from the barrier after less than two days, and 3 of 10 in the second box that detached after less than two days.  I then had Cymed replace the remaining 5 boxes of defective pouches. 

To deal with the separation problem, I cut a couple crescent-shaped pieces out of an old credit card and glued those pieces under the "flap" where the barrier connects to the pouch.  This reduces the "folding" effect of the barrier when I'm sitting or moving around, thus putting less pressure on the area where the pouch joins with the barrier.  This gets me 3 days of wear time with the pouch rarely ever separating from the barrier.  I actually have a set of Cymed one-piece pouches on order to see if I can get around this.  If the barrier and pouch are essentially the same as what I'm using for the two-piece system, then that might work for me.

I had tried every other brand I could find and could not find a barrier that would stay on for more than 24 hours without a problem.  I tried several samples from Coloplast, Hollister, and Convatec with no luck.  I got Salts to send me some samples, and nearly all the sample products they sent me worked fine.  However, they don't have any distributors in the U.S., so I'm out of luck there for now.

It's pretty crazy that Cymed seems to be light years ahead in barrier technology with MicroSkin, but decades behind on pouch technology.  I wish one of the bigger companies would just buy out Cymed and integrate the MicroSkin barriers into their product line.

@dlmonroe

You can order the Salts products thru Canada but insurance may not pick it up.

Argyle Medical Distributors Inc.
info@argylemedical.com
Tel: 1-877-927-4953
Fax: 1-888-792-5289

So, I'd like to have an update for anyone who had continued to use Cymed products over the last 6-7 months. Have things improved? 

I ordered 1 piece samples about 6months back.  for me the Velcro outlet is useless. once I get some sheet Teflon ,  I'll try to plastic weld a Coloplast style outlet to the bags, then I might return to the superior microskin which I miss using .  but the outlet is not worth that cleaning hastle.

I'm back to using Cymed products again.  I had previously used the two-piece, but switched to the one-piece because I had issues with the pouch detaching from the barrier on the new two-piece ones.  Apparently the adhesive that attaches the two pieces is not as good as it was on the old ones.

The one-piece has been working for me and I'm back to my normal wear time.

Cymed also seems more interested now in customer feedback than I remember before.  Once I confirmed that the new pouch system would work, I requested replacement of the defective ones that I had been holding on to.  When I requested the replacements, they had me fill out a comprehensive survey with my feedback on both the "good" products and the "bad" products.  I felt like they really were attempting to get customer input to make things better.

Posted by: @dlmonroe

Cymed also seems more interested now in customer feedback than I remember before. 

This is very encouraging to hear! Thank you for sharing that.

YES! They have begun to make their products better. They are now based out of Florida. I spoke at length with the new sales guy, I’ll try to find his name. Their customer service is absolutely improved and they are working hard to better their products. They haven’t gone back to their original material, which I truly wish for, but they are not leaking and doing the job they need to do. 

Really glad to read these updates. Thank you! I just looked online and they have a new website now as well, more contemporary-looking than previously. I had finally given up on them (sadly) and have been using Hollister's cera plus one piece pouches, but i'd love to go back to microskin if the products are up to standard. This thread gives me hope! If anybody has the name/ contact info for their new customer service person, i'd appreciate it!

Posted by: @jazz99

I just looked online and they have a new website now as well, more contemporary-looking than previously.

Way better than the old site! 

I'm glad you did find something that works for you, and perhaps you can return to Cymed at a future time - always worth checking in at a later time. 

Greetings All. I called Cymed today to request samples of their newer pouches. Ended up having a long conversation with their Quality Control / Customer Service person, Lou. He was really excited to hear detailed feedback and wanted to arrange for me to talk with the new owner, etc. I opted to wait until i had tried the new products. As others have noted, the manufacture and HQ is now based in Florida, but he is located in California. Anyway, i told him i was planning to post his contact info on the VO forum. Feel free to reach out to him:

Louis ("Lou") Verhoeven

QC/ Customer Service/ National Account Manager

Phone: (800) 582-0707 Ext. 5

1451 Sarasota Center Blvd, Sarasota, FL 34240

louis.verhoeven@cymed.us

www.cymed.us

Cymed is under new ownership?  That explains a lot of the recent changes.  That gives me more confidence that things will continue moving in the right direction.

@jazz99 Thats a wonderfully positive direction they are taking! Please, let us know how you like the samples. 

Hi all. Not sure if this will help here as this sounds like a product defect. But for those that have the odor issue...

I really was convinced that it was the Hollister bags that were causing this issue for me. I did switch over to Coloplast products, which are actually working out well. But after some time with the new products, one day I suddenly smelled the same odor again. Through the process of elimination, I think I have determined the culprit to be Arrowroot. I would often eat Arrowroot cookies, especially just after my surgery where my diet was more limited. Over time I cut down, and then one day I ate them again and the smell came back. I still can't be 100% sure, but I am 99% convinced now. Just thought I'd post in case it helps anyone else.

Hi all,
Been stalking this topic for some time to see if Cymed was worth trying again. I appreciate everyone keeping the topic alive and glad to here Cymed is making some positive changes.

I agree though their pouches leave something to be desired, especially since I prefer a smaller one and their 9'' still uses ties for some reason. When I tried it in the past I didn't actually have any issues with the ties coming off, but it was a constant fear in my mind. I much prefer a velcro like closure so will be holding off sampling again for now. But I am glad they are working out for more of you and hopefully they will perfect them soon. :)

PS: @jazz99 Thanks for the tip on the new site. Definitely looks more updated and less sketchy ;-)

Greetings All. In case it's helpful for anybody, here's my experience test-driving the new Cymed version of 78400V and 81400V pouches. These are both one piece microskin roll-bottom pouches with a peri-stomal washer (cut to fit). Bottom line, they are not as good as original versions, but much better than the worst versions.

The overall quality of the samples i received was consistent and there were no manufacturing flaws or leaks. The pouch material is more substantive than the thin "candy wrapper" plastic of the bad version -- the noise and odor issues seem to be gone. The rolls of the self-locking tail, however remain very narrow (as with the bad version), and to make it worse the pouches ship pre-rolled vs flat. This means there is a built-in curl factor requiring two hands (really three hands would be better) to cleanly empty the pouch. Very annoying, and for larger hands/fingers, i expect the narrow rolls are harder to manipulate than the original width -- which was comparable to Hollister and other major companies. They did get rid of the unnecessary wings, though, which in the bad version were often misaligned or missing on one side.

The pouch size is slightly larger than the worst version, but still narrower (in the top half) than the standard size of the original pouches. The much smaller/ narrower bad version pouches required significantly more frequent emptying; the new ones are somewhere in-between. The filter was "meh" -- as are most filters that i have experienced -- decent the first day and pretty much useless after that. The built-in washer now comes in both 40m and 50m thicknesses, but both are thinner than the original version and the wear time is correspondingly lower. (With the original version the built in washer was comparable to a standard Eakin or other stand alone washer, and there was no need for an additional washer -- which helped on cost as well as convenience.) The new version would probably be fine for a colostomy or lower output stoma, but with my illeostomy (and liquid-leaning output), i experienced skin breakdown after a couple of days.

The microskin is great, however, and i wrestled with whether it was enough to win me back to Cymed. In the end it wasn't, and i am for now sticking with the Hollister cera-plus one piece and peri-stomal rings from Marlen.

Best wishes to all of you on this bumpy road!

@jazz99 What a wonderful review! It's a shame that these changes weren't enough to win you back, but I think it's still encouraging news for those who want to stick with Cymed products. 

Cymed still works the best & feels the best for my husbands ostomy.  During all the changes and problems and trying every other brand he continued with Cymed as his best option.

1. We are happy the newer 86319, Cymed bag doesn't leak at the seams anymore. 

2. The tab outlet is nice once you learn it has to be pushed until it pops 2 times.

**The biggest problem & complaint is the adhesive is not holding well as any of the other versions, which is confusing and surprising at the worst times. Cymed is the only product that works for him so we hope they hear this and can once again adapt.  Their product 86319 is the only fit we have found that allows him to join in fairly normally in everyday activities.  I hope they can re-work or re-think the adhesive problem on the new bags.

@jazz99 Hey Jazz, thanks for updating us on your samples. Sorry they didn't work out but your review gives me some things to think about. The old crinkly bag was pretty bad so glad they improved on that. But I totally get the closure being a deal breaker; Coloplast's closure will always be my first love, though I have gotten used to Hollister's thanks to some prep and cleaning tips on here :)

I'm kind of tempted to try them just to see how it is; I suppose I could get one large and one small. Sounds like the one piece is the way to go (which I happen to use anyways), so I guess I'll be doing that tonight!

@Mermaidspla2 I read your previous posts; glad your husband is able to use Cymed again. It's devastating when you finally find 'the one' but something happens :( Hopefully they keep improving it; maybe send a note to Lou? Can I ask though if there ended up being anything majorly wrong with Coloplast (besides the tabs) or he just prefers Cymed?