Daisy Mae's swimming BG thread

Sports & Exercise
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GETTING BACK INTO SHAPE EXPERIMENT #1:

my New Year’s Resolution was to start swimming faster this year. I have given myself a buy time of 1 month (since I had been home recovering in bed for 3+ weeks and thus, completely inactive), and then I will begin my “training.”

I’ve been watching a lot on U-TUBE about perfecting your form and how, for the breast stroke, the pace, for the most part, is reliant upon the kick (the whip kick, not to be confused with the “frog kick.”) most of the info I have gleaned is about keeping and maintaining a stream- lined posture in the water. keeping level through your body as you push forward and then glide through the water, parallel as possible. the part I am a little lost about is why I see other breast strokers pulling themselves up and out of the water to take in a breath. on every video that I have watched, this is not encouraged, bc everything that you do should maintain your body’s alignment with the water to avoid drag.

I will have to do a little more investigating about this :thinking:

anyway, todays swim was wonderful, especially bc I had such an absolutely miserable night. from dinner onwards throughout the night and into the morning, I couldn’t get my BGs over 40. then I might luck out and reach something like 57 up to 70 and then slide down again even on a lowered TB. so basically from 5pm through 6am this morning, I didn’t know if I would make it to the pool today. But I didn’t give up; I am very stubborn and do not give up easily when I have a pursuit. and my pursuit was to get into that darn pool and swim a great swim. well, I didn’t give up, and I had a great swim. so: mission accomplished!!!

here are today’s stats:

12pm bg 97
12:30 bg 97
1pm bg 97
1:15 bg 102 took 2 GTabs and jumped in
1:50 bg 82 too 2 G Tabs and jumped back in
2:20 bg 80 took 2 jelly bean (2gms of fast carbs) waited 5 minutes and jumped back in
2:45 bg 105 bolused 2 units to cover 4 hours of ZB and set my pump at 97% TB
3:15 bg 92 bolused 1.4 units for 32gms refuel

gave myself LESS insulin post swim and for my shakes, and I put myself immediately on the lowered TB in an effort to ward off the nasty lows I experienced last night.

we’ll see how it goes.

signing off,

DM

PS: would love to hear back from any of you regarding stubborn lows; for the most part, we all talk about stubborn highs, but nobody really makes mention of the lows and how they deal and cope with it.

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Wow, another incredible set of numbers!

You know it’s always the same for me - eat more carbs!

A big dinner will definitely help you avoid that problem.

This seems like an overly simple answer, but really that is the best thing for nighttime lows. You can also do the nighttime TB, but more carbs at dinner is the ideal thing because it refuels you for the next day, and will definitely reduce the lows.

Try it sometime. Just pig out at dinner. I swear to you it will help!

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@Eric, of course this would be your solution to my dilemma . carbs are your life. and running, of course…and experimenting with just how far you can push the envelope :rofl:

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Stubborn lows could be too high of a basal setting? Because it’s not just a quick carb intake to correct, it’s more of an ongoing hours issue? Sometimes the quick fix and then a more complex carb will help with it more if that’s it. When I have been sick and inactive, I eat less which makes me more insulin sensitive, so then when I start to exercise it drops down my need for insulin even more, messing up my normal insulin needs…

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!!! Those numbers are awesome!! :star_struck:

My solution is pretty much a lower temp basal (and basal iq for stubborn lows has been incredible for suspending when necessary.) recently when treating lows while getting ready for bed ill have some form of dessert since it feels right and I don’t want to waste the low, but a lot of the time it’ll take longer to kick in, and I’ll be lower than I want to be getting into bed and will then just eat even more out of frustration. Then I’ll end up spiking once I’m asleep. Something I think I’ll try out instead is using a gel or something quick to try to bring me up quick enough that I can try to stabilize out before going to sleep. I’m really not the best with stubborn lows at night since I’ll get grumpy and don’t want to deal with it but then too frequently am stuck dealing with the consequent highs :woman_facepalming: Anyways, I feel your pain!

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@LarissaW, one of the greatest tricks that @Eric has taught me is that when I have a night of serious, never-ending lows is that even if I’ve had to turn my basal down, to crank it up before going to sleep; this has warded off the overnight spikes. its a tremendous success story. also, I do the same if I’ve had a night of unusual consumption of carbs ( more than a regular dinner meal like Thanksgiving, for example)

but one of the things that REALLY drives me nuts is when I go low, correct, then bounce up to normal, then crash again and again. ugh. I get so frustrated I want to throw my meter ion the river :sob:

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Sounds pretty freakin familiar to me :woman_facepalming: That’s my one worry with cranking up basal after repeated lows! Some nights it’s like I need to choose if I would rather spend the night getting alarms for being low or high

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all I know is that I have learned to take @Eric at this word. he has definitely earned my trust. when I go through either endless rebounding lows or an evening spent eating ( like Thanksgiving, etc), I crank up my basal before hitting the pillow. for whatever reason, it works!!! i don’t spike high and I don’t crash low. then I turn the TB off at around 4am and wake up refreshed, in target, and steady.

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IMG_2997
IMG_2997611×640 55.7 KB

Followed your and @Eric’s advice :hugs:

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That’s a wonderful night!
:anger::exclamation::anger:

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YAY FOR YOU!!!

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FINALLY TO BE IN THE SWIM OF THINGS AGAIN EXPERIMENT # 1:

I need to preface this experiment by saying that I was out of the pool due to medication changes for my schizophrenia. I know people don’t like to talk about mental illness, but it is a major component of my story and who I am and what goes on in my body besides just the diabetes. the medication I have taken for over 30 years is a terrible antagonist to BG levels. as someone required to take steroids, I must take an enormous amount of insulin to feed my tiny body; well, along with the regular D complications, I was having further complications with taking this very powerful anti-psychotic, Clozaril, and my doctors decided that it would be in my best interest to titrate down from it and to substitute it with another of its kind. TERRIBLE MISTAKE!!! all of my symptoms came back and my BGs were all over the map. one day I would be on 65% basal, the next day 120% basal. there was no discernible pattern to any of it. I was left just going with the flow. doing practically anything to keep my BGs in target.( GOD only knows what my next A1c will be like; certainly not my usual of low 5%s)

so after finding a better combination of drugs to manage my schizophrenia, I was finally relieved of its symptoms. however, my BGs are still unpredictable and challenging to manage. I am certain, though, that this will soon settle down and all will be restored to normal.

today was my first day back in the pool and my numbers were quite high. I needed to be flexible and to make adjustments. when I started my prep, my BG was 150; I pre-bolused .7 units and then turned off my pump. I usually wait 2 hours on ZB before leaving the house for the pool, but today my BGs kept climbing and I decided to leave earlier and swim it off. very glad I made that decision. when I got to the pool my BG had climbed to 177. I jumped right in. There was a consideration that I may crash within my first half hour bc I still had some good IOB from my pre-bolus. but that didn’t happen. instead, I remained high for the entire swim. but I swam fast and strong and hard. I felt very very relaxed and in sync. (I hadn’t forgotten how to swim :wink:)

here are today’s stats:

12:50 bg 177
1:20 bg 170
1:55 bg 160
2:20 bg 140 bolused 2.4 units for missed basal and .5 units for a correction
3pm bg 133 bolused 1.6 units for 32 gms carbs refuel shakes.

I hope that tomorrow is a bit better, but I do with what I must. it was very very pleasurable, and I am glad to be back in the saddle again (or, at least, my swimsuit :star_struck:)

singing out,
DM

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I am so happy you finally got back to it! One of the most beneficial things anyone can do for their mental health is to exercise. Even if your BG wasn’t perfect, just getting back into it will be huge for you.

When is your next swim planned? I hope it is Friday! Or maybe Monday?! I really hope you can start to get back to doing it on a regular basis. That routine will do so much for you, I think.

Welcome back! We missed you! :heavy_heart_exclamation:

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IT IS FRIDAY!!! I’ll be back in the pool tomorrow. hoping my numbers are better. and YES, definitely my mood is improved after just one 90 minute swim. I did, though, eat like a pig at dinner tonight. my eyes were much bigger than my tummy. :rofl:

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Super glad you got everything sorted. The pool beckons! Can’t wait to read about it.

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Oh, @daisymae, I’m so glad to hear you are back swimming, and so glad you enjoyed it, too. I agree, exercise is one of the best medicines for our mental health, too, besides helping us physically and with our BGs!! Looking forward to your next post!

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Thanks for your encouragement. it’s noon on Friday and I am half way through my swim prep. I am sooooo looking fwd to my swim today. anything can happen, but I know that it will be wonderful.

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SECOND DAY BACK EXPERIMENT #1:

well, although not such stellar numbers, today was an improvement over yesterday. I think I will just need some time before my body gets back into shape and becomes more insulin sensitive again.

it was a wonderful swim. the pool was empty. no one to share a lane with. HOORAY!!!
(but it is pouring icicles here in Brooklyn, so maybe no-one wanted to leave their homes for the pool today.)

here are todays stats:

(at 12:50 I was walking to the pool and my BG was 120, but by the time I was about to jump in and start my swim, I had spiked a bit to 144. I think that I was still spiking bc after my first length, my BGs hadn’t come down at all.)

1:15 bg 144
1:45 bg 143
2:15 bg 117
2:45 bg 112 bolused 2.8 units for 4 hours of ZB
3:15 bg 67 bolused 1.6 units for carb replacement shakes
(3:45 bg 51, took 2 tabs) and put myself on a 97% TB.

we shall see what the evening brings. last night was completely uneventful as far as y BGs were concerned.

I am taking off the weekend, as usual, but I will be back in the pool Monday. Have a great weekend everyone! And I look forward to hearing back from you!!! :wink: :sunny:

signing out,

DM

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2 days in a row! Everything is getting back to normal. :grinning:

Glad this is happening for you!

BTW, wanted to share this with you.

I have a bunch of Contour Next One meters. Since they all look the same, I write names on the back so I can keep track of them.

I have a spare meter by my treadmill, in case the other one gets dropped when I am running or gets messed up.

I put the name on the back of that meter last year, and it was for you. Because you inspire every day.

Here it is:
image

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so sweet. I am very proud to have a place in your training!!! that means a lot to me :smiley: :ok_hand:

PS: after not having worn my CGM for about 2 months, I just put mine on. my finger-tips are so calloused that I can barely get a drop of blood out of any of them. I have had to move to the sides of my fingers just to get a tiny drop. But what is worse, is that while I was swimming, my right hand got totally numb from neuropathy; I couldn’t feel it at all; and when I got out of the pool to do a finger stick, I couldn’t feel the test strips to pull one out of the bottle. I had to use my left hand’s fingers. it was awful and weird all at once. :disappointed_relieved: :grimacing:

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