Do you think you could get him to write you a prescription for Levemir? If so, you could use that for your swimming, for when you are disconnected. I’d recommend trying it.
In very small doses like you would use, Levemir is gone in about 12 hours. It’s a very flat basal insulin. So on swimming days, you would only take a very small amount in the morning - the amount that would perfectly balance the amount of insulin you need while you are exercising. So you would not spike, and it would help your post-workout BG. It would not take the place of your pump, it would be used with your pump.
Something to ask him for. I can help you with the logistics of it.
You can reference what Doctor Steve Edelman suggests. If your endo gives you any grief, tell him that Doctor Steve Edelmen is a DOCTOR, hence the word DOCTOR in his title. And Doctor Edelman is also an Endocrinologist.
who is dr steve edelmen and where can i find him on the internet to read about him? should i just plug in his name and see what comes up? is he your endo? where is he located?
He’s not my endo, he is an endo that came up with the untethered idea. Which is what I am encouraging you to try with Levemir. (make sure you get Levemir, not Lantus. Levemir would work better in your situation)
A1c 5.8% 80% time in target range. several lows, but not severe. several highs (150-ish) but nothing extraordinary.
doctor (mr. crabby pants, the endo) astonished. wanted to mention eric, but god forbid i ever mention anything i learn on line and he freaks out on me, so i kept my mouth shut.
changed my basal settings (lowered them to .55 24/7 ) and i paid OOP for another one of the FreeStyle Libre Pro for another 2 weeks of sensor monitoring. you can’t argue with a printout of a (almost) flatline
DM,
I am super happy for you! That is awesome. You were bold enough to try things and make changes. You got outside of your comfort zone, kept notes, made changes, kept adjusting. That is exactly the way it should be. You are a perfect example of someone taking charge instead of being afraid of the disease. You are a great example of UNLIMITED!
great idea. i want to put some thought into it and come up with something exciting.
tomorrow, i am going to use the kickboard and do leg work. i am looking fwd to it. i want to really develop my leg muscles. i dont want to get BIG, just cut and strong.
First, here are the stats:
2pm bg 158
2:45 bg 153
3:15 bg 147
3:45 bg 134
4:15 bg 128
total swim time 1 hour and 15 minutes.
(one reason i started with a high bg was due to an over-consumption of chocolate pre-swim)
now, i had set a few goals for myself now that i am starting to get used to this particular “schedule” of prepping and testing and fueling: faster, stronger, more efficient with better form. today i took eric’s advice and swam with a kick board, using only my legs. my expectations were not high, i must admit; but, i swam for an entire hour using only the kick board.i kicked my legs silly. strong and fast. i completely surprised myself. the 1st hour went by very quickly. i know i will pay for this later; a definite ADVIL night .
then i swam the last hour 15 minutes with a regular stroke. i was even more surprised at how easy it was to push myself faster and stronger than usual.i am guessing that this had to do with the previous hour without using my hands and arms and shoulders. (duh…lol )
so, all in all, today was a great success. i would have preferred that the chocolate did not bring me up so high for the start of my swim, but i can deal with my numbers for today. post swim i did my usual manual bolus to prevent the post exercise spike of 1.2 units. we’ll see if i estimated that properly.
I am betting your heart rate was much higher today than your normal swimming, right?
So it is possible you burned up more muscle glycogen and less fat than normal. There is a certain heart rate where you are at about 50% muscle glycogen and fat. It depends on your fitness level, but it is generally about 85-90% of what your lactate threshold heart rate is. That is something we should figure out for you at some point. If you go above that 85-90% number, you start burning more muscle glycogen.
I MESSED UP MY SWIM PREP TODAY, SO MY NUMBERS ARE NOT SO IMPRESSIVE.
i forgot to give myself the .5 unit bolus when i turned off my pump basal.
i didnt bolus hard enough after my swim, so i spiked a bit . darn.
pre-swim at 1:30pm my BG was 189 (can you believe it ? ! i have not been this high since before i started listening to eric )
anyway…
2:15 bg 162
2:45 bg 158
3:30 bg 156
now, an hour after my swim (and my last bolus of 1 unit) my BGs climbed to 168. God only knows how high i will climb.
but it was a good, hard and fast swim today. i used the kick board again; this time for 1 hour and 15 minutes, and then did the rest of my swim in my usual stroke. after using the kick board, and really pushing to use only my legs, the regular swim seemed easy. i was just gliding through the water. also, since i went into the pool with such high BGs, i had absolutely no fear that i would crash. there was a little comfort in that, i must admit. but i know that next time, i will have to remember to do that pre-bolus before i turn off my pump.
PS: just tested 2 hours post bolus, and my BG was 163. seems i have been pretty much of a flatline. not spiking terribly. will deff have to do a correction for dinner.
will most likely do a 90% TB before i hit the hay tonight.
what is the diff between muscle glycogen and fat? what makes me burn one and not the other? does it all boil down to heart rate? i ask this, also, b/c there are MANY swimmers in the pool who are much faster than i am. i know that my speed has increased since i began swimming, but as you have said to me in the past: “the only person i am swimming against is myself.”
Muscle glycogen is stored carbs your body uses as a fuel source. Fat metabolism is another fuel source. Your body also uses your blood glucose. It continually uses whatever it can at the time, for whatever activity you are doing. It constantly adjusts and uses the most appropriate fuel source.
Higher intensity exercise moves you into more muscle glycogen use.
The more fit you become, the easier it will be to swim at a certain speed, and your heart rate will be lower than what it used to be at the same speed.
If there was a superstar swimmer in the lane next to you, and you were swimming at the same speed, their heart rate might be lower than yours, while you were struggling to keep up with them. They would be burning more fat and you would be burning more muscle glycogen. Make sense?
when i am using fat glycogen, is my body burning off more fat than when i am using muscle glycogen?
also, i noticed that pushing myself faster leaves my legs burning; while as i glide through the water on the slower side, it is easy as can be. its more like taking a stroll in the park. but i do enjoy the glide i get from the slower speed. i have noticed that since i started taking your advice by using the kick board and i am strengthening my legs, the second half of my swim is a breeze when i am using my full body to swim.
you have sent this link to me before; i am somewhat retarded, as i cannot grasp this simple concept. (and to think i went to an Ivy League college )
if i am swimming at a moderate pace, but not pushing myself until i could barely breath, (so that i am just breathing hard, but not intensely) what am i burning? you know my numbers and you know that i MUST take insulin after my swim. if i spike after my swim, does that say anything about what type of muscle fat i am burning? is this still considered aerobic exercise?
PS: i just lowered my breakfast morning I:C ratios (just tweaked them modestly) so that at
7:am i went from 9. to 9.5
10am from 9 to 9.5/ unit of carbs. most of my daily ratios go from 10 - 12. i think my endo lowered my am ratios so that i wouldnt spike after bfast. (but now i am going low after my meals)
. darn.