Daisy Mae's swimming BG thread

Sports & Exercise
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941

yes, i follow your logic. what interested me was when i went from 84 to just 82 between 3pm and 3:15pm. that was the first point where i was getting out of the pool to test so frequently; i wanted to stay on top of my lows if they were coming. also, going from 84 to 77 is not that big a drop. certainly much less radical as the 138 to 113 drop between 2pm and 2:30pm. it seems that the 0% basal really kicks in at the same time when i have been swimming for about one hour. i think that if i am going to plateau, it isnt going to come for at least after that first hour.

i think that for the future (as soon as tomorrow ), that once i get that low, i will just test every 15 minutes to help me feel ā€œsafeā€ instead of calling it quits. i think i will try to be a bit more daring.

iā€™ll see how the night goes; did i mention that today is the 1st day that i am on a non-faulty, non-recalled insulin infusion set? i am eager to see how my BGs go. these new infusions do not deliver as much insulin. (that was the problem with the infusions that were re-called; they were delivering too much insulin. so this might be what was effecting my basal profiles)

just thought i would mention that. i dont know how many members here have been effected by that.

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942

You are seeing how your drop slows down. And eventually you will not drop anymore.

You donā€™t need to rush into it. Just take it a little bit at a time, until you are comfortable with it.

Eventually you will be confident that you will not keep dropping.

Also, as time goes on in your swim, you will need less sugar. You may need 2 gtabs in the first 15 minutes, but after an hour you only need 1 gtab. After 2 hours, you might not need any! Another thing to pay attention to.

Really valuable things to see today! Wonderful things to discover. Great steps, and great continued progress.

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943

EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENTS TODAY:
when i began my swim prep this morning, my BG was only 98. i turned off my pump and manually gave myself .5 units of insulin (i had no leftover bolus from bfast on board at that point) then i waited two and a half hours to get rid of the basal on board. after 2.5 hours off pump, my BG only came up to 112. i was nervous about swimming (especially starting my swim ) at such a low number, as i seem consistently to go low for the first 45 or so minutes of my swimā€¦its only after the ā€œcrashā€ that i level off.

so, dummy that i can be, i took 2 Gtabs and walked to the pool. i didnā€™t think i would spike as much as i did, but when i tested before my swim, my BG had sky rocketed to 172 !! OMG. (i have to admit, though, that i was kind of excited by the high BG, b/c now i knew i could swim really hard without crashing in the pool.) well anyway, lesson learned; without any basal on board, i really could have used 1 tablet instead of the 2. but, its always a learning experience. :wink:

2pm: 172
2:30 154
3pm 113
3:30 105
4pm 98 (then bolused 2 units manually right after i got out of the pool)
walked home, tested again, BG 112, gave myself 1.6 units manually, and then drank 2 carb/protein shakes. (yummy)

the closest that i got to a flatline was between 3 and 4pm (113 down to 98 ). this is a consistent pattern, and there has got to be a way that i can work around this. i donā€™t level off until after 1 hour of laps (strong or easy).

i donā€™t know my way around this pattern, so i am certain that Eric will chime in and give me either an answer or suggestion. as you all know, now, i am willing to experiment.

in the earlier days of my swimming, i mentioned several goals that i wanted to accomplish for myself. one of them was to be comfortable swimming under a BG of 130. did that ( :wink: ). another was to swim more efficiently. did that (:blush: ). and another was to swim faster. did that (:wink: ).

so, nothing is exactly where i would like it to be, but being able to look at where i began and where i am now, i am quite happy with myself. ( no gloating here :blush: ) so i have some new goals for myself: swim faster, swim under 100 without freaking out, find a way to start my swim at an in target BG and not crash within that first hour.

tonight will be what i have termed "an ADVIL night" meaning, iā€™m going to be really sore. my muscles were pushed to their max this afternoon. feels great, but there is that searing pain i feel coming on. good pain though, if you know what i mean.

anyway, i am off from swimming for the weekend, so i will have plenty of time to relax and refuel. i will most likely be doing a lot of walking as it is supposed to be a glorious weekend weather-wise. my husband and i generally walk over the bridges and we go into China Town for something called Congi. its a Chinese rice porage with chicken and chives and ginger and greasy bread; its basically a carb nightmare, but one that always satisfies :wink: .

will probably set a TB of 80% from bedtime till the morning. weā€™ll see how that goes.but as of now, thats all the news thats fit to print. so, signing off,

DM

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944

Those numbers look good once you get started!

I canā€™t remember where I posted this. It might be on your thread here somewhere. But one of the things I have also learned the hard way, is that if I have a zero basal that has been brewing for a little while, if I take a few carbs, I do it right before I start! If I take carbs and then wait, like if my run gets delayed, I spike.

So on the 2 gtabs you took that shot you up to 172, you took them well before you started.

I am betting if you did everything exactly the same today, but instead took the 2 gtabs right before you started, you would not have gotten close to 172.

You donā€™t always need carbs before you start. Sometimes you start to rise on your own from the zero TB. But consider holding off on the carbs until the very last minute.

Whatdoyathink?

P.S. - Enjoy the Advil! Those are the pills of a champion!
:wink:

945

this sounds easy enough to do :sunny: iā€™ll try it on Monday right before jumping into the pool.

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946

yes, there was part of me that thought i could do that, but as it was a relatively long swim, i figured i would feel satisfied with my swim and it was time to get out and eat. :blush:

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947

Todays Experiement: September 25th, 2017

spiked after breakast this morning, so there were no worries about getting into the pool with BGs on the low side. but, i am noticing a pattern that has happened each and every time in the past months. for the first hour, i remain in the high range, and then for the second hour i drop dramatically and then plateau at a nice in-target range and i stay there. today i took NO carbs at all before or during my swim. i just swam hard and steady. here are the stats so you can see for yourselves:

2pm BG 165
2:30 BG 149
3pm BG 116
3:30 BG 110
4pm BG 109 gave myself 2 units manually, as usual, to cover 4.5 hours of missed basal insulin

4:20 BG 124 (post swim) and bolused 1.6 units for 32 gms of carbs.

now that i am comfortable doing a consistent 2 hour swim, my latest goal: swim for 2.5 hours. i know that this will most likely take a bit of figuring out, as then i will be off of my pump for 5 hours. but i will consult my guru, eric, and find a method for the madness :wink:

hope my experiment and my info helps someone as eric has helped me. just passing it forward :smile:

DM

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948

The What I Learned Today Experiment : Sept 26th 2017

once i have turned my basal off, anything i eat before i swim will raise my BGs. at 1pm, 1 1/2 hours off the pump, with no IOB, my BG was 122; i decided to have a little cheese and some almonds. (i was very hungry) . i didnt bolus for this. within an hour, my BG rose to 150 !!! ( a comfortable BG for me to begin my swim with; no worries about going low) i think that i would have been fine if i started at 130, but i would have also been a bit nervous. as i mentioned yesterday, my first hour is when i do my dropping. its only after that first hour that i find my steady zone.

GOAL :finding a way to get into the pool and not drop significantly between the first and the second hour. there must be a way. again, i must consult with my guru, eric to figure this conundrum out. iā€™ll get back to you on that, b/c obviously, there is a solution out there just waiting for me to find it !!!

unfortunately, todays stats are not very exciting or significant (except that they have continued to remain stable for the past weeks ) but, here they are:

11:30am BG 142, bolused .4 units and then turned OFF pump
1pm: 123 ( ate a very little piece of cheese and 6 almonds)
1:30 134 (walked to pool )
2pm 150 (jumped into the pool)
2:30 144
3pm 117
3:30 121 (got out of the pool as there was a school bus of children being lead in by their swim instructors and they were screaming at the top of their lungs and i wanted silence)

so i only swam for 1.5 hours today; but it was a good swim and i was pleased with the consistency of my on going BGs; it seems as if i have found (almost ) the perfect formula for a safe and long session without any IOB (including basal )

signing out,
DM

PS: if anyone knows how to avoid the big BG drop from the first hour into the second, please dont be shy!!! any help is welcomed help :smile:

949

A small snack in between?

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950

that sounds like a very logical and sensible suggestion. i will put it into action on Thursday.

( i am taking off Wednesdays now due to obligations in the City; so my swim schedule has changed slightly: M, T, THU, FRI )

thanks so much CD !!!

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951

I think when you try the 2 1/2 hours of swimming and do the 2 hours of disconnect instead of 2 1/2 hours before starting, it will do two things: 1) you will not start as high since you will have a shorter disconnect, and 2) you will probably need to take just a few carbs right before you start, which will help you avoid the big drop

The amount of carbs you need right before starting will depend on your BG, but some ballpark numbers to maybe start with would be:
100-120, 2-3 gtabs
120-150, 1-2 gtabs
150+, 0-1 gtabs

And then adjust them as you see fit, and also depending on how long you disconnect before.

The amount of gtabs looks a little higher than you would expect! But when you are exercising, the effect of your insulin is amplified and the effect of carbs is diminished.

The key will be to take them right before you get in the pool. Not when you are walking to the pool, not when you are changing. Otherwise they will spike you.

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952

i will try this out next Monday. iā€™ll spend the weekend re-cooping and re-fueling. this thursday and friday, i just plan to have my regular 2 hour swim. i want to test out what CD suggested and see if it will help me from crashing from my first to my second hour.

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953

i like this idea/plan a lot. it gives me some flexibility. i will try this tomorrow (thursday)

i am so exhausted from the past 2 days of swimming. i donā€™t know why i am so tired. i never drink caffeine, but my body is used to that. i wonder if it has anything to do with my poor nights sleep or the lack of my carb replenishment from yesterday post swim ? or both .

954

Lack of sleep is huge, in a lot of ways - athletic performance, insulin usage, mental processing, all kinds of things. Take a nap, like the elite athletes do!

955

snoreā€¦.

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956

FEARFUL DOES NOT MEAN LIMITED; AN EXPERIMENT BEYOND :

had some annoying problems with my roller coaster of BGs in the past few days. some of you may know that it was the jewish holidays and on saturday my family and i broke our fast with a typical delicious jewish meal.

well i spent that night correcting highs that refused to come down. copious amounts of insulin that had NO EFFECT. my pump infusion site was new, my insulin was good (or so i thought). what was wrong???

so this morning i changed everything; pump site, reservoir , new insulin, etc. threw out all the old stuff and in with the new :smile:

still, i waited for my BGs to return to target range. what a disaster. many many thanks to ERIC for pulling me through this brand new process of dealing with things, glitches in the master plan when the master plan decides not to cooperate.

HERE GOES:
BG 2.5 hours post Bfast, 221, getting ready to start my swim prep, waiting to have no IOB, but concerned that turning off my basal might spike me up to 300. emailed ERIC; ā€œwhat should i do? i need some advice.ā€ of course he was ready, willing, and able, wonderful human being that he is. he walked me through a plan of action: " take a correction bolus ASAP, and prep as usual." now this meant that i would have IOB during my swim. but i bolused anyway. now i did not expect that my correction bolus would work so effectively so quickly, forgetting that i had just changed my entire pump. but OMG!!! my BGs came plummeting down VERY quickly.

when i was ready to leave for the pool my BG was 133, which would have been good under ā€œnormalā€ circumstances, but because of that pesky correction bolus, i still had .9 units of IOB. when i got to the pool, i tested again, and just from the walk from my home to the pool (15 minutes) my BG went down to 104. I thought, ā€œi can still do thisā€ and i took 2.5 Glucose Tabs ( w/ .7 units of IOB) and i said, ā€œWTFā€ and jumped into the pool. i kept my eye on the large clock that hangs on the wall in the pool hall.i thought i was fine. i felt OK. after 1/2 hour, i got out and tested; BG was 68. considered bagging the swim and just going home with a sour puss face and cranky attitude. BUT NO WAY JOSE! I ate 2 more tabs and waited 10 minutes, got up to 82 and jumped back into the pool. swam another 1/2 hour, got out to test, and at 3pm i was 84, so i jumped back into the pool for another 1/2 hour. at 3:30 my BG was 66. i figured an hour and a half was a decent swim. i dared myself to my (un) limits for the day and left for the locker room.

i bolused 1.5 units to cover my time on 0% insulin (4 hours). took a shower and came home. tested when i got home and my BG was 55. ate 2 Gtabs and had some plain yogurt, and now i sit here writing this to you, just waiting for my BGs to come back into target range.

SO HERE"S THE DEAL: what i would like to express is this: i am, by nature a pretty strong minded person; but i have D fears. nothing to be ashamed of, but they exist. this swimming thing is very new to me. i started on this life change just this past May. as far as i have come, i am so far from being a D/ Exercise Expert. i rely on others to pull me along. yes, i am the one taking the actions, but it is all of your previous actions and experiences that have brought me to where i am today.

so what i would like to say to everyone is THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME TO FIND THE COURAGE TO LIVE UNLIMITED DESPITE MY FEARS!!!

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957

Awesome, DM!

Cheers on a bold day for you!

tenor

I love this

A couple of things to point out. If you are experiencing much bigger insulin action when you have a new site and new insulin, itā€™s just something to always be aware of and keep in mind. As I have said, day 1 may not be the same as day 3 on your pump!

You beast! Starting at 104 rocks! That a far bit from the 200+ they recommended to you long ago, huh?

Awesome job today. Very happy for you and glad you are here!
:+1:

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958

Thatā€™s a fast drop before swimming. I would not like that.

I donā€™t like to wait more than 20 minutes to test. But I used to test with MDI so I always had a lot of IOB. 68 is really low for swimming for me.

Thatā€™s great!

last week i started swimming again, with a pump this time. But I had a big correction before my first practice so I had a lot of IOB and I was low. I spent 45 minutes trying to get to 80 or higher but I could not :frowning_face: The highest I got was 74 in 45 minutes. By then it was really late in my practice so I went home. I am going back tomorrow.

Corrections before practice are the pits.

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959

I never wrote the most important. I think itā€™s really cool that you stuck it out when you were low. I think if we never get uncomfortable doing things with diabetes weā€™ll never do everything we want to do.

Of course we canā€™t get too crazy either cos we die easier than normals.

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960

this was the first time i did a correction before a swim. it totally freaked me out. next time i am going to think twice about doing one. i like to swim as hard as i can, and i dont feel safe yet doing that when my BG is low. if i start out at 150, i feel like i can make it through a 2 hour swim without being afraid that i will crash low.

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