Daisy Mae's swimming BG thread

Sports & Exercise
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961

great to hear from you Kaelan. haven’t heard from you before, i don’t think. its nice for me to connect with another pumper who swims. we can give each other helpful info tips :wink:

today i had a really strong swim. it was a little high, but i felt safe enough to not go low that i was able to really push myself. i never went below 104. i started at 146 and ended at 138. i took a total of 3 glucose tablets just to stay kind of high so that i wouldn’t have to worry about going below 100. i only needed about 1 - 2 tablets. but i’ll remember that for tomorrow’s swim. also, today i didn’t swim with any IOB, so i was much more comfortable; if it can be helped, i will never do that again. i would rather go into the pool high, than to take a correction before a swim. i know that i will always come down if i have patience :blush: also, i love being able to do a full 2 hour swim without having to wait for a glucose tablet to take effect. i just want to take the tablet and jump right back into the pool.

thats the latest; i’ll be back in the pool tomorrow. oh, one more thing: Eric told me to have oatmeal for bfast; i think it helped a lot, keeping my BGs level steady and providing me with good fuel.

DM

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962

Kaelan, today i started much higher at 169, but BGs went down to 108 within only 1.5 hours of straight laps.

how long do you usually swim for? is it competition swimming? how have you been doing on the pump with your swimming? i could NEVER do MDI and exercise. (at least i don’t think so. don’t know how you did that )

would love to hear from you again !!!

DM

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963

:frowning_face:

Hi @daisymae, I swim from 1.5 to 2 hours per practice normally. This is the first time I used the pump at swim practice so I made it shorter.

Yes, but I don’t often go to meets. I like to swim to stay in shape.

I’ll make a longer answer in the other thread!

964

K-

did you ever think of bringing another (fresh ) POD with you in your “swim” bag in case you have another emergency like the last one? i bring every back up i can think of in my bag. i keep most of it in my locker, but i bring the emergency stuff (meter, Glucose Tabs, notebook, Swedish Fish candy, Chocolate bar…) with me and keep it in a bag by the pool with my towels. (i get out every 1/2 hour to test so if i need to replenish i have what i need right there; also, i write everything down in my log book so i can remember it for later )

Daisy Mae

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965

I should.

I take my glucose bag everywhere, so I have a really small sling bag, I might need a bigger one for all the Pod gear. I have spare Pods and supplies at school (and also at home).

I don’t like to have a big glucose bag :frowning_face:. I already had to add my bulky PDM to my glucose bag, and it’s really big now. But I still carry a manual BG monitor. I am afraid that if my PDM breaks I will need a backup monitor.

966

i bring a meter with me, but not a back up one. never really thought about it. i do when i travel ANYWHERE from home. i keep one in the car :wink: i do bring a syringe with me just in case i need a shot just in case my pump isn’t working.

whats a PDM? is that your CGM?

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967

I have my CGM on but I always need to be able to do a real measurement just in case.

To control my Pod (my pump) I have a remote control called a PDM (Personal Diabetes Manager, but my dad says it really means Personal Data Manager). It’s made by Omnipod. It also has a manual BG meter built in, but I am afraid that if I lose or break my PDM the meter in it will be lost too.

So I carry a backup BG monitor (only one BG monitor altogether, it’s a backup to my PDM BG monitor).

968

I don’t like to carry much either. But if you put a pod in the glove-box or trunk of your mom’s car and your dad’s car, you don’t need to worry about carrying a spare anywhere!

It would probably always be almost instantly available, or at least an hour or so away at most.

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969

i have a girlfriend who has that exact same thing. she wears a Pod also. i just never really understood what it was. my pump is from Medtronics; it has the ability to use as a cgm, but i don’t bother with the sensors. i hate them. i just do a lot of finger sticks instead. i prefer it that way.

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also, my insurance won’t pay for a POD or sensors.

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971

a frustrating experiment today:

this morning when i was preparing for my pool prep, i gave myself too little of a bolus compared to usual. ( .3 units instead of .5 units). so after my pump disconnect, i ended up spiking and was not able to bring my BG down by much. i ended up at 170 before my swim (2.5 hours off any insulin ). heres what it looked like:
2pm BG 170
2:30 BG 165
3pm BG 157
3:30 BG 155 got terrible neuropathy in my right hand (it went totally numb) so i hopped out of the pool and called it a day.

some good, positive things to look at, so that i don’t beat myself up about it:

  1. although it was a high BG swim, it was a really nice flatline.
  2. i now know that i deffinately do need to bolus stronger before disconnecting from my pump. tomorrow i will remember to do that !!!
  3. i was able to swim very hard and strong without worrying that i would go low :wink: so i really pushed myself to the limit…to the point that it hurt (but in a good way :blush: )

hope tomorrow goes better. also, b/c it is a holiday, the pool was packed and it made it difficult to swim and relax; i kept getting kicked by the people sharing the lane. UGH. and not even one apology. no manners, these crazy swimmers :wink:

DM

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972

You’re doing great DM! We can never get it right 100% of the time – both those living with it, and those caring for those living with it. Just do your best, take a lesson from it (if there is one to be had) and keep on trucking with your head up! The bad days will be FAR less than the good ones!

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@daisymae, I find it pretty great that your “frustrating” experiment here would have been a resounding success in this thread 3 months ago, and one for most any swimmer today too!

Reading your thread never fails to warm up my heart. It is a shining example of practicing the art of being unlimited!

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974

not the best swimming day, but an experiment never-the-less:

first off, in the locker room, i was changing into my swim suit, and i accidentally pulled off my pump infusion. ( i was supposed to change it today anyway, but i was totally freaking out b/c i would need to bolus immediately after my swim when i reconnected to my pump.) well, luck would have it, my husband of many miracles answered his cell phone and we live close enough to the gym that i knew i wouldn’t really be imposing if i asked him to bring a new infusion set to the pool. he’s my hero; within about 20 minutes, there he was, pool-side, with a big bag of every conceivable D pump product. it was like a Diabetic Halloween bag. ( ha ha )

so he gave me a kiss and left for home. i was so relieved, and as well, i imagined other people changing in the locker room staring at me while i inserted my new infusion set :wink:

but anyway, back to the pool:

I tried a new trick today. i was Eric’s Ginea Pig. my BG was under 100 before my swim. eric laid out a “Low BG Plan” for me so i could swim comfortably without worrying that i was about to drop. i took 4 Gtabs and then jumped into the pool.

here are the stats from this brand new experiment:
1:30 BG 87
2pm BG 97
2:30 BG 140
3pm BG 166
3:30 BG 199

UGH

and, to top it all off, during the first 1hour, i got terrible neuropathy in my right hand and wrist. it was awful. this happens frequently, but i am able to massage my hand and shake it off; today i couldn’t get rid of it. very very frustrated. high BG and neuropathy. what a bummer…especially b/c the pool was empty and i had a lane all to myself. oh how lovely that was !!! :sunny:

so i will count this off as a new learning experience and call it a successful day, despite what my BG numbers looked like on paper :blush:

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975

That’s ok, you are getting a good idea on your baseline for gtabs right before you start.

I went with a bit more of a gtab recommendation because of your tendency to drop a lot and because you don’t want to swim while low. So 4 gtabs was too much.

But really, as I see it, all of this is not a failure. I see something here that is truly awesome. And I don’t want you to overlook this one thing…

Take a look at this, and tell me the one thing about this that is tremendous.

There is one thing here that stands out as an incredible success.

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976

i could be way off here, but i’ll give it a try: i got into the pool below 100 BG.

is that what you were getting at?

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977

Bingo!

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978

YAY!!! I totally ROCK!!!

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979

I’m sure they were probably fascinated! I once chased a young woman across the gym because I spotted a CGM and a diabetic alert dog. I wanted to know if the dog worked. :slight_smile: It did! I think I was more excited about it than she was.

I’m glad you didn’t give up! A little setback, resolved, and swimming happened! Go you!

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980

well, i didn’t go swimming today, but i will be back in the pool tomorrow. i would like to be able to remind myself of all the lessons i have learned (most recent ones are very instrumental )

  1. give myself the correct bolus before turning off my pump( .4 or .5 units )
  2. turn pump off for 2.5 hours before getting in the pool (NOT 2 hours )
  3. if my BG is under 100, do not take 4 Gtabs !!! maybe 1 or 2 depending on how low i am, and remember that i have been on no insulinfor 2.5 hours, so i will be very sensitive to the glucose.
  4. don’t be afraid to swim with intensity, even if BGs are low; there are always Tablets and Swedish fish waiting poolside if i need them. also, trust the 0% basal, knowing that i will eventually plateau and stop dropping
  5. beware of neuropathy in right hand
  6. something else which i cannot remember at the moment :wink:

will continue to keep you posted,
DM

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