my BGs have settled in at 90 -95 over a 2 hour period. that is 2 hours of IOB compared to the average of 4+ hours with a pump bolus. so, now i have learned my body’s reaction to the IM shot. this completely coincides with your hunch. as usual, you’re thinking process is right on the money. ( i monitored myself every 1/2 hour until i watched my BG settle down and stabilize.)
now i will know for the future. great info to have.
Now imagine doing that for breakfast on a swim day and being able to shorten your zero basal time a little bit. 
i completely understand. (but to update my last post, my BG continued to go down a bit more; 76 after 4 hours since injecting)
but still, i think my insulin duration with an IM is around 2 hours, b/c thats where it plateaued. for over an hour.
DARE DEVIL SWIMMING EXPERIMENT #1 :
this day marks some entirely new territory for me. i am still shaking from astonishment (and my BG is a little low.)
for whatever reason, i cannot seem to find a predictability with eating oatmeal for Bfast. sometimes i have a flat line for hours after eating it, but at other times, i flat line for about 3 hours, and then i spike very high. no rhyme or reason. i have tried different pre-bolus times, etc. nothing i have done has given me consistent, dependable results. i never know whats going to happen. well today was one of the “spiking days.”
i woke up with a BG of 87. i pre-bolused 40 minutes. first my BG dropped to 52, then it started to climb, but not terribly (133) but within just 1/2 hour after i turned off my pump, i went from 133 to 180 !!! ) i decided to take an IM shot of 1 unit. maybe not the smartest choice, but i wanted to bring my BG back into a reasonable target range asap.
within just an hour, my BG came down to 110. (OMG) and i had a ton of IOB before i was going to get into the pool. still, i decided, whatever happened, i would swim…even if i had to take a slug of OJ before i left my house. i was very determined.
here are the amazing stats for my swim today:
1:30 BG 75 (took 2 Gtabs and jumped in )
2pm BG 84 (took 1 Gtab)
2:30 BG 100
3pm BG 59 (got out of the pool and bolused 2 units for 4 hours of missed basal insulin, despite the fact that my BG was low. now, i have never done this before; bolusing with such a low BG, so i was apprehensive, but i did it anyway just on instinct and a prayer.)
when i got home, 1/2 hour later, my BG was 55. i bolused again for my 2 Boost shakes 1.4 units. i drank them immediately. i havent tested again yet, but i am armed with an arsenal of chocolate and OJ if necesssary.
tomorrow for Bfast, i will not be eating the oatmeal. i will have 3 Jumbo sized eggs and 2 slices of Rye bread instead. it will be another new experiment!!
if you are reading this, please send some feedback my way!!! i would really appreciate it.
signing off:
DM
PS: its 1 hour since i last bolused for my 2 shakes and missed basal, and my BG is 88. dont think i will be needing any additional carbs/sugar. phew. my instincts pulled me through. this must be what eric means when he talks about trusting “The Force” 
.
Super proud of you for what you did today.
Even if you don’t know what will happen, you are able to work through different scenarios, like today. And you can get a plan in place for spike days and non-spike days. And you know how to handle each situation ahead of time.
This is awesome. Such a great thing. You survived it, and you are finding that you do not need to be afraid of a 60 BG.
Courage isn’t lack of fear. Courage is proceeding despite the fear. This 59 today builds your courage and I think that is wonderful.
I am happy for you.
this certainly does. the only other thing i want to note here though is that i was not able to swim with the intensity that i prefer. maybe that will be my next goal: stay with low BGs and enjoy a strong swim at the same time.
That extra 1.0 unit of IM you did today was dropping you a lot, despite your gtabs. But that won’t be a normal thing for you.
Your breakfast tomorrow should work out with less spike, but just reduce your disconnect pre-bolus amount to compensate for the different type of carbs you are getting tomorrow.
about what range of units would you recommend bolusing? .3 - .5 (depending on my BG, of course) ???
Your call, DM. What BG do you want to start at? I don’t like starting above 100, so I am more aggressive with it.
I think since you are doing a less carb breakfast tomorrow, go a little bit softer with it. If you find that you need more, you can adjust in the coming days later in the week.
i would like to start at around 130 ish. i want to be able to do a nice hard, strong 2 hour swim, and i am not particularly comfortable swimming hard when i know that i am going to drop during that first hour. as long as i am not beginning above 160, i am happy with that.
i can only tell how much of a pre-bolus to use at the time i am turning off of my pump. whatever my BG is, basically dictates my choice of my bolus.
(i wont be swimming wednesday, but i will be right back into the pool on thursday)
Oh my goodness. Wow, @daisymae, this is really so amazing – jumping into the pool in the 80s and feeling the confident to swim is really great. You really have come so far!
EXPERIMENT WITH A NEW ICR AND DIFFERENT BREAKFAST:
i decided that eating oatmeal every single morning before a swim was becoming unpredictable and boring. i wanted eggs and toast today. so, i changed my IC ratio to compensate for the less carby Bfast. i changed it modestly from 1:7 to 1:75 and i bolused and ate my meal. well, 2.5 hours after my Bfast, my BG had plummeted down to 40. wow. that really caught me off guard. and, it was not a nice way to start my day. but, being flexible, i took 3 glucose tablets and dozed off in front of the TV, letting my BGs rise.
by 11am my BG was 104. perfect. i bolused .5 units and turned off my pump for 2.5 hours… then i walked to the pool. when i got to the pool, my BG had spiked to 183 !!! OMG. (total opposite of yesterday)
well, i jumped in anyway, and swam my heart out for 2 hours. i ache like there is no tomorrow .
over the 2 hour period i came down from 183 to 122. i know that is a big drop, and not one of my finer swims, but it is what it is, and i will not berate myself for it. i was as flexible as i could be, and i made the most of the situation. i think that this is one of the most important lessons i have learned over the past year since i have began swimming: be brave and be flexible. i dont need to shy away from erratic and unpredictable BGs; i dont throw away opportunities just b/c my BGs are not perfectly in target. (i say this b/c that is something i used to do. i was nearly paralized by fear, and now i am just trying to go with the flow…no pun intended .)
signing off,
DM
FEARFUL OF LOW BG WHILE SWIMMING EXPERIMENT #1:
today was crazy. i woke up at 6:30am with a BG of 51; took 1.5 Gtabs and waited an hour for my sugars to come up so i could bolus for bfast. at 7:30 i was up to 95, so i bolused and ate. but within 25 minutes my BG started going down, and down, and down. at 51, i took another tablet and waited. by 11:30 my BG had come up to 73, so i shut off my pump and took a .3unit bolus. then i waited until 1:30pm when my BG was 105, and i left for the pool. (this would be the lowest BG i have ever started swimming with, but i stuck with the Force, deciding i would figure something out 
.)
2pm BG 111 took 2 Gtabs and swam at a warm-up pace
2:30 BG 132 took 1/2 tab (oops; should have skipped this one)
3pm BG 140 (result of too many carbs)
3:30 BG 104 (swam the last hour very strong and fast)
i am not certain that members are still interested in reading my swimming posts; i have just continued to report, having the basic notion that something i am reporting can help even one person. maybe not a FUD member, maybe not even a D; maybe a family member or a friend. maybe someone who is interested in learning how challenging goals can be to accomplish and how important so many people are part of the process. it has never been just me, alone, who has done this. it has been everyone who has made suggestions, everyone who has congratulated me, encouraged me, stuck by me. it is like when Hillary Clinton said “It takes a Village.”
signing off,
DM
I actually do still read these and find it really interesting – if only because it’s really showing how close you are to achieving a “flat line” or pretty freaking close while swimming – and because it really shows how to troubleshoot lots of different situations. I’m particularly interested in your experiences without waiting and disconnecting from basal, as it seems like you’re really converging on a pattern that fits in with your daily life, which is what our goal is with Samson eventually.
this is one of the newest things that i have been learning. i keep mentioning it lately b/c its been a long and winding road to be able to think on my toes since others have lead the path for me on how to do so, particularly eric. Flexability. that is the word which best describes where i’m at lately. and, i only learned it b/c of all the unpredictable situations i have had to deal with.
thanks, TiaG, for letting me know that i am, in fact, helping someone.
REACHING FOR A GOAL; EXPERIMENT # 1:
OMG, wanting to do what i did today for almost a year now. one of my greatest goals was to jump into the pool with a BG at (or below) 130. well, today that was accomplished. and, whats even more, i took no Gtabs at all, and i didnt have even a mild crash.
it was a wonderful swim. first 1/2 hour was a warm-up, then the remaining hour was at a nice medium clip. i was well rested and fueled from the w/end, which always helps. monday swims might just be my favorite of all for that very reason.
i woke up at 3 am this morning with a BG of 40. i dashed into the kitchen for some OJ, but i had a hard time bringing my sugars up. wasnt even certain that i could in time for my swim prep. but lucky me; i was able to bring them up to 79 by 10am, and i knew that once i turned off my pump at 11am, my BGs would rise automatically. i think this is what set me up for good BGs to start my swim.
(and, BTW, another wonderful thing i accomplished this afternoon was that i wasnt afraid of going low during the swim!!! 
. i felt confident and self-assured throughout. no obsessing over "will i crash? will i crash? " just plain old faith. such a nice mental place to be in.)
here are the stats:
1:30 BG 130
2pm BG 127
2:30 BG 95
3pm BG 93 bolused 2 units for missed basal replacement
3:30 BG 106 bolused 1.6 units for 32 gms of 2 Boost protein/carb shakes
total adrenaline rush. feeling awesome.
wont be swimming tomorrow; seeing that new endo who i like so much. we will be starting a week trial of the Dexcom. i am eager to see if it will help my swimming at all. hoping it works out well for me. i’ll let you know
signing off,
DM
Awesome work today, DM!
Super job. I am glad you got this one before your endo visit, so you can show him what you are doing!
Remember this 
when you ask me why I eat so much! 
There is a huge advantage to having all of that stored fuel!
SWIMMING HELPS MY A1c:
didnt swim today, but saw my (new) endo. my A1c was 4.9% we discussed all things nutrition oriented and how to better fuel my swimming and controlling my over-night BGs, re-fueling, etc…
it was a fabulous appointment. i was with him for over an hour, saw the nutritionist/NP and the CDE.
they put me on a trial run of the DEXCOM. i am wearing it with Skin Tack ( to keep it from falling off while i am swimming) i am wearing it on my left back of upper arm/shoulder. it is very comfortable…even more so than the Sensor Libre was. (which was NOT waterproof) i am sooo excited about this week. i plan to eat totally crazy foods that i normally would avoid just to see how i react to them with the help of the DEXCOM. i will keep obsessive notes about everything and then when the doc downloads the DEX, we will be able to see how i respond so i can hone in new approaches to these typically uneaten foods (or better manage foods i love which are difficult to bolus for)
i will be swimming again on thursday. i am so exited about that. the only thing is that i will have to still hop out of the pool every 1/2 hour to do a finger stick b/c the pool is too long for the Dexcom, and i will be out of range for the most part of my swim. but what i am really looking forward to is seeing how my body responds after my swim. this will be really cool.
(currently, my DEX is reading 68 with a straight arrow. i took a Gtab, and am waiting for it to kick in then i will bolus for dinner. I am starving .)
signing off,
DM
Awesome!
Congrats DM! That is great!