Daisy Mae's swimming BG thread

Sports & Exercise
, ,
1533

A NEW PRE-BOLUS TO AVOID A CRASH EXPERIMENT #1:

usually, when i am finished with my swim, i bolus for replacement basal for the 4 hours that i have been disconnected from my pump. 4 hours with no basal, translates for me into 2 units.
however, despite the fact that i do this bolus in the locker room the minute i peal off my swim suit, my BG will spike immediately. its astonishing. i get out of the pool at 70, and w/in a moment, my bg is 130. it takes about an hour for that insulin to kick in and my bg to come back into my target range. an entire hour!!!

now i pre-bolus 50% of my post-swim refuel units (instead of bolusing for 32 gms i only bolus 1.6 units) i usually wait about 45 minutes after i bolus to drink my shakes (when my bg is not in the midst of a spike). however, today, i listened to our FUD SPORTS GURU, Eric, and i only pre-bolused 15 minutes. i waited and then slammed those suckers down. (OH MY ARE THEY DELICIOUS :blush: ) so i am trying this experiment to see if this will help me to avoid the usual crash i get. i REALLY hope that this works.

and BTW, just to let you know how yesterday’s experiment went (giving myself LESS insulin post swim to avoid the later crash) well, it was a disaster. hours later i ended up spiking from 100 up to 155. yikes. (and i ended up crashing down into the 40s later anyhow) so that’s why today i returned to my original bolus formula. if i am going to crash, at least let me not spike, as well. :wink:

to preface my numbers for today, i want to say that when i left my house to speed walk to the pool (15 minutes) my bg was 116, but only moments later, when i got to the locker room, my bg had climbed to 130!!! this kind of climb happens often, so it didnt surprise me; i just wanted to let you know a little more about why i get into the pool higher than it would seem expected.

here are today’s stats:

1:25 BG 130
2pm BG 115
2:30 BG 81
3pm BG 73 (bolused 2 units)

3:15 (bolused 1.6 units)
3:30 (drank my Boost Shakes)
now its a waiting game. i am off for the w/end, but i will report back on the results.

signing off,
DM

PS: as i wasnt able to send out this post asap, and its been about an hour since i wrote it, i tested my BGs and i had crashed down to 52. i took 2 Gtabs and am hoping that that will be the end of my crashing for the night. i’ll keep you informed.

1 Like
1534

I am sending you a 1/2 unit pen and some longer needles. If you do that locker-room bolus with the pen, and do it IM, it will bring you back down much faster. Especially if you put it in your calves and walk home!

1 Like
1535

sounds like a great plan. thank you. :smile:

1 Like
1536

i’ve never done an IM in my calves. does it hurt more than in the thigh? and which part of the calve do i stick it? the backside? should i flex the muscle when injecting?

1537

Yep, backside of the calve, and jut relax your muscle.

1538

relax??? HAHAHA.

when i inject my thigh, i flex the muscle so that its firm. have i been doing it wrong all this time?

you didnt answer my question: does it hurt more than the thigh?( the thigh actually doesnt hurt me at all; i was just wondering what to expect.)

1539

I don’t think it hurts. Plus I know you are tough.

1 Like
1540

you’ve turned me into one tough cookie :wink:

1 Like
1541

No, you have turned yourself into one tough cookie, Eric has just been your coach. A great position to be sure, but you did the work. Don’t sell yourself short.

6 Likes
1542

thanks Chris. its deff been a lot of work, and its still in process. last nights experiment went so well. i had 1 low of 50, but took 2 gtabs and all was well. even my overnight was excellent, just woke up at 50 this morning (a bit too low for me. i like to be around 70 - 80 for my fasting BGs )

i lowered my 4am basal by .025 as the low i had is something that happens frequently and its time to take charge.

i appreciate all your encouragement!!!

2 Likes
1543

RESULTS FROM YESTERDAY’S PRE-BOLUS EXPERIMENT #1:

OMG. it worked!!! i had 2 lows of 50, but they were very easy to correct. i didnt need any TB, and i didnt spike and then crash. i was able to eat my regular dinner at my regular time, and my overnight BGs were excellent.

this feels like a miracle to me!!!

soon i will be testing out eric’s latest suggestion to try an IM injection for replacement basal while i am still at the pool, immediately after i finish my swim (before i get to the locker room and bolus through my pump) i am very excited to see how that works for me.

but in any case, i promised i would keep you posted about how last night worked, so heres the scoop!

signing off,
DM

3 Likes
1544

Two things to remember about that IM shot. Faster in, and also faster out.

So you might drop faster, but the IOB will also leave you faster.

1 Like
1545

BGs AFTER 2 DAYS WITHOUT SWIMMING:

just to pass on some (hopefully) helpful information, after 2 days of not swimming, my body’s insulin needs change. i am no longer as insulin sensitive as i was during the days that i was swimming. now this doesnt just happen overnight; instead it kind of creeps up on me. but generally, it happens on the second consecutive day without being in the pool. yesterday i was on 100% basal. i have created a separate basal profile on my pump for days in which i dont swim; for those days i give myself 105% basal for the entire day, keeping my overnight basal rates the same (100% ).

yesterday, i did not swim, but i think that my body was still feeding off of fridays swim, so i stayed on my 100% profile and it was sucessful. when i woke up this morning my BG was 70, but after Bfast, my BG started to climb. i knew immediately that i would need to change over my profile. when i tested my BG 2.5 hours post bfast bolus, i was right on the money with my thinking: i was elevated. i ended up having to do a correction bolus and wait for the 105% basal to kick in.

a couple hours later, i was back in my target range, and i have remained there throughout the entire day. tomorrow i will be in the pool again, so i will return my pump profile back to 100% and keep it there for the next week. since it is a holiday week (july 4th) i will be swimming 3 days in a row, take off thursday for a recovery day, and then swim again on friday, taking off my usual w/end days. i will probably need to change my profile next sunday, but i think i will be able to get away with 100% on saturday. i’ll find out when saturday and sunday come.

just thought you might find this info interesting and/or helpful for your own exercise routine and insulin needs.it took me a while to figure out. i didnt recognize why my BGs were “funky” in the beginning after a couple of days of not swimming, but once i figured it out, this system has worked for me; maybe it will work for you.

signing off,
DM

2 Likes
1546

SWIMMING IN CIRCLES WITH A FLAT LINE EXPERIMENT# 1:

maybe its the holiday, or maybe its summer campers taking up extra swim lanes, but today the pool was packed. 5 people to each lane. i was afraid to get out of the pool to check my BG b/c i was afraid i would lose my spot. 5 people per lane is the max; after that, if the lane is full, you have to stand in line and wait for an opening (and there is no time limit for any swimmer; you could stay in your lane for hours if you wanted to) (a deffinite flaw in the system, if you ask me)

aside from that, lets get on with the real stuff!

had a terrible nights sleep. woke up with highs 2 times. did corrections each time. my BG would NOT budge. finally at 6am, my BG had come down to 150, so i decided to get out of bed and have some bfast. i pre-bolused for 1/2 hour, and when my BGs actually started coming down, at 128, i decided it was time to eat. right after i finished eating, my BG was down to 107, and 15 minutes after that, my BG was 60. i had a vanilla Oreo cookie and tried to go back to sleep. when i tested again at 10am, my BG had soared to 131. now maybe that doesnt sound high to you, but for me it is, and its not great for me (anymore) to swim that high. i decided to drink some water. i drank 32oz of icey water, peed my brains out, but got my BG down to 82. (on 0% basal with no IOB) success :sunny: got to love the water!! sometimes, not always, it can work like a charm to bring BGs down.

had no fears about going low in the water. focused on my new form and my speed (had to keep up with all the other swimmers) and the strength of my stroke. very happy, meditative swim.

so, despite an awefull nights sleep, despite high, stubborn BGs, i kept my goal in front of me, and i followed through. last year i might have bagged the entire experience out of frustration with some lame excuse. not today. i was truly determined. also, its 100 degrees outside in Brooklyn today with terrible humidity. the pool seemed like the best place to be :blush:.

here are the stats:

1:20 BG 101(took 1 Gtab)
2pm BG 98 (took 1/2 Gtab)
2:30 BG 84
3pm BG 84

had a nice flat line and a great plateau in my second hour.

i hope that tonight goes well. the minute i got home i pounded back my Boost shakes wishing i had bolused for a 3rd one ( :wink: ). hope i dont spike or crash. last week this formula worked well for me. (i only had 2 lows of 50 which were easy to correct and i didnt spike at all). i’m going to have pan- seared chicken with a super large salad, an avocado, and 3 or 4 slices of rye bread for dinner, and some cheese and banana and PB as a snack. i think this should be a good refuel. and i hope it will strengthen my swim for tomorrow.

signing off,
DM

1 Like
1547

I love how your experience is showing on this. Only taking 1/2 the gtab when you were 98, because you had been at zero basal for so long, knowing you didn’t need more than 1/2.

1 Like
1548

EXTRA PIECE OF INFO #1:
i dont know if i ever mentioned this or not, but i wanted to share it with all of you out in cyber-land: i get terrible neuropathy. i get it in my right foot, my right calve, both my hands and my right forearm. sometimes when i am swimming, my hands will go completely numb. it makes it very challenging to swim. today was one of those days. i got it in my right hand. i could not feel a thing, and it made my stroke almost impossible. i wanted to quit my swim, but chose, instead, to stop for a moment and massage my hand to get the circulation back. it didnt work, so i just decided i would swim as a “lefty.” ( :wink: )

1 Like
1549

its a funny thing, b/c usually there is some sense of panic of being on the low side and getting back into the pool to strenuously work out. my instinct is to load up on carbs so i can really push myself without having any fear of crashing. but you’ve taught me to “trust the 0% basal” over and over again, and as i trust you, i have seen how it really works, and that i will eventually plateau and not go any lower despite using up all the energy that i am. today was a great example for me, b/c my last hour, my BG did not even change! :blush:

1 Like
1550

NO GTABS TODAY EXPERIMENT # 1:

today was my hardest swim ever. the pool was packed. five people to each lane. filled with screaming (summer camp) children who took up 2 lanes, so there were only 3 lanes available for us grown-ups (thus, the crowding). but i jumped in the only available lane ( the fastest lane ) and i swam my heart out to keep pace. time flew by. i was so busy in my head thinking “faster, faster, faster,” that i lost all sense of time. i am already aching. i thought i wouldnt be able to breath and that i might just have a heart attack in the pool and sink to the bottom. (of course, my blood sugars would be fine, but i would not be breathing and would need some form of CPR and a medic :wink:) all in all, though, it was great fun. (i dont know what tomorrow will bring, as it will be the 4th of JULY, and the pool will be open on a Holiday Schedule; i just know that i’ll be there.)

here are today’s stats:

1:20 BG 119
2pm BG 118
2:30 BG 96
3pm BG 88

i took no Gtabs today. i just trusted that i hadnt eaten in over 7 hours, thus no IOB, and had been off my pump for 2.5 hours, thus no basal.

starving when i got home, so today i drank 3 Boost Shakes in stead of the usual 2. yummy. hopefully no spiking or crashing tonight. (last night i had one low 40s; and one high 165; dont know why the high. maybe i had a moment of diabetes :wink: .)

signing out,
DM

3 Likes
1551

ONLY ONE HOUR EXPERIMENT #1 :

when i got to the pool today (July 4th, 2018 ), it was mobbed. holiday traffic, i think. this curtailed my usual 1.5 hour swim. no big deal, right? 1 hour of hard exercise is a good workout.nothing to be ashamed about. (but still, i did feel like i shortchanged myself)

i was very pleased with my BG#s today, and the fact that i only took 1 Gtab and kept my BG low, fearlessly.

here are my stats:
1:20 BG 101 (took 1 gtab and jumped in)
2pm BG 91
2:30 BG 75

although today was the third consecutive day of swimming, i dont think todays shorter swim will cause me to crash after dinner. i am experimenting here, so we’ll see what happens. also, over the last 2 nights in a row, i have gone high at around 9:30/10pm. i cannot account for this in any way based upon my food intake or the type of food that i have eaten for dinner, so i doubt its an ICR problem; so i changed my basal at 7:30pm up by .025 units/hour. its a modest change, but i prefer to start slow and test it out before i do anything dramatic. i plan to eat the exact same dinner tonight as i did last night just to test out my theory. i am eager to see how that goes. hopefully, it will go well and be a success. i am just thinking on my feet here.

i am wishing everyone a wonderful holiday, hopefully filled with great food and the good company of family and friends.

signing out,
DM

PS: i wont be swimming tomorrow (appointment in Manhattan), but i will be back in the pool on Friday, and i may dare myself to swim on Sunday (i know i never swim on the w/ends, but it was strongly suggested to me by a guy from FUD who runs a lot every day and who likes to eat a lot, every day :wink:) will keep you posted !

1 Like
1552

CAMP DAYS EXPERIMENT # 1:

the pool was packed with 40 screaming children for the entire time i was swimming. i dont know about you, but screaming children definitely do not relax me. i like to swim to get into a medatative state. i like the sound of my breathing, the sensation of gliding through the water. not the sound of screaming children.( now the sound of happy laughing children is a delight, but that is quite another matter :wink:.)

but i was on a mission and wasnt going to use their disruption as an excuse to skip what gives me so much pleasure. otherwise, nothing special today except my perfect flat line and judgement with regard to NOT taking glucose tabs throughout my swim.

here are the stats:
1pm BG 105
1:30 BG 110 (took 1/2 gtab )
2pm BG 110
2:30 BG 88
3pm BG 85

who’d a thought that i would be doing this just one year ago!!! i am feeling very proud. actually, i am feeling UNLIMITED :blush: !

have a great weekend!
signing off,
DM

2 Likes