thanks Tia. i really thrive on the encouragement. each experience is different so when i nail it with good numbers i am very excited.
also, just to let you and everyone else to know, my evening went flawlessly. nice, in target numbers ; no spikes or crashes.
YAHOO !!
Did the 65% bolus for the shakes work well?
@daisymae, awesome numbers, that is GREAT!
I can’t help noticing the huge difference between you and my son K prolior to swimming. K stops basal 45 minutes before, you stop basal 2.5 hours prior. With him, he would start going up after about 1.25 hours without basal. How long does it take before you go up, without basal?
the minute i get out of the pool, before i re-hook to my pump, my BGs will start to rise, and they will very quickly if i dont give myself a “replacement” bolus to account for the hours off of my pump.
Eric-
the 65% bolus for the shakes went well, but it was kind of weird; first i pre-bolused for about 15 minutes (usually, after a 90 minute swim, i only need , at the very most, 5 - 10 minutes) then i drank the shakes. but, within about an hour to two hours my BG climbed from 98 to 155. i didnt do ANY correction; my BG came down on its own back into my target range shortly afterwards. interesting, huh ??
DM-
i dont know if i misunderstood your question; but if my other answer was unhelpful, my basals dont really rise much while i am on 0% basal. the only thing that happens during that 2.5 hour period when i turn off my pump is that i am getting as much insulin out of my body as possible so that while i am swimming, i dont crash and sink. 
i might start out at 0% basal with a BG of 80, and then by 2 hours, i might be at 110. then, after my walk to the pool (about 15 minutes ) my BG might rise a little more (sometimes as much as to 120 - 130, but not always.) then, before i get into the pool, i might take 1 or 2 glucose tablets b/c during my first 1/2 hour of my swim i burn up a lot of glucose. after that, i’ve got relatively no IOB, so i remain low but stable.
obviously, this was not the case when i began my mission!!! 
its taken me an entire year to put this regiment into place. but it works for me.
K and Eric have similar physiologies in this regard. Eric only turns off his pump for about 15 minutes before his runs. of course, Eric doesnt mind running while his BGs are in their 50s. for me, i would definitely pass out and sink to the bottom of the pool. 
hope this helps some.
GETTING READY FOR MY 90 MINUTE SWIM AGAIN EXPERIMENT # 1:
turned off my pump at 11am. i was in PERFECT target range for my swim. on 0% basal for 2.5 hours and my BG remained stable the entire time; from 96 up to 104…no big deal for being on no insulin. but, by the time i walked to the pool (within 15 minutes) i shot up from 104 to 131. great starting point; didnt need to take even 1 glucose tablet. just jumped in and enjoyed myself. got out 1/2 hour later to test my sugars and they had not even budged (130). well, i knew i could easily swim the next 1/2 hour strongly without worrying that i would crash, so that is exactly what i did. and, when i got out of the pool an hour later, my BG had come back into target ( 107 ). i bolused for missed basal insulin, i showered and walked home.
20 minutes later, at home, i tested my BG and i was back down to 87; a very comfortable level for me. i am currently drinking my 2 Boost Shakes. i am eager to see how the night goes. tomorrow i plan on swimming 90 minutes and upping the ante. i can really feel how out of shape i am from having had to go through having pneumonia for all those months. that really sucked. but, now i am getting back into the groove, and i dont want to be so critical of myself. the point isnt the goal, its getting there; its the journey. all this is just more experimentation. I AM DETERMINED TO REMAIN UNLIMITED !!
so here are todays stats:
11:30 BG 93 (turned off pump 1/2 hour ago)
12:30 BG 103
1pm BG 104 (walked to the pool )
1:15 BG 131 (jumped in)
1:45 BG 130
2:15 BG 107 ( bolused 1.1 units for missed basal)
3pm BG 87 (bolused 2.1 units to cover 32 gms of Boost shakes; about 65-70% of total carbs, which is a new experiment)
and, as always, will keep you posted. i know that tomorrow, when i return to my 90 minutes swim, i will be able to use my old, tried and true formulas for both basal replacement as well as insulin bolus for my shakes (50% of carbs). i will have been off all insulin for 4 hours.
signing off,
DM
That looks perfect! Great job!
How is that 65-70% bolus for the shakes matching up with the 60 minute swim?
I know you are moving back toward 2 hours, and eventually will get back to the 50% basal for the shakes, but seeing how the numbers change as the swims become longer is a great thing to learn!
Wonderful stuff today NDDM (Non-Diabetic Daisy Mae)!
This is pretty outstanding! It starts to look like last year’s numbers 
Thanks so much for your detailed answer, @daisymae! I am amazed that you don’t go up with a two hour suspension. It always amazes me how different physiological responses are!
@daisymae
While you are doing the 2.5 hour zero basal, can you tell me what you are doing around the house? Are you mostly sitting and waiting? Or are you a little more active, walking around during that 2.5 hours?
its something that continues to amaze me even though i have abundant proof that YDMV all the time. why do i need to bolus for protein? why do i need to bolus for fat? why cant i eat oatmeal without using a dual bolus? and why cant i get better results using a dexcom!!! ???
i dont think i included this tid-bit of info, but what i do (a trick that eric taught me) is when i turn off my pump, i also give myself a micro bolus of about .2 units. i think it keeps everything stable and keeps me from spiking. if my BG is below 70, i skip that bolus, though.
does that make more sense to you now? hopefully it will shed some light on the other info.
i am catching up on my emails, investigating the internet, watching TV, going back to bed for a snooze, trying to ignore how hungry i am, dreaming about eating once i get home…you get my drift 
(it always boils down to what food i will be eating !! 
)
So one way to see that sudden rise when you walk to the pool…
At your house, you have 2.5 hours where you are not physically very active. Your body has no need for any extra fuel.
When you start walking to the pool, your body realizes your are now active, and your liver responds with a bit of fuel (glucose) for energy…
It is a lot like what many people experience when they first wake up and get out of bed - their BG rises quickly just from waking up.
So perhaps a useful thing to try is to remain somewhat active in your house, walking around a bit frequently, so that your body never gets that feeling of being “at rest”.
Make sense? Perhaps it is worth a try to see if your spike from your walk to the pool can be reduced a bit. I have noticed this happens to you often.
It would be a simple test to try. Maybe give it a week and see if you notice a difference?
STRONGER PRE-BOLUS BEFORE SWIM EXPERIMENT # 1 :
so this morning i went a little higher than i would have liked after eating breakfast (142 ) but i had a lot of IOB, so i didnt do any corrections; my BG ended up coming down on its own, but still not into my personal target range. so, when i turned off my pump, i bolused more agressively (.3 units).
this brought my BG down within an hour to 107, which is more of what i like to see. and, by the time i left to walk to the pool my BG was 102. a great starting point, but wondering if i would spike like i did yesterday. i didnt. now i was set up for a great swim. (and not only was the pool a really comfortable temperature, but there was NOBODY there !!! 
)
here are today’s stats:
1pm BG 102
1:30 BG 102 (took 1.5 glucose tablets )
2pm BG 104 ( took 1/2 glucose tablet)
2:30 BG 99
got out and bolused 1.1 units to cover my time off of my pump (3.5 hours) and then bolused when i got home 1.9 units for the 32 gms to cover 60% of my Boost shakes. (once i am back to swimming harder, i will only be bolusing 50% of the carbs in my shakes. i need less insulin after a hard swim than i do a moderate one; i am much more insulin sensitive.)
anyway, it was a fantastic swim, and i am feeling really good about it. once my body gets back into shape, i believe that my “formulas” will make my swims even more constructive. one step at a time.
signing off for today,
DM
You are amazing!!
Question, do you suspend (remove) your pump 2 hours before you begin swimming? That’s my calculation - swim for 1.5 hours, ZB of 3.5 hours. That’s great you only have to bolus 0.3U for the ZB of 2 hours before you begin! What a perfect workout!
i suspend my pump for 2.5 hours before i jump in. then (today) i swam for 1 hour, so that’s 3.5 hours off of my pump completely. also, i eat breakfast VERY early in the morning, so i have no active IOB from a morning bolus. then, once that bolus is done and out of my system, i turn my pump off, bolus .3 units and wait 2.5 hours.
immediately after i get out of the pool, i bolus (again) for the missed 3.5 hours of missed basal. this system works the same for when i do a longer swim. (right now i am just getting back into the swing of things. i am terribly out of shape because of the pneumonia i had throughout the Fall and early winter )
i hope that this info clarifies things better. when i used to run, i wore my pump at 50% basal and never had a problem with it. i didnt even need to do a ZB. how weird is that??? and i would have a basic flat line as well.
Wow, you are amazing! I have been trying to follow you, as well as Eric’s recommendations specifically for running. I don’t think my body could ever manage being at ZB for 2.5 hours:( Like you, I also eat breakfast early, at 6 AM so 0 IOB when I run. Yesterday I set a temp basal of 0.10 (80% reduction) for 2 hours at 11 AM. I ran at 11:30 AM for 2 hours. So ZB for 1/2 hour pre-run, and then 1/2 hour before end-run, I suspend temp and back to normal basal. Start BG was 116, end BG was 109. Of course, that is just ONE day and it seemed to work okay. Most days do not seem to go so flat. I’ll see how tomorrow goes!
Yes, I followed how terribly ill you got last fall and man, it took a toll I imagine. So glad you are back at your swimming!!
@daisymae, I am looking at your numbers today, seeing your morning correction: do you remember at the very beginning, where you were comfortable starting your swim? Such a difference!!!
Anyone reading the while thread now would be so amazed!