I am a level 10 gymnast and I just recently became diagnosed with diabetes. I work out 5 hours a day for 4 days a week. I've been thinking about trying the pump, but I feel like it is going to be difficult with gymnastics. Also, it seems like it would be so annoying having something attached to you 24/7, but so many people say they love it, any advice??
Hey Kelli I have had diabetes for 15 years and also used to do gymnastics. I went on the pump a few years into gymnastics. It was different to get used to but I found it helped me out a lot, because I also did other sports. I found that if I put my pump site just under my pant line in the back it didn't get in my way. I had to reconnect my pump every 30 minutes or so to keep my base line insulin active. It gave me more freedom with all the sports I played than injections did. I hope this helps. Take care, Jessa.
You get used to having it on you all the time, actually it starts to feel odd when you don't have it on, lol. Mine broke last summer and I had to go a couple days without one and I kept reaching for it. It's kind of like having an extra cell phone, and half the time that's what people think it is anyways. When you're doing gymnastics I would disconnect the pump so that when you're flipping around it doesn't fly away. I know some athletes really like the omni pod because you don't have to worry about tubing or disconnecting/reconnecting every couple of hours, but I've never tried it. I never did gymnastics, but I danced for years and disconnecting was never a big deal. I'm able to leave my pump disconnected for 2 hours before I need to reconnect for a minute to give an extra dose of insulin. I've also left it on for different workouts like running or weight lifting without any problems. Also, as you may have already discovered, you probably won't need as much insulin while you're working out as you do when your not physically active, and the pump is really nice for being able to adjust hour by hour and day by day as you need.
Hey I used to do gymnastic when I was on shots and i would imagine it would be a lot harder with the pump. But I know how much exercise gymnastics is and being recently diagnosed u wont need any insulin during your workout unles it is over like 10hrs lol. If anything some times I was low if I didn't have a snack before just on my leftover basal alone. I love my pump and having it attached just feels like its part of you it only gets in the way if I and wearing a slim or fitted dress then I attach it to a band around my leg lol nbd. I have the animas ping btw! :)
I did tumbling for two years and at class I'd take the pump off but I would still get low so I'd have to stop halfway through and eat glucose tabs or something. I would not wear the pump (It would fall off otherwise wouldn't it?) and monitor your bg a lot to see if you get low or high. If you're getting low have a snack before hand and/or lower your basal before practice, and if you're high reconnect and give a small dose in the middle
You may have decided by now, but I thought I'd share a few tid bits of my daughters experience w gymnastics and pumps. She started with a Ping and took it off for training and meets, re-attaching to bump her basal if needed. Sometimes she would use Lantus the night before a meet and keep the pump off for the day. (usung humalog pen for bolus) that worked well too. She switched to the Omnipod in October wears it on her arm and never takes it off. So far so good.
The key to staying stong in the gym is check, check, check.
One unique aspect with gymnastics vs other sports is the amount of adrenilin and stress hormones produced, especially before big meets can cause your liver to dump sugar in the blood and cause very high, hard to lower bgs. We had to see a diabetic sports physiologist to address this. Everyone is different but gymnastics training can't be compared to most other sports training regimes.
I’m a level 9 gymnast with similar hours, I was diagnosed two years ago and pumps and cgms are very helpful for me if you can get that. It’s really nice to be able to suspend insulin or give less before gym so I don’t go low. I put it on either my arm or my hip right now, and on my hip/butt it doesn’t get in the way at all. I don’t really mind my arm but sometimes I put tape over it if I’m worried about it. But yes I definitely recommend it it’s been very helpful for me.
Edit: I use an omni pod btw so I can’t take it off and my a1c right now is 5.3 so I’ve been able to have really good control with the devices