I just got the pump. I love the beach. If I want to go to the beach for a few hours and disconnect the pump how do I keep my numbers level. I don't want to take lantus and be off the pump for 24 hours. Should I purchase nph otc and just stay off 12 hours? I'm just wondering what the average person does. I'm sure my doctor will have orders for me when I see him.
I usually hide my pump in my bathing suit until I'm in water. If i'm disconnected more than an hour I'll skyrocket, so if I'm in water longer than that I'll get out to bolus then get back in. When I had an Animas pump I would just wear it in since it's waterproof, but unfortunately that doesn't work with minimed.
You mentioned NPH, but you could also do Regular, which is 6 hours. I've never tried it for the beach, but I'm sure it would work. And I know it's available for about $30 OTC, since I forgot insulin on vacation one time and ended up settling for that :-/
I so no to NPH and lantus but more so to NPH evil stuff, I would do regular. You will just have to get out of the water and test every hour or so and bolus.
You want to disconnect your pump so that people do not see you with a pump I take it? You can use syringe/pens using long acting insulin like lantus and something like novolog for the meal times. You would test before/after meals (1.5 - 2 hours before and after). This will keep you under relatively good control. Just have some snacks (welch's fruit snacks work ok'ish in the heat or hardshell m&ms).
You can calculate how much basal dose you would miss and either give all of it is as a bolus before you disconnect or give half of it before and then get out and retest and give the remainder when your are done.
Alternatively, I think you can do Lantus and just set your pump's basal rate to zero for 24 hours and still use the pump for boluses.
I just went on vacation last month and I wear a pump but I have always switched back to regular shots for vacations. This time I decided to just use my pump and I did not have any problems. If you are like me and are moving around the whole time while in the water you probably won't even need to bolus before or after being in the water. I just made sure about every hour or so I would get out and check my sugar to see where it was. The whole time it was either perfectly fine or on the way to a low. The first day maybe see how it goes and then decide what you think you should do. Everyone is different, the same things don't work for everybody. Alot of times it is all trial and error to see what works best for me.
I always get out of the water every half hour or so, do a blood test and give myself a small bolus. It is a little annoying, but I prefer that over figuring out how much insulin to take and dealing with all the stuff that comes with that. Even if I did switch to shots, I would still probably get out and test a lot b/c I'd be nervous about how I'd be. I have been on a pump for 11 years, so I'm not sure my brain would like to dredge up everything I'd need to be comfortable switching. The only time I've ever had a problem with the pump and water was at water parks. Sometimes the lines are more than a half-hour wait before I could get back to my locker.
Wow, these are all very valuable answers. My thing is I love boogie boarding at the beach. I am also supposed to learn how to surf this summer, lol. Oh, another question... What about sand? Does that bother the pump?
Again, thanks for all of the great answers and problem solving! ^_^
[quote user="JDVsMom"]
You can calculate how much basal dose you would miss and either give all of it is as a bolus before you disconnect or give half of it before and then get out and retest and give the remainder when your are done.
Alternatively, I think you can do Lantus and just set your pump's basal rate to zero for 24 hours and still use the pump for boluses.
[/quote]
thats what i do! :)
[quote user="Kellie"]
What about sand? Does that bother the pump?
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i didn't have any problems with sand!