HEY... I was just wondering because I always think Im crazy but,
For those of you who have a pump do you ever take it off when you are playing sports of really active? JUST WONDERING! HEEH HEEH
THANKS!! -ally
It depends on the sport but yes, I do take my pump off while playing sports. For basketball, soccer or tennis (those that I still do) I don't where it. I'll leave it on for biking or golfing with a lower temp basal rate. Even though you take it off the insulin is still active for a couple hours (what you have in you as your basal rate) so I don't worry about it at all, plus being active will help reduce your need for insulin. Being, hummm, well, older now, I find that if I have a cliff bar or something like it with some insulin prior to the activity helps me keep up my energy levels. Just check your BG during a break to make sure you are okay. I usually just bolus a unit after exercise to make up for what I missed and it works out fine for me. Your doc will have a better idea as to how to handle your particular situation but that's what I do. Good luck!
Hey, I usually do for most of my sports. I play volleyball and with all the rolling around it doesn't work very well to keep it on. If your interested my mom invented something for me to where while I run or work out. It is one of those tank tops that are fitness wear. She took some spandex material and had our dry cleaners sew on a pouch with a button on the front. I will put my pump in there if it isn't a contact sport and the good news is my iPod fits in it too! It works in all sorts of ways. If you would like a picture I could probably send it to you.
-Annie
No, except for swimming because it's not waterproof.
I generally just turn my basal rate down as appropriate an hour before. And I test frequently.
Hi Ally.
I am answering for my 13 year old daughter (see the swimming section under diabetes and athletics). She swims for 1 1/2 hours about 4-5 times per week. Not only does she remove her pump, but she sets her basal rates to -0- at least 1 to 1 1/2 hours prior to swimming. (we have a basal pattern called "swim day" programmed on her pump.) So if she swims at 5:30pm, her basal rates go to -0- at 4:00 pm. She continues to wear the pump up until practice so that she can bolus for snacks, etc, but she is getting no background insulin. So, at 6:30 pm, during swimming, the insulin will not be peaking causing low BG since there is no insulin on board. Now, we are going to have her check her BG every 45 minutes as well to ensure she doesn't get low. Swimming burns lots of sugar!
Of course, she needs to check and bolus immediately when she gets out of the water to make sure she doesn't get high. Ah, this is the hard part for compliance with a 13 year old!
Allison, for Amanda
[quote user="Ally"]
HEY... I was just wondering because I always think Im crazy but,
For those of you who have a pump do you ever take it off when you are playing sports of really active? JUST WONDERING! HEEH HEEH
THANKS!! -ally
[/quote]
As previously said, it usually depends on the sport. If it's a physical sport, or a sport in which there is a lot of running involved and the pump might get damaged or not stay clipped on, I take it off. I take my pump off whenever I'm at the gym and whenever I play rugby/football/baseball/softball because there is a high risk of it getting damaged or just being ripped off playing those. As far as swimming, my pump is waterproof (Animas 1250), but I disconnect anyway just to be on the side of caution.
When I do disconnect for sports/rigorous activities, I test often to make sure that I'm not going to spike and if I see an increase in BG, I will connect temporarily to administer a bolus and then get back to whatever I was doing. I won't give a full correction though because you are more sensitive to insulin when you're active I believe.
Hope that helps
-Pat
[quote user="Pat"]If it's a physical sport, or a sport in which there is a lot of running involved and the pump might get damaged or not stay clipped on, I take it off.[/quote]
I'm not getting you at all, Pat. I thought all sports were "physical." I wrote about turning my basal rate down, and there is "a lot of running involved" in things I do, but so far no more than 50 miles of running at a time.
With all of the situations in which you described taking your pump off, including when you're "at the gym," it's hard to imagine any activity where you would keep your pump on.
You can make it work, after a fashion, to disconnect from your pump during any sporting activities. You can also make it work to stay on the pump. I prefer to stay connected.
I wear a Minimed Paradigm, and it's made of tougher stuff than I am, so I generally don't worry about it getting damaged. I would bet the same is true for an Animas pump.
I can imagine some sports in which there would be a higher likelihood of getting an infusion set pulled out. If that were to happen of course, you'd be disconnected from your pump until you got a chance to put a new infusion set in.
I'm actually not getting you, Jerry. I mean, everyone is entitled to their own diabetes care and especially preference of whether or not to disconnect during exercise. So I guess I'm asking for clarification because it seems to me you don't think it is ok for Pat, or anyone, to disconnect for exercise?
Also, its that some sports are more physical than others. They are all physical, but there are different levels of this.
The question was, "do you ever take it off," to which I replied, "no, except for swimming." I just said what I do and don't do.
[quote user="Alyssa"]it seems to me you don't think it is ok for Pat, or anyone, to disconnect for exercise?[/quote]
In my response to Pat, and as I said, I didn't get it, I was reacting to the idea that it is "on the side of caution" to disconnect if you're doing something physical. That's simply not the case. There are reasons to stay connected and reasons to disconnect. One is not inherently safer than the other. You have to make adjustments based on whether you will have your pump connected or disconnected.
I'm not trying to say that there's only one way. There are lots of different ways to handle this.
Maybe I felt compelled to say something because Pat mentioned sports "in which there is a lot of running involved." I run long distances wearing my pump.
That helps thanks :D It was just a little fuzzy for me, so thank you for the clarification
Hi!
I play softball and I do not wear my pump for games or for practice. Our practices are usually 3 hours so I make sure that my sugars are OK before and after our practices. Sometimes we have doubleheaders for games which usually last 4-5 hours. In these instances, I usually keep my pump with me, but disconnected, and I will take a bolus in between the games. I also eat a granola bar or something in between the games, too.
I have actually broken my pump wearing it one time when we were lifting weights and I have not worn it during sports since then. The pumps are durable and tough, but they are still breakable.
I hope this helps a bit.
i take mine off for excercise most of the time. i figure skate so im jumping and spinning while leaning backwards and doing stuff that can create a high risk of falling so i take it off. one day i forgot to and we were doing a group thing and i realized i still had it on. i didnt want to go take it off because the coach that was doing my group wanted me to demonstrate and be the leader because i was the only one listening. luckily i didnt fall.
when i have the cgm in though, i keep my pump on so it will still tell me my blood sugar. i do that exept on while skating but i just put my pump at the side and spin really close to it so it will tell me.
I used to take my pump off for sports... I used to compete in wrestling and as you can imagine, it was incredibly difficult to keep it connected during practices and competitions.
Recently, though, I have really been trying to iron out my blood sugars during physical activity. After attending the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association (DESA) conference, as well as a Children with Diabetes conference earlier this year I learned SO MUCH about exactly what was going on when I was disconnecting. Although my blood sugars were staying perfectly fine during exercise when I was disconnecting, I was getting considerable highs about 2 to 3 hours afterwards. I'm not entirely sure how I was explaining these highs to myself at the time... After hearing the experts in diabetes and exercise speak on the topic, however, I'm completely clear on what was going on!! During the two to three hours after I had disconnected (and after exercise), the insulin that SHOULD have been peaking and working hard was missing. Instead, my body was relying on using the small amount of insulin that was still active (but tapering) from before my workout and the insulin that was just beginning to work (that had been infused since reconnecting). My blood sugars were spiking because I had deprived my body of the insulin that it would MOST in need of 2 to 3 hours after the activity. Today I try my very best not to disconnect during activity and have had great success when it comes to my blood sugars.
I have some other strategies for instances when my pump MUSt be removed, but am still working out the kinks with these ones.
Good luck to everyone in figuring out exactly what works best for you!!
yeah! all the time!
i absolutely love sports so i play them all the time. & i take it off for an hour at a time. then check my blood sugar and if its high i cover if its okay then im good. its that simple! i dontt know what you use.... but i use the medtronic minimed 722.
I take mine off while I play soccer. When we have half time my mom will come and make me chack my sugar and if it's high I'll tell my coach and sit out for like ten minuets with my pump on. I also take it off when I run on the tred-mill. Other than that I leve it on.
i always do because once me and my friends were playing a football game and some one pulled of my site and blood was pooring out of me and it would not stop gushing out for about 5 min and i almost pasted out so ever since i have been taking off my pump
yea i play basketball and softball. i take it off for both. if i leave it onn i get all careful and i dont playy the wayy i noww i cann. also in softball it gets in the way of sliding. so no your nott krazyyyy!
I play a lot of sports but it really just all depends. When I play basketball, I do take my pump off but when I play softball I don't.
I play hockey and so it's kind of hard not to take it off while you're playing. But I don't remove my site or anything. During regular/random (gym class) activities I don't.
Hi
when i do sport i do take off my pump off but i only take take it off when it is high impact sports like Rugby , Martial Arts but i keep it on when doing athletics.
Hope this helps
From Glenn
p.s i was told by one of my doctors to take off my pump if i am on a trampolinefor a long time