Blue Lagoon Iceland and insulin pumps anyone done this?

M

Minnie_19

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Hi,

I have a 640g medtronic insulin pump which is apparently waterproof although on a recent trip in Indonesia I discovered this wasn't the case with mine and was left 2 weeks without my pump.

In Feb I'm going to Iceland and we are planning on going to the Blue Lagoon. If I risk taking my pump in and pray it's waterproof, will it be okay? I'm not sure because the water will be warm. Are there any cases anyone knows of?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks
 
tim2000s

tim2000s

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I'm not aware of any cases for the 640G, but what I'd suggest is that you borrow a spare from Medtronic for your holiday, stating that the reason is your experience the previous time.
 
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I have been to the Blue Lagoon but not as a pumper.
I am now an Animas pumper and I have been to various spas with it ... but not Blue Lagoon.
When spa-ing and jumping in and out of water (swimming pools, jacuzis, etc.), I take my pump off (and enjoy the freedom) even though it is supposed to be waterproof. During these days (or half days), I return to my pump every hour and manually give myself a bolus of my hourly basal. I have found this works well and avoids the worry of whether my pump is really waterproof and where I would attach it to my swim suit if it was.

Regardless, if Medtronic provide free spare holiday pumps (Animas do), I would recommend taking them up on this offer as you never know when it will go wrong and you don't want to spend your holiday worrying about it. But remember to write down your settings as the spare will be set to the defaults.
 
slip

slip

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Not a pumper but been to the Blue Lagoon, the water isn't warm......it's hot! Whether your pump is water proof or not I doubt it will be particularly happy being hot.

I loved Iceland and loved the blue lagoon - I'm not envious at all.................................:D

Can't say I saw anyone there with a pump on, but I think as a nation they are rather short on diabetics anyway - make sure you take plenty of supplies just in case.
 
M

Minnie_19

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Thanks for the tips. I have my old pump so will be taking this with me as a back up anyway.

As it's going to be very cold in Feb I was hoping to avoid the scenario of disconnecting and then having a bolus when out of the water! But like I say I'm worried about the pump getting to hot.

Maybe I'll have to just go back to injections for the day.

Haha @slip yes I am very excited, glad to hear you had an amazing time when you went.

Thanks everyone for the advice.
 
AmandaD

AmandaD

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I've the 640g and have used it in pools and the sea in Spain, and warm swimming pools and its been grand. For the blue lagoon thou I think I'd leave it off as it is quite warm
 
slip

slip

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Seeing Amanda's comment it suddenly dawned on me, that you want to be able to relax and enjoy it, if you were wearing a pump you'd be constantly checking it was still working etc - just go 'naked' and enjoy it.

As for coldness - getting in and out is not a problem, you enter the water inside the building and then swim out. Then the air is warm surrounding the lagoon so if you sit up on a rock you won't be cold.
 
Engineer88

Engineer88

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What perfect timing! I'm going in January and was wondering half heartedly what to do. I think I*should* be on Dana then so will take my animas as a Backup :)
 
slip

slip

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Hope both of you see the northern lights! @Engineer88 they may well still be celebrating Christmas whilst you're there, we went mid Jan and due to adverse weather over xmas that year they postponed some festivities until later - must have been some weather! the UK would have come to a complete and utter standstill if we'd had 1% of what was there when we went.
 
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