Trip to Iceland

[Taffygirl]

Hi there. We are taking our daughter to Iceland for her birthday and wondered if anyone had any experience of visiting the Blue Lagoon and swimming in Silfra Fissure. (2 very different water temperatures!) We wondered how this might affect her levels as we've never done anything like this before. She has only been diagnosed T1 for a year and is 23. She is managing everything amazingly and is living her life again.

 

[MommaE]

Hi there. We are taking our daughter to Iceland for her birthday and wondered if anyone had any experience of visiting the Blue Lagoon and swimming in Silfra Fissure. (2 very different water temperatures!) We wondered how this might affect her levels as we've never done anything like this before. She has only been diagnosed T1 for a year and is 23. She is managing everything amazingly and is living her life again.

I haven’t been to those specific places but from my one experience of a natural hot springs and regular use of a sauna I can say that both make my BS rise but that it is a short lived rise that I haven’t taken extra insulin to reduce. I wouldn’t want to say if that is because those experiences both follow exercise or not , I’m not really sure on that. Hope you all have a great time. I love “ and is living her life again” that’s exactly how I felt after diagnosis and the start of management.

 

[Taffygirl]

I haven’t been to those specific places but from my one experience of a natural hot springs and regular use of a sauna I can say that both make my BS rise but that it is a short lived rise that I haven’t taken extra insulin to reduce. I wouldn’t want to say if that is because those experiences both follow exercise or not , I’m not really sure on that. Hope you all have a great time. I love “ and is living her life again” that’s exactly how I felt after diagnosis and the start of management.

Aww thanks for your reply. That's useful to know. A rise is better than a low. We shall find out soon, it's going to be a fabulous trip I'm sure. The diagnosis hasn't been fun but we are getting there. Technology and medication are brilliant (bit painful though) but she's not going to let it stop her.

 

[Deleted member 527103]

I visited the Blue Lagoon a few years back. It had no impact on my levels.
The lagoon is just like a big warm outdoor bath. Not really hot enough to have any effect.
I also see little change in a sauna but I am more cautious because it could be difficult to feel the symptoms of a hypo in the heat. So I recommend keeping an extra close eye on levels before going in.

@Taffygirl If your daughter uses a Libre, I find they do not like the humid heat of a sauna. For me, the affect is temporary: it returns to normal after a couple of hours. In the meantime, you need to be extra vigilant to highs or lows with finger pricks because my sensor readings became like a random number generator until it stabilised again.

I am really glad to read your daughter is "living her life again." For me it has been very important to my mental health to make diabetes work around me and my life rather than the other way. I have not found anything I want to do but diabetes stops me. And I promise I stretch the envelop a lot! Iceland was one of my least adventurous/active/envelop stretching holidays

 

[Taffygirl]

I visited the Blue Lagoon a few years back. It had no impact on my levels.
The lagoon is just like a big warm outdoor bath. Not really hot enough to have any effect.
I also see little change in a sauna but I am more cautious because it could be difficult to feel the symptoms of a hypo in the heat. So I recommend keeping an extra close eye on levels before going in.

@Taffygirl If your daughter uses a Libre, I find they do not like the humid heat of a sauna. For me, the affect is temporary: it returns to normal after a couple of hours. In the meantime, you need to be extra vigilant to highs or lows with finger pricks because my sensor readings became like a random number generator until it stabilised again.

I am really glad to read your daughter is "living her life again." For me it has been very important to my mental health to make diabetes work around me and my life rather than the other way. I have not found anything I want to do but diabetes stops me. And I promise I stretch the envelop a lot! Iceland was one of my least adventurous/active/envelop stretching holidays

It's lovely to hear from you, thank you. She does use a Libre and does finger prick as back ups. No plans for a sauna yet, but good to know. I think she intends to "stretch the envelope" too. She's going to do Canada in August and is thinking of possibly doing Thailand soon too - her travel plans got short changed by Covid after uni then the diagnosis last year scuppered the plans even further. We're all so thankful she's getting back out there instead of hiding from it. Still got big nerves but giving it a go!