Wild swimming.

[iom_iron_man]

Zip lock bags, jelly babies. After the swim a nice hot chocolate.

 

[marty313]

@emfor How are you trying to get your Libre scanner to read? My ocean water isn't cold so I haven't run into that problem. I do know that bluetooth communication doesn't work underwater. But so far with the 14day Libre and the Libre2 and the reader in a waterproof Stash pouch held right over my sensor has given me a scan? (the phone does not work) I also keep the reader shoved between me and my swimsuit so it probably helps keep it warmer. The Stash pouch has never failed, I have 3 of them, one for my phone, one for the Libre reader and one for a bag of ginger candy.

Before getting my Libre to scan I used to limit my swims to about 1 hour because that seemed to the safe time period, although a few times I came out at around a 4.1. In my case with a pump I reduce my basal rate for 2 hours prior to swimming. I have an Omnipod so I reduce and don't completely stop it. The additional option is to boost your BG level more before you swim. I used to boost it to around 8.3 before. Now I just boost it to around 7.2. I make sure I don't eat in the am so that I had no bolus insulin on board when I swim and in my case would drink some chocolate soymilk to boost it up to the level I want before I swim with no insulin. Having any active bolus insulin makes it a lot harder to stop having hypo's.

I ran into that the other day, we spontaneously decided to swim and I had eaten and dosed for a larger carb lunch. I ate some extra peanuts and caramel to boost me more and went in to promptly fall 4 mmols in only about 4,000 feet of swimming. I downed a few ***** bears, swam to shore and promptly downed half the bag and then went back out. And you can't always tell what exertion you are going to expend when swimming in the ocean so that adds difficulty.

But maybe try to work with the Libre more? Insulate it or???? Because I used to always worry what BG level I was at and it influenced how much I enjoyed it and how far and long I swam. Now I just check my Libre and that allowed me to learn what to do to stay out longer.

Interesting post! I (59 yrs., DM1 since 2004, 183 cm, 87 kg, MDI) took up triathlon sprint in 2022 and Olympic triathlon this year in Norway - water temperatures between 14 and 16°C.
I practice carbo hydrate loading (150 g muesli, 9 IU Novorapid) 30 min before swimming 750 m (Sprint) or 1.5 km (Olympic).
Glucose when coming out 6 to 14 mmol/l as measured by Abbot Libre 3 CGM.
To me the most important thing is staying warm. I always swim with a wetsuit.
Abbot Libre 1 and 2 use NFC for scanning, which works under water. Libre 3 uses BT. BT does not work under water, but you may hold up your arm and your phone while treading water. I have not tried yet.

 

[Marie 2]

I do carry GU Gels with me now, I shove them into my swimsuit inside a plastic baggie. You don't need the plastic baggie, it's just an easy return for me if I half use one or the empty pack and my suit doesn't get messy. It's a nice thicker paste so it's easy to squirt some or all into your mouth when you are swimming in the ocean. The GU gels have a huge selection of flavors that taste good, have electrolytes and are 25 carbs each. They have some with caffeine too. The only ones I don't recommend with ocean swimming are the salted caramel as when you are already in salt water, yuk.....

 

[marty313]

I do carry GU Gels with me now, I shove them into my swimsuit inside a plastic baggie. You don't need the plastic baggie, it's just an easy return for me if I half use one or the empty pack and my suit doesn't get messy. It's a nice thicker paste so it's easy to squirt some or all into your mouth when you are swimming in the ocean. The GU gels have a huge selection of flavors that taste good, have electrolytes and are 25 carbs each. They have some with caffeine too. The only ones I don't recommend with ocean swimming are the salted caramel as when you are already in salt water, yuk.....

I experimented with all kinds of high energy foods, drinks and gels. I suffer from chronic gingivitis which I keep under control by an intensive tooth cleaning protocol... 1 package og gel have me intense tooth ache for 24 hours. Don't try gel in the middle of the lake for the first time!