what happens if I stop my pump ?

[laserdave]

hi - been using my pump for 6 years now and have no real issues. I do a lot of cycling 30-50miles twice a week and always have done. I reduce my background rate by 85% while riding and eat a few snacks on the road - this works incredibly well - most of the time ! Last week I noticed I was starting to go low mid ride so I stopped my background insulin completely, had a snack - and carried on riding. ( normally I would have stopped - but I was with a group and I didn't want to cause a fuss - I get loads of warnings so wasn't overly concerned ). Everything panned out ok - my blood sugars came back up slowly and I was fine - except I had zero energy for the rest of the ride - really, really tired. I am often wiped out after a mild hypo but this was different. My question - at last - was I exhausted because I had completely stopped my insulin and maybe NO glucose was getting to my muscles ? Very interested to hear from others who have tried completely stopping the insulin flow.
Thanks in advance

 

[In Response]

I frequently suspend my basal (stop my pump) when exercising.
The thing I find is that I have to time the suspension appropriately.
As we know we pre-bolusing (and it uses the same insulin on a pump), insulin can take 30 minutes or so to start working. Therefore, I have to time my basal suspension for 30 minutes before starting the exercise and to finish 30 minutes before finishing. If I don't resume basal early enough, my levels will go high as soon as I finish exercise.
If you suspend basal when you are already hypo, it is too late (unless you have a lot of insulin onboard).

 

[Juicyj]

Hello @laserdave Have also experienced this on a 50km bike ride a couple of years ago, I managed to avert the low and keep going whilst fueling on glucose, but had zero energy for the rest of the ride which was about 15kms. I put it down to the fact that as there was a lag on the CGM that I was already low and that in itself caused the zero energy reaction, the only thing I would do differently now is to set my low alert at 6mmol/l on a ride which gives me enough of a cushion to avert an incoming low, have found that cycling causes me to go low pretty quickly particularly later in the day when I am less insulin resistant, I use glucose drinks and have one water and one mixed with an energy powder so it's easier to consume whilst still riding, I also pack different types of carbs too for the ride including choc if it's not too hot and cereal bars, so both slow and quick acting carbs.