So I need some help here. I'm new at the pump and kind of confused! So my question is... if I'm going swimming and I need to disconnect do you give yourself some extra insulin to cover for an hour or so...or wait a little bit and if its high give a correction bolus, wait till its done and beeps then take it off? Hope I'm clear enough here....
I've found that this takes a little trial and error. I do disconnect for some activities. In some instances, if I know I'm going to be disconnected for at least an hour, I will bolus my whole basal rate for that hour, remove the pump, and check my BG every 30-45 minutes. If I am going to continue to be disconnected, I will reconnect and bolus accordingly every hour or so.
However, some activities cause my BG to naturally go lower, and in those instances I can generally safely disconnect for about an hour without bolusing my basal rate. It really just depends.
Because you're doing something that involves swimming, I would recommend trying to disconnect without bolusing first and see what happens. If you finish high, the next time you go, bolus 1/2 your basal rate and again, see what happens. If you're still high, bolus a little more on the third attempt. Keep doing this until you find your sweet spot. This is how I would do it because you definitely don't want to go low while swimming!
I usually suspend my pump and keep it on while running, and even 2 hours afterwards.
When I swim I do the same. I suspend it 30 min before I start and then keep it suspended 2 hours after I swim. My sugars always go low after exercise so I also eat some carb gel before I hit the pool.
You just have to try it out and see what happens, eventually you will find the magic formula.
I agree it depends if you are floating on the "lazy river" or swimming laps? I'm no longer a huge fan of swimming but when I did, I'd just swim some laps or in a laplike manner to keep a lid on my BG and it would work out ok.