I am interested in swimming with my Animas pump connected. I used a Cozmo before the Animas and the first time I dunked it in water it completely died on me—it probably had a crack or something. The replacement took three days to arrive due to the courier company losing it, and I had to go back on shots, and it was a huge mess and traumatic, so I never tried getting my pump wet again.
But I am interested in swimming and every time I’ve tried swimming for over an hour with the pump disconnected I end up going quite high, often with ketones, and it just sucks. I am fine before and immediately after swimming, but then spike crazy high (into the 300s) an hour later, without eating, and have had some of my highest ketone readings at the same time (like ketones of 1.2 on the Precision Xtra). I’m nervous about bolusing to cover part of the basal I’m missing because in my head that bolus would “peak” and risk me going low in a way that just running a reduced temporary basal rate wouldn’t, and I am usually already lower after swimming than I was before I began, so don’t want to go any lower.
I’ve only had my Animas for about four months but it’s already fallen off my pocket a few times and hit the floor, and it also has one fairly deep scratch on the side (I have the silver one and the scratch shows the black underneath the paint). I’m wondering if these might render the pump un-waterproof, and/or if I could get a replacement just in case, and/or if I should just dunk the pump in water to “test” it and then get a replacement if for some reason it’s lost it’s waterproofness. (At least this time I wouldn’t have to go back on shots even if it did take three days to get a replacement, since I still have cartridges for my Cozmo as a backup.)
Has anyone gone swimming or gotten their pump wet when it has scratches on it? There are no visible cracks from what I can tell, but then, I also didn’t think my Cozmo had any cracks in it and it clearly wasn’t waterproof.
Yes, Animas is still water-proof, but if there’s a crack in it, it will break. My son has had an Animas for the past 5 years and they’ve always covered it if something went wrong. He swims in the pool with it and we’ve never had a problem.
One time we were on vacation in the Animas River (not kidding) in Colorado and he fell in the river and cracked it on a rock. It broke and they replaced it…no questions asked. Animas is very responsive and they stand by their product. Over the 5 year period, they’ve replaced his pump 3 times without a problem.
Unlike Metronics pump which is water-resistant, Animas is WATERPROOF and they stand by that. Big difference and that’s why we chose the Animas.
I’m not actually on vacation. I’m wanting to do lane swimming at my local pool. But I think I’ll test the pump first, before trying to go swimming, so that I can get a new one if it dies.
Jen, when I swim (with an Animas) I do a bolus but also a little carb with it before the exercise. You could be spiking both because of the lack of insulin but also if your liver is releasing glucose and there’s no insulin to cover it.
They say the first time getting it wet is always the hardest! I had mine 18 months before I dared take it in the pool, and I did for the very reason I was going high during exercise if I hadn’t eaten. Having the bolus, plus the carb seems to have solved the problem. If I go too low during, then I have some glucose. If I swim heaps, I then time a reduced bolus for the swim and for a while after.
Once you start swimming with the pump, it might take a few goes to work out the insulin x carb x exercise thing and what’s right for you.
I wore my pump in a swim-up bar on vacation in March (is it okay to admit that??) and also at the beach all summer this year. No issues, but if your Ping has a crack in it, I think that might screw with the waterproofing. If it’s in one piece, that sucker is waterproof.
You are fine swimming in it or doing anything near water as long as there are no currents or sharp pointy things that can crack your pump if it helps mine fell in the toilet and becasue im such a girl i could’t reach in there and pull it out so i disconnected myself and waited till my dad came home 3 hours later it was fine and it still worked hope this helped you out a little.
I swim in mine almost daily. I swim with kids, and my black lab occasionally in the pool. I have not had any problems. Just also ensure all the o-ring on the battery cap is intact. Other than ensuring the scratch is not a crack you should be fine.
It took me a little over a year to feel comfortable swimming with my pump. The first tome I tried it froze and I could not get it to function. I had just replaced both caps and were on tightly. When I called Animas they immediately sent out a new pump. The only negative thing about this experience was having to go back on shots. My Lantus script was expired and the pharmacist did not want to fill it. She ended up calling the doc on call and getting it approved. The stress was not fun especially when I was trying to get my A1c down to try to conceive. It all worked out and made me appreciate my pump that much more. It’s been almost 6 months with my new pump and it still hasn’t gotten wet.
Jen- I sure dosen’t sound like the scratch on your pump would make it not waterproof. I think your idea is good. Dunk it (I suggest keeping it in there for a couple of minutes) when you are not swimming so you can keep your eye on the pump. You will find out quick.
I had a rep tell me once that most of the cracks associated with making the pump not waterproof anymore usually happen around the battery cap as people do not usually see the tiny cracks there and most people tend to over tighten that cap to make sure it is waterproof. If you can’t see the O-ring anymore it is waterproof! No need to crank it down even further.
Thanks for everyone’s comments! I got up the nerve to dunk my pump this morning and left it under water for about a minute, and it was fine. YAY! I’m going to try swimming with it in the next few days!
Hallo Jen,
I had a 2020 spring a leak while I was over in Hawaii a few years ago. I knew that the case was intact, the battery cap was good, etc. However, after about 15 minutes in the salt water, casually swimming, it went belly-up. What I didn’t realize is that the water seal for the buttons is actually a single piece of rubber material that is simply glued down around it edge. Apparently josling the buttons over the two years I had that pump wore the adhesive a bit thin. Lucky for me I had an earlier R1000 as a back-up with me. Even so, Animas Fed Exed a replacement out and I got it within a couple of days. Since this has already happened once, I am very leery of the rubber section and I inspect it often. I don’t know if Animas will do anything about “re-gluing” the rubber cover or not.
If you are swimming regularly, you might want to contact Animas about getting your pump pressure tested on a regular basis. I really don’t know if Animas service even offers this, but they must cover the “water proofness” until the pump is four years old when the warranty goes out. They are quite good about sending out loaners for travellers, thus I’m sure you could get one while you send yours in for testing.
if it helps mine fell in the toilet and becasue im such a girl i could’t reach in there and pull it out so i disconnected myself and waited till my dad came home 3 hours later it was fine and it still worked 
hope this helped you out a little.