Snorkeling! Swimming!

Hawaii draws me in like no other place. We could retire as soon as next year, at latest in 3 years.

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Wow, what a life you lead!! I’d love to swim with the turtles, as long as they are okay with it!! :slight_smile: My sisters live in Hawaii on Oahu. Next time I visit (when and if quarantine ends) I will want to try this!

Congratulations on getting the Libre2 working for you in the water, despite being a bit off compared to the meter. So good to know there is an underwater solution!

The turtles seem to care less you are there. In this area I think they are probably pretty used to people. We don’t purposely swim right up to them, but sometimes you come up on them suddenly or they swim towards you, they will even swim along side you. But we try to stay 10-15 feet away so we don’t disturb them.

But there is something about seeing these guys that give you instant peace and joy!

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Change up on my settings for going snorkeling.

At the end of summer and the fall because of my Libre I had been staying out for 3 hours at a time, it has taken some adjustments to be able to do so.

I like to start out between 130-140, because I drop after about an hour…but then about 1 1/2-2 hours I start to rise. And that rise keeps happening even when I am out of the water. I am very insulin resistant for quite a few hours after too.

But the more I am getting used to staying out longer the less I am rising as I am getting used to it, so some adjustments along the way are needed.

Update: I ended up taking a month off because of weather and only a few shorter swims squeezed in for another month. I might as well have started from scratch again as the increase is huge again and the drop that night, especially the first time back kept me up most of the night.

But we have started going back more although shorter swims as the weather is iffy a lot. About an hour and a half to two hours and I don’t mind the stormy part so much as no sun, colder water and my legs will cramp up easier and I start to get cold.

5 days ago absolute failure, I forgot to lower my basal rate until we arrived so I wanted an extra boost and ate a large cookie. But the current was at it’s strongest I’ve seen. I like to swim at least once across the stretch and it took every effort of my legs and arms to move even a foot back against the current. Work, a lot of work. I don’t feel bad but I look at my Libre and it says 62, uh oh, better head in and just in case ate some ginger candy to make sure I got in okay. it is usually 20-30 points under but at the low numbers it has a tendency to be closer to right than not.

Yep, get into shallow water and sit until I get a Dex reading and sure enough I am at 68 with an arrow angled down. So more ginger candy and my husband saw me go in and followed and I had him go get me a chocolate soymilk from the car. Waited until I was up to 105 and rising and went back out to swim more. But only lasted another half hour before I started dropping again. Sigh, done for the day.

But today spot on! Sunny day too! Reduced my basal for 2 hours, I needed a slight boost before I went in so I started that temp decrease earlier than usual. Perfect at 123 when I arrived with 40 more minutes of decrease left. Good to go. Swam for two hours fairly strong current, not as bad as the other day but still a lot of work. I stayed right around 130 the whole time!!! When I got out and by the time I got to the car I dropped to 90 and within 15 minutes I started my climb upwards. But I never went above 143 and by the time I hit 143 I had already given myself 3 doses along the way with each 10 point increase.

Just about perfect…now to repeat!!! Sigh, so many variables involved!

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So I have been having real good success snorkeling. I have to really thank @Eric2 for his help. I eat a small snack in the morning, another small amount of carbs before I enter the water, which helps stop the huge rises I was getting starting after about an hour of snorkeling. Apparently my body wanted fuel in place to use and was trying to dump glucose to provide it.

I do get drops sometimes and conditions can really vary. But I also added GU gel pouches to take when I am out there. Easier than the gummy bears I had been using. I just keep it in a small plastic baggie as it doesn’t need to stay waterproof.

The Libre is such a blessing, I can stay out as long as I want which is usually between 2-3 hours and can check while I am swimming what my numbers are doing. I just take a dose of the GU gel if I start trending too low. I still wear my Dexcom too as it’s more accurate, but it just won’t read in the water. So I am wearing both.

I usually just do a 50% temp reduction of a half hour, a half hour before I go in. I probably should do it for an hour. But I don’t mind consuming some of the gel if needed, but I can’t do anything when I start climbing out there so I prefer to treat a trend low if needed. The first hour is always easy, I try to go in between 110-130 and can stay pretty steady. Then my body decides if my BG level wants to head up or down or stay steady! A lot of variables can come into play!

Lol…I wear a one piece suit and the Libre reader with a key to the car is in a Stash waterproof pouch shoved into my suit, my GU gels in a small baggy, shoved into my suit, some gummy bears just in case in another stash pouch, shoved into my suit. And my iphone in a stash waterproof pouch clipped onto my straps for easy use of the camera while I am out there. I could get a pouch like my hubby has for around my waist…but my one piece suits works great…as long as I avoid hitting my pod that’s on my abdomen :joy:!!!

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Thanks for sharing this!! @Eric2 has helped me, too, with running. I also carry Gu or other gels, and juice, for extra carbs while running. I use Loop in autobolus mode but use an override during the run to reduce basal so I’m usually at ZB for the duration. I usually give myself a small bolus shortly before the end if not trending too low.

I’m amazed you can carry so much while swimming in the ocean, much less also use the gear in water, and take in carbs, to boot! And do this for hours!! So much fun :man_swimming: !!!

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@Trying It helps that everything is relatively flat and just slides into my suit! What I really enjoy is while I am actually swimming I can pull out the Libre (in the waterproof pouch) and scan my sensor for a reading. No interruptions!

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Yes, that’s great the Libre works in water! I’m so glad you are incorporating some great techniques to keep your BGs stable in the water! I know from your previous posts how hard you have been working on it! I’ve only snorkeled a few times in my life and all of them were indeed in Hawaii. Absolutely awesome to see so many precious, colorful fish!! So wonderful you can do it everyday and safely, too!!

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