Diving with Diabetes

[Saturation]

I too remain very interested in what Diabetic divers are doing.

For you pump users, why not switch to sq insulin at least during the dives, at least for those who use pumps for tight control?

 

[zeN||]

This is a Real Triumph for type II diabetics, but I am suprised to see people diving with pumps, which seem liable to malfunction at depth zeN

 

[ppo2_diver]

I never dive(or snorkel) with my pump on. I take it off and store it in a pelican case along with my blood sugar monitor.

Dr. Saturation - I've never heard of sq insulin. Can you give a few details about it?

The reason I don't want to be on insulin while diving is because I have found that with exercise, my blood sugars drop. So why use insulin? I normally start a dive with my blood sugars around 200. After a moderate dive for 30 minutes, my blood sugars are down to 120-100. So I'm eating crackers during my surface intervals to get my blood sugars back up. My doctor recommends not staying disconnected to my pump for over an hour, but there have been times I've had it off for the entire day of diving and my blood sugars have stayed within acceptable limits.

 

[parksoft]

Saturation once bubbled...
For you pump users, why not switch to sq insulin at least during the dives, at least for those who use pumps for tight control?

The biggest reason of all - during any activity which lowers the BG that much pretty much gives the go ahead to disconnect from the pump. It's simply not necessary to be attached for that period of time. Taking a shot of insulin only throws the chance for an insulin reaction more into the picture. The body just doesn't need the insulin during that period.

If it's a choice between suspending my pump activity but staying connected (and in this case, risking water damage to the pump) or simply disconnecting, being rid of the risk of damaging the pump, etc. - I'll disonnect and leave it in my bag.

Tina

 

[ssra30]

sq insulin is subcutaneous insulin, ie the usual insulin injection that people use.

jhnsndn, I would be careful about disconnecting the pump for a long period of time. Of course, it seems like so far you are doing ok and nothing bad have happened. However, when you disconnect yourself from an insulin pump for a long time, it could potentially be dangerous for a couple of reasons. The body does not need insulin just to keep sugar level down. Insulin aide muscle and other cells to transport sugar into the cells to be utilized, among many other roles. Once you disconnect the pump, the insulin will wear off quickly. If you only disconnect for one dive, 45-60 minutes, I guess that it would not make much of a difference but if it is off for an entire day diving, even if the sugar level is ok ( I assume you help control it somewhat by not eating as much because say you take yourself of insulin in the morning, by lunch there is no insulin left and if you eat regular lunch, I doubt the sugar level would remain normal) your muscle could be starving because of the lack of insulin.

I think what Saturatoin said made sense, if you are going to be off the pump for an extended period of time, at least a little subcutaneous long acting insulin like lente or ultralente would be a good idea, not enough to keep sugar under tight control and risk hypoglycemia but enough to at least keep the baseline insulin level in body for its other maintenance function.

 

[Bonnet Ray]

I am not using a pump and have found that when I am diving all day I can eat my normal food and require no short-term insulin. This is because the long-term insulin that I give overnight covers what I need for the day, which I also have to reduce to keep my sugars ok.

If you are using a pump does it dispense short and long term insulin? If so i would guess you have enough insulin in your body to cope with no short acting during the day.

I would like to try using a pump but currently my local health authority doesn't support them

 

[ppo2_diver]

I should clarify that when I take my pump off for the whole day, I'm only referring to when I have students in the pool or OW. I connect my pump again during the lunch break to cover what I eat and a little bit extra.

My doctor likes to refer to my type of diabetes as Type 1 and 1/2. Meaning, my body produces a little bit of insulin naturally, but not as much as a "normal" person. This is how I can go long periods of time without my pump if I'm doing moderate amounts of exercise. Since exercise helps stimulate the body to produce insulin. But the key phrase is that I'm doing moderate amounts of exercise, I can't just take off my pump and sit on the couch.

 

[Saturation]

Thanks all for your insight.

Yes, ssra30 clarified my questions and I agree with his input.

What is find most interesting is that the activity associated with diving, assumed to be a leisurely sport, is enough to drop your blood sugar to significant levels.

I'll hold comment on the pumps for now. I've been hearing patient's diving with serum glucoses ~ 200 and surfacing with 100-150 after a dive, whether on pumps, oral agents or subcutaneous insulin.

Is this what you've been experiencing? Has it dropped more or has remained stable at your pre-dive serum glucoses?

If your pre-dive glucose is already around 100, what do you do?

 

[ppo2_diver]

Diving is exercise. Just like walking my dog is exercise. In diving you have surface swims and are shouldering a significant amount of weight. I have found that a 30 minute dive is about the same as a brisk 30 minute walk.

I've never had my blood sugars drop more than 50 points. If my pre-dive blood sugars were at 100, I would pop a couple of glucose tablets and eat some crackers. The crackers are complex carbs and will stay in my system longer than pure sugar.

My routine for pre-dive blood sugar checking is that I check my blood sugars three times at 30 minute intervals before I dive. That way I get a profile of if my blood sugars are dropping or going up. If my blood sugars were dropping and my third reading was 100, I would seriously consider aborting the dive. Or eat an entire Snickers candy bar

 

[ssra30]

Jhnsndn, thanks for your information. It is very useful to know a routine. I don't know how often you dive or need to use this routine. Since most people will try to keep their sugar higher than usual while diving, any idea on if it would eventually affect the level of hemoglobin A1c. In a long term, generally most people go on several days trip only may be 1-3 times a year and may be a short weekend trips a few times a year so it should not make too much of a difference as long as their sugar is well controlled otherwise. In your case, seems like you might do it a bit more often so I am just curious. I am not picking on you or anything but it is hard to find someone who seems to have everything undercontrol very well and have lots of information so I would like to find out as much as I can.