Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alissa on October 29, 2011 at 8:18pm

My daughter started pumping in May, she swam all summer long with her pump on. Not one single problem and actually it was great! I checked her bg more frequently during and after swimming because she would swim for quite awhile at times and I think she had two lows, and the lowest was around 70. We had no highs following swimming because her pump was on, I so wish she could wear it during gymnastics!

Permalink Reply by Cindy on October 29, 2011 at 8:39pm

Thanks for the reply. My husband is the one who is so leary about trying it - especially if we are away on a holiday and out of the country. I think that I will try her in the bathtub at home with it and see how it goes. Did your daughter have her pump in any kind of waterproof bag or just the pump in the water itself? How do you manage blood sugars when your daughter is not attached during gymnastics?

Permalink Reply by Alissa on October 30, 2011 at 1:38pm

Hi! This summer she just wore her pump clipped to her bathing suit. If she was running on the lower end of her target she did not wear it in the pool but if things were "normal" she would keep it on. Gymnastics is unpredictable for the bg's. Naomi does not wear it during gymnastics at all, I think she has one time. For us gymnastics is always a guessing game sometimes she goes high after because of the missed basal or adrenaline and other times not at all, depends on what they did, how fun it was (getting excited always makes her go up a bit), time spent doing conditioning etc... Not sure I'll ever get it figured out. :). It took me this entire last year to realize that post gymnastics it just simply unpredictable.

Permalink Reply by type1kanu on October 29, 2011 at 10:26pm

Hi Cindy,
I wear my pump while swimming and paddling all the time. Of course I have to watch out for the lows while doing each but I've learned that I just need to put a temp basal of -50% or so about 2 hrs before hand and no lows during the activity.
I'm usually a little leary of swimming in open water with the pump just clipped on so I put it in a SpiBelt so that I know it's not going to pop off my suit. Haven't lost one yet and it's been over 5 years.

Permalink Reply by girlygirl on October 30, 2011 at 5:31am

Hi Cindy,
I got my ping a year ago and I choose it over the others for one reason, I could swim with it. It has been great, I've never had a problem with it. When I swim, I'm in the water for over an hour at a time and it works like a dream. I too put it in a SpiBelt so it doesn't flop around.

Permalink Reply by brandi on October 30, 2011 at 5:54am

I try to remember to disconnect my ping before swimming because if I keep it on, I go pretty low. All the lakes and rivers around here are FREEZING so trying to stay warm combined with the exercise makes me go low. However, there were a few times I forgot to disconnect while we were staying in hotels with pools and such. My pump always did fine. My friends would remind me its on and freak out because they didnt know it was waterproof. So I'd take it out, hold it underwater, and make it light up to show them that everything is fine.
If you're going far away from home, you can contact Animas and they'll give you a "loaner pump." It's just a back up to keep around in case yours breaks. When you come home, you send them the pump back. We've never had to actually use a loaner before.

Permalink Reply by Kari on October 30, 2011 at 3:46pm

I've used mine in the pool outside my apartment complex with no issues. Also gone to a water park and had it on all day through all the crazy water slides and in the wave pool. No issues!

I have not taken it in deep water yet (ie, water I can't stand in).

Permalink Reply by Samantha Frena Levitt on October 30, 2011 at 10:34pm

depends on what pump i have gone with a few of my pumps before and water damaged it i believe u can go swimming if you put pump in plastic bag and not submerse pump for a long time it should be ok but i would never go with out trying to seal a bag around it only from my experince

Permalink Reply by MossDog on October 31, 2011 at 12:24pm

Just make sure that there is no crack in your O-ring on the battery cap and replace the cartridge cap every once and a while and it will be fine. You would be far more likely to encounter problems later in the pumps life as that is when micro cracks tend to show up.

Permalink Reply by solo79 on November 1, 2011 at 1:42pm

I recently took a trip out of the country and I swam with my pump the whole time during the trip. I also went snorkeling most days for hours... I have not had any problems with swimming in it. I tuck it in my suit and plunge in. I did notice one day when I was in the water for a very long time the inset adhesive got water logged but I am talking hours.... I just put IV3000 over it the next day and all was good. I am thankful the pIng is waterproof as I enjoy swimming almost any minute I can get in the water...