Posted by on Sunday 2 August 2015

64 Days with the Medtronic 640G: Ep 4 SmartGuard vs Mountain

We have just returned from a wonderful holiday among the Black Mountains, Brecon Beacons and Cambrian Mountains in the middle of Wales. The weather was as mixed as you might expect, but we did grab the opportunity of one of several gloriously sunny days to walk the popular path up Corn Du and Pen Y Fan which the walking guide proclaims to be 'the highest peaks in southern Britain' (presumably Snowdon counts as ooop North).

It seemed like a reasonable 'test case' for SmartGuard and exercise for me. Things were a little complicated by a fairly active morning with a fairly hefty Temporary Basal Rate which I had slightly overdone so as to be confident to drive, meaning that I approached lunchtime in pretty much double figures (180ish for US readers). Often I would choose to reduce my pre-exercise meal bolus a little, because I tend to get very sensitive to any active insulin once I start moving. I didn't want to do that this time though as I was fairly high to start with and in some dim corner of my mind there is something squirreled away about exercising at high levels being Not The Best Idea.

So there you go... the scene is set, the reality TV style 'manufactured peril' is in place (Solemn face to camera... 'But exercising at those levels, and with all that insulin on board - just what will happen')...

Let the drama unfold.

Oh, and as if that were not enough excitement, you may notice I am sporting an impromptu 'holiday beard' in this video. Feel free to express your opinion, hilarity or horror at this unexpected turn of events by voting #beardyes or #beardno in the comments.

Thanks, as ever, for watching.

Any questions or comments, please leave them below.


Too much time on your hands? Subscribe to my YouTube channel.

1 comment:

  1. Brilliant videos Mike - very high production values, and amazing results :)

    I achieved similar figures walking in Switzerland last month using a Dexcom G4 and reducing the basal levemir a bit. We hiked across the slopes at the base of the Eiger and the glacier at 3500 m - I wouldn't have been happy doing it without a CGM though!

    If I need to go on a pump in the future this one looks great - I think it will be some time before the artificial pancreas projects come to fruition (primarily because they really need to be infusing insulin and glucagon into the portal venous system rather than subcutaneously, with the feedback delays this causes).

    Best wishes,

    Ian

    ReplyDelete