CGMS and Sport (Surfing & Cycling)

[tiddles]

Hi,

I'm thinking about investing in a CGMS monitor. I don't use a pump and thought a CGMS monitor might help with my control, especially during sport.

I spend some time surfing and it's frustrating taking a finger stick when you've got wet hands. As the units are advertised as "waterproof" I though I could wear the transmiter under my wetsuit and, hey presto, get an instant reading when I come into shore.

I'm in the UK and as such only the Abbott Freestyle Navigator and the Guardian Real time are available at the moment. I think the Dexcom unit will be available in March.

I'd be really grateful for any feedback, sport specific or not, as it's a considerable investment for me.

Thanks for your feedback.

Tom

[lark 27]

Not familiar with all the options but for my CGMS it's part of my insulin pump (paradigm) and if I detach from the pump and spend much time out of range from the CGMS you lose the signal and then you have to recalibrate so it would be more work than the alternative of just drying off and testing. Also, the real benefit of the CGMS is seeing the trend os BG and not necessarily getting a precise BG reading. For me when I'm exercising it's also frustrating that my BG will drop 10-15 minutes before I really see an effect on the CGMS because it is measuring interstitial fluid glucose instead of blood glucose.

With those somewhat negative comments said, I still highly recommend having a CGMS because it's really helped me track trends and fine tune dosing.

[sarahspins]

Any CGM has too much of a delay to be truly effective during exercise... it can be helpful in seeing what the "big picture" is, especially what's going on after you stop your workout, but my experience so far is that it's not a good indicator of lows, or going low... at all. I can go low in MUCH faster than the CGM will pick up on it. You really have to test via fingersticks to get any useful info before/during any strenuous activity.

It's also possible for the CGM to read much higher during exercise due to increased glucose in the intersitial fluid, even when your blood BG is not elevated, or even on the low side.