Huge BG spikes after porridge and exercise

[bexb91]

Hiya!

I was diagnosed a year ago (Jan 2017, happy anniversary to me) with Type 1. I'm 26...
So I've always been really active, however in the past year due to diabetes related complications, I had to cut down on the exercise.
I've started getting back into training again (both running and cycling) and I'm seeing some crazy BG spikes...

I wake up with BG levels of around 6-8, have a bowl of porridge at 7.30am (50g standard oats from Morrisons, with a splash of milk and the rest water), with a few berries and a heaped teaspoon of sugar free peanut butter.

I cycle to work just after breakfast, it's about 30 mins cycling through London, approx 10k. About 15 mins after cycling, my levels are between 15-19 which is absolutely crazy. I haven't had spikes like this before (except obviously in the very very early days)

I inject just before I eat porridge, have tried pre-injecting about 20 mins before, but I end up having a massive hypo by about 11am, literally dropping in a really short space of time.

Just wondering if anyone else is having the same issue with porridge and exercise etc. ??

I have tried switching to protein breakfasts, but porridge is so easy first thing in the morning, it's cheap and it's super filling!! (sorry, bit of a porridge fan as you can probably tell...) I do like eggs, but not first thing in the morning!

Anyone having/had similar issues?
Thank you!!

Becca

 

[O_DP_T1]

Porridge is hit and miss, may be you need to take a few extra units for it, that is what I am finding having said that I've only been on MDI for about a month,

 

[bexb91]

Hiya,

Thanks for the reply - I've tried extra units, but unfortunately I come down really, really fast and end up with a hypo which is a really inconvenient way to start my day at work!!

 

[Deleted Account]

Without looking at porridge and exercise in isolation, it is difficult to confirm whether the spike is due to the porridge, the exercise or the combination ... or even a (slightly later than usual) dawn phenomenon.
In your position, I would do a bit of experimenting
- try porridge at the weekend without the cycle ride and see what the impact is.
- try a protein breakfast before cycling and see what the impact is
- try (if you can) having your porridge once you get to work and see what the impact is
- try (if possible) having a break between eating your porridge and getting on your bike
- try taking you insulin earlier and having a snack when you get to work to avoid the hypo

The problem may be the porridge on its own, it may be the stress of the cycling through London traffic or it may be something else (like dawn phenomenon).
Unfortunately, things are not consistent so keep testing - you may find in a few months that you get faster at cycling and your BG drops rather than rises.

 

[bexb91]

@helensaramay Thanks, that's really helpful.
I'll try switching to porridge after the ride tomorrow as a first step and see if there is a marked difference!

 

[Spablauw_]

Hiya!

I was diagnosed a year ago (Jan 2017, happy anniversary to me) with Type 1. I'm 26...
So I've always been really active, however in the past year due to diabetes related complications, I had to cut down on the exercise.
I've started getting back into training again (both running and cycling) and I'm seeing some crazy BG spikes...

I wake up with BG levels of around 6-8, have a bowl of porridge at 7.30am (50g standard oats from Morrisons, with a splash of milk and the rest water), with a few berries and a heaped teaspoon of sugar free peanut butter.

I cycle to work just after breakfast, it's about 30 mins cycling through London, approx 10k. About 15 mins after cycling, my levels are between 15-19 which is absolutely crazy. I haven't had spikes like this before (except obviously in the very very early days)

I inject just before I eat porridge, have tried pre-injecting about 20 mins before, but I end up having a massive hypo by about 11am, literally dropping in a really short space of time.

Just wondering if anyone else is having the same issue with porridge and exercise etc. ??

I have tried switching to protein breakfasts, but porridge is so easy first thing in the morning, it's cheap and it's super filling!! (sorry, bit of a porridge fan as you can probably tell...) I do like eggs, but not first thing in the morning!

Anyone having/had similar issues?
Thank you!!

Becca

Hello,

I started eating porridge about half a year ago,
I eat about 60g of oats, 200ml soja milk and a teaspoon of sugarfree peanut butter. I also cycle about 15 mins every morning just after breakfast.

The first weeks were very hard and I also had some nasty spikes (15+) and I had no clue why.
I was pre injecting 20 mins before breakfast and I still spiked, taking more insulin would make me spike less but gave me a hypo 4 hours later.

What worked for me, and still works 4 months later, is exercise, not necessarily just after eating porridge but throughout the week, when I started eating porridge I wasn't exercising much (2 hours a week) but when I got back to school after the summer I started exercising more (6 hours of cycling a week and another 3 hours at school) and I immediately saw less spikes in the morning (I wear a Freestyle Libre)
I find that whenever I exercise often enough, I have less spikes with the same amount of Insulin, especially at breakfast.

Another thing is the milk you use; industrial melk often has quite some sugar in it (5g per 100ml) and those sugars have a high Glycemic Index, It will not explain the 15+ spike but it helped me a bit.
And then there's also the oats, Instant oats also have a higher Glycemic Index than regular oats.
https://wholegrainscouncil.org/whol...nth-calendar/oats-–-january-grain-month/types

 

[bexb91]

@Spablauw_
Thanks for your reply

Interesting to hear you had a similar experience.
I've been cycling/running daily, about an hour or more about 5 days a week for the past 2-3 months. I do push quite hard on my bike as I'm training for some 10k runs and a half marathon, and for a 200km cycle which I've done a few times before, but all pre-diagnosis.

I didn't have the same spikes in the first month or so of training, but for the past 3 weeks the spikes have been really big. I haven't changed what I've been eating, but I feel like I've become more sensitive to carbs in the morning, or just more insulin resistant in the morning than I am in the evening. In the afternoon and post-lunch I don't spike anywhere near as much, and thats after another fast cycle home.

I've been reading about the oats as well, I do have regular oats but I'm going to switch to whole rolled oats and see if that makes a difference at all! I think a protein breakfast might be the way forward, but I just don't have the same energy afterwards!!

 

[ickihun]

I have to double my insulin need for porridge or bread. Type2s don't need extra insulin. We produce too much already, most of us.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Hi. Exercise spikes me.it is cortisol causing a stress response. Your insulin is not hi tting the porridge but as you observe if you do it too early then insulin and exercise take too much glucose out of your blood.
Yo90u could9 try hacking this by sloeing the absorptiom of oats woth a dollop of nut nutter or protein powder or coconut oil or by delaying breakfast til work? Btw you mau be low ish on arrival if starting on 6.8 from home. Do not let this put you off and hopefully you will get the hang of bgs/exercise which will be an acievement

 

[NicoleC1971]

Sorry for all the typos btw...

 

[Spablauw_]

@Spablauw_
Thanks for your reply

Interesting to hear you had a similar experience.
I've been cycling/running daily, about an hour or more about 5 days a week for the past 2-3 months. I do push quite hard on my bike as I'm training for some 10k runs and a half marathon, and for a 200km cycle which I've done a few times before, but all pre-diagnosis.

I didn't have the same spikes in the first month or so of training, but for the past 3 weeks the spikes have been really big. I haven't changed what I've been eating, but I feel like I've become more sensitive to carbs in the morning, or just more insulin resistant in the morning than I am in the evening. In the afternoon and post-lunch I don't spike anywhere near as much, and thats after another fast cycle home.

I've been reading about the oats as well, I do have regular oats but I'm going to switch to whole rolled oats and see if that makes a difference at all! I think a protein breakfast might be the way forward, but I just don't have the same energy afterwards!!

Another thing you should try is fasting in the morning, there's something called the dawn phenomenon which causes BG to rise in the early morning.
I will rise about 100 points (5 mmol) if I don't have breakfast in the morning, so I need a standard 2 units extra for breakfast to cover that.

And like @NicoleC1971 said, exercise also spikes you. for me it does and that's why I add another unit to cover the exercise spike in the morning.
Basically, I need an extra 3 units of rapid acting insulin without even counting the carbs!

Breakfast is, for me and I think for most us, the hardest meal from the day.
If I would have my breakfast at lunchtime then I would need 3 units less and I could easily inject right before eating whereas I inject 30 minutes prior to my breakfast.

Good luck!

 

[bexb91]

Another thing you should try is fasting in the morning, there's something called the dawn phenomenon which causes BG to rise in the early morning.
I will rise about 100 points (5 mmol) if I don't have breakfast in the morning, so I need a standard 2 units extra for breakfast to cover that.

And like @NicoleC1971 said, exercise also spikes you. for me it does and that's why I add another unit to cover the exercise spike in the morning.
Basically, I need an extra 3 units of rapid acting insulin without even counting the carbs!

Breakfast is, for me and I think for most us, the hardest meal from the day.
If I would have my breakfast at lunchtime then I would need 3 units less and I could easily inject right before eating whereas I inject 30 minutes prior to my breakfast.

Good luck!

Thank you for your reply!

Yeah, I reckon that must be it, because I barely spike after lunch, even with a bowl of pasta or something followed by sitting at my desk for 3 hours...

I'm definitely going to try having more insulin in the morning just for the exercise, as I tried having high protein low carb a couple of times this week instead of porridge and still went up to 15 mmol which is definitely not ideal!

 

[Key_master_]

I would say it’s a combination of all 3. Dawn phenomenon, carbs from the porridge and the exercise so early on. Stress of just riding on the road can be enough, I bet London is an experience.

I used to commute every morning using my bike but only a 12 minute ride and would find if I rode really hard my sugars would go crazy. That was from just waking up and jumping on my bike. I would then have breakfast which back then was bran flakes with milk (I didn’t know any better then) with my insulin 15-20 mins before, that included a correction dose for the big spike.

I found I needed as soon as I woke up a shot of rapid acting first thing on waking depending how much the dp had brought my sugars up would depend on the dose and a unit to cover the ride. Without that waking injection of rapid they would easily climb to the low teens. No food or carbs on board.

I would try and ditch the porridge as much as you like it, I used to love mine in the winter as it’s so simple and comforting on a cold morning. I have an omelette now or bacon and eggs. No more spikes either as I catch the dawn phenomenon with a shot of rapid and don’t add carbs first thing.

I hope this helps.