pumping and exercise

[Verve09]

I've been pumping for approx. three weeks now and so far so good, albeit alot of adjustment and fine-tuning. I'm still trying to crack my basal rates so I've been up at all houors of the night and fasting like nobody's business ! I'm hoping it's all going to pay off.

I haven't done any strenuous exercise since switching to pump therapy as I wanted to let things settle before complicating matters with another variable. I usually exercise reguarly so it's been quite different over the past few weeks. I'm expecting to reduce my basal rates when I start exercising again but I'm not really sure how to go about starting again.

I am going to ask my DN when I ring her tomorrow but I wondered if any experienced pump users could give me some advice ? Did you start to use a temporary reduced basal? Or just eat more carbohydrate (I'd rather not use this option as I wanted to lose a bit of weight)?

Thanks!

 

[jopar]

Hoperfully you will have data from your MDI, to when and how your exercise effected your blood sugar levels which should be able to give some guidence to where you may need to make adjustments for exercise....

It is a case to a certain extent of trail and error...

I will generally set a TBR then, test, test during the exercise unless I get a really high or low, I let the TBR run, so I have a clearer picture to what sort of adjustments I might need to make next time..

I would suggest that you build upto your exercise rather go in at full wack, have plenty of hypo treatment with you, not only during the exercise, but also afterwards, I would also suggest that you check BG regularly for several hours after exercising to see how your BG's are effect as sometime its not before or during the exercise that the basal needs adjusting but several hours after... Sadly it is has I said trail and error, loads of testing until you find your best settings...

Yes run through with your DSN, and if you got some MDI data to take along from exercising she can hopefully give you some advice to make a good starting point..

 

[Verve09]

Thanks very much, Jopar!

I was following a low-carb diet when I was on MDI which meant that I could start exercising with a good BS and it would remain constant throughout. My diet is still fairly low-carb (30-50g per day) so I'm hoping that I'll see the same results on the pump...wishful thinking, maybe ? I suspected it was probably going to be a case of trial and error, like most things with diabetes !

I'll let you know how I get on

 

[roo.be]

Hi,

I agree with Jopar's statement of trial and error. If you've previously exercised you may have an idea of how this affects your BG and can adjust the TBR fairly accurately from the start, however it is a case of doing a little exercise and see how you get on and reduce or increase as required (both TBR and exercise intensity.)

Another consideration is how long your body continues to 'burn' after you stop exercising. If I run for 30 mins in the morning I have low sugar in the early evening. Be prepared for this. Usually it occurs at the same corresponding time but can be different from one person to the next. Allow you TBR to carry on for a short while after you stop the exercise, again trial and error for the exact time. For me it is about 1 hour.

Good luck and happy exercising!

roo.be