Can't balance bg during exercise!!

[glamourie]

I can do the same thing 2 days running and be high one day and hypo the next - even more so with exercise. This morning I was 12.4 (disappointing but not unusual) I had breakfast, and took the correct insulin for the food, I didn't take a corrective dose because I was going running (worlds slowest 5k) - and it normally drops by about 6 per hour of exercise. However

now it's 2.6 and dropping. Any advice?

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[Bon83]

Could I ask if you are new to running? I find that running will literally burn through sugar - if you are fairly new to it and your heart is hammering and the weather is hot your muscles will be using your glycogen stores like crazy and insulin will be using it up at a pretty rapid rate as well! I would be very cautious using the correct dose - I would drop it for a run. Even a short 5 k will amplify the effect of insulin also you will get an after burn that could last a couple of hours after you have stopped a short burst of activity. I recommend the diabetic athletes handbook it's a great read for exercise keep motivated it will get easier to predict!

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[Juicyj]

I would try eating a carby snack before exercising just to maintain your levels, something like a banana would do the trick ?

 

[Just_Me_Rachel]

I have been in a similar situation, and this is what I found:
1. I found it really difficult to keep my sugars exactly right without going high or low. Eventually I learnt some sort of schedule but, just like you said, do the same thing 2 days running and it's just not the same results anyway. So, be gentle on myself and just do the best I can!
2. Always, no matter what, carry sugar and high carb snack with me. (I didn't always used to do that...)
3. If I were a 12 in the morning and doing that much exercise, I'd have been super wary with taking any insulin for breakfast.
4. I learnt to pay attention to what I eat for breakfast. If my sugars were high, like 12, I'd try low carb with no insulin taken, or something like low carb wholemeal bread which I know how it works and didn't rush to spike my sugars. I usually took about 1/3 of the carbs I was actually eating. When my sugars were good, I wouldn't take any insulin (and again kept on top of what I was eating, so for example 1 or 2 slices of low carb wholemeal bread at 7carbs each piece).
5. I try to keep my sugars a little elevated. Not much, but an 8-9 was good for me. It gave me the space to drop during exercise (remember I've eaten before and not covered all so I still have the food in me, and I would still drop). I wouldn't correct unless I was above 12.
Note, that when I'm doing exercise and correcting - each unit brings me down much more than it does when I'm sitting on the couch. So, if I were in middle of exercising and see a 19 (which I hated because it stole my concentration but it did happen in my trying to avoid going low) I'd take into consideration how much time I still had left of exercise and correct very, very cautiously. (if I were almost done, I'd correct down to a 9, if not perhaps just a 13 and I'd still get all the way down to 6 by the time I was done).
6. I usually stopped half way through for a snack. That would depend though on how long I'm exercising for.

Another thing - exercise can make you go low later on in the day too.

To sum up: alot of trial and error for me, to learn how much to correct and to learn what foods I should eat.

But, exercise did my body good and I'm really glad I did it!!