Can't control my blood sugar if I do anything physical.

[Bootsey]

Hi, I'm Type 1 still a new diabetic just over a year now I'm asking if anyone can tell me how they hold there blood sugar levels when they exercise or do any physical work. I cannot seem to keep my levels up when I do anything physical. I spoke to my diabetic team and diabetic Doctor who have gave me a guide of instruction to follow for my insulin and food intake before exercise or physical work, but no matter what I do, I seem to drop very quickly down to hypo levels no matter how high my bs level is beforehand. I'm wondering would my age also have a impact on this, I am 51 years old?

 

[In Response]

Have you tried
- exercising before breakfast? I find this is great because I experience some Foot On The Floor liver dump first thing in the morning and the drop due to exercise balances this out
- not exercising whilst you have "insulin on board"? Exercise makes our body more efficient at using insulin. Therefore, I try to avoid exercise less than 4 hours after my last bolus.
- drinking a diluted sweet drink ,such as weak squash or fruit juice, whilst exercising? I find this maintains my levels rather than topping them up when they fall.
- an insulin pump? Hypos due to exercise was the justification for me to get a pump. This allows me to take the no "insulin on board" policy another step and stop my basal insulin before exercising, This also means I can revert to drinking water and don't need to exercise before breakfast.

I am not a doctor but I do not think your age has anything to do with your problems. I am a similar age and have adopted a strategy for minimising hypos due to exercise.

 

[Bootsey]

Have you tried
- exercising before breakfast? I find this is great because I experience some Foot On The Floor liver dump first thing in the morning and the drop due to exercise balances this out
- not exercising whilst you have "insulin on board"? Exercise makes our body more efficient at using insulin. Therefore, I try to avoid exercise less than 4 hours after my last bolus.
- drinking a diluted sweet drink ,such as weak squash or fruit juice, whilst exercising? I find this maintains my levels rather than topping them up when they fall.
- an insulin pump? Hypos due to exercise was the justification for me to get a pump. This allows me to take the no "insulin on board" policy another step and stop my basal insulin before exercising, This also means I can revert to drinking water and don't need to exercise before breakfast.

I am not a doctor but I do not think your age has anything to do with your problems. I am a similar age and have adopted a strategy for minimising hypos due to exercise.

I have, followed the guidelines they gave me, I make sure I'm over 7, if below 7 I have a snack or fruit juice before hand, but my levels just drop off. I might just burn my energy levels up quickly and need more food intake beforehand.

 

[ert]

I agree with @In Response, exercising before breakfast on just long-acting is the perfect starting point. I don't need to eat to maintain a straight line with my blood sugars before breakfast. My specialist recommended that I don't exercise within two hours of taking short-acting and to halve the amount of short-acting I take with a meal if I was planning to exercise. I still need to eat fruit before or during to maintain my blood sugars in these later sessions.

 

[StewM]

Hi, I'm Type 1 still a new diabetic just over a year now I'm asking if anyone can tell me how they hold there blood sugar levels when they exercise or do any physical work. I cannot seem to keep my levels up when I do anything physical. I spoke to my diabetic team and diabetic Doctor who have gave me a guide of instruction to follow for my insulin and food intake before exercise or physical work, but no matter what I do, I seem to drop very quickly down to hypo levels no matter how high my bs level is beforehand. I'm wondering would my age also have a impact on this, I am 51 years old? View attachment 52255

Guidelines are a good starting point, but they won't and don't work for everyone. Your best bet is to feed this back to your Doctors if you're able to contact them easily. If not, you can modify things yourself. So how would you do that?

1) Be very careful.

You clearly know there's a possibility of going low, so be ready to test/treat a Hypo at the slightest sign of trouble. If you have a Libre 2 you can set-up alarms to help you. If you have a Libre 1 and/or a Blood Sugar Testing kit. Don't hesitate to test if something feels off.

2) Modify

If you chop 2 units off your dose and you still go Low. Take 3 off the next time and see what happens.

3) Adjust your standards for "in range"

When I was having the difficulties you described, I would treat 4.9 and below as "Low" and correct with Dextrose Tablets (whilst active). This meant I would catch the Blood Sugar drop before it became a Hypo.

4) Basal Testing

Any time I've had an issue like what you're describing it's been an issue with my Basal Insulin. Try to go without food for the time of day you usually exercise, don't exercise, and monitor your Blood Sugar levels. If the Basal's causing the issue, you'll find your levels are dropping in the absence of Bolus/Food.

With regards to your final question. It's neither here nor there why, as the steps you'd take to resolve the issue would be the same regardless.

 

[Bootsey]

Guidelines are a good starting point, but they won't and don't work for everyone. Your best bet is to feed this back to your Doctors if you're able to contact them easily. If not, you can modify things yourself. So how would you do that?

1) Be very careful.

You clearly know there's a possibility of going low, so be ready to test/treat a Hypo at the slightest sign of trouble. If you have a Libre 2 you can set-up alarms to help you. If you have a Libre 1 and/or a Blood Sugar Testing kit. Don't hesitate to test if something feels off.

2) Modify

If you chop 2 units off your dose and you still go Low. Take 3 off the next time and see what happens.

3) Adjust your standards for "in range"

When I was having the difficulties you described, I would treat 4.9 and below as "Low" and correct with Dextrose Tablets (whilst active). This meant I would catch the Blood Sugar drop before it became a Hypo.

4) Basal Testing

Any time I've had an issue like what you're describing it's been an issue with my Basal Insulin. Try to go without food for the time of day you usually exercise, don't exercise, and monitor your Blood Sugar levels. If the Basal's causing the issue, you'll find your levels are dropping in the absence of Bolus/Food.

With regards to your final question. It's neither here nor there why, as the steps you'd take to resolve the issue would be the same regardless.

Thank you, I have the libre 2 and already set at what you have stated, I have tried lowering the insulin intaken and still go low but I will try not taking my insulin when exercising if it is around lunch/dinner time.

 

[StewM]

Thank you, I have the libre 2 and already set at what you have stated, I have tried lowering the insulin intaken and still go low but I will try not taking my insulin when exercising if it is around lunch/dinner time.

Just to be clear, I was suggesting not taking your Bolus Insulin solely if you're testing your Basal Insulin, and not exercising.

 

[In Response]

I have, followed the guidelines they gave me, I make sure I'm over 7, if below 7 I have a snack or fruit juice before hand, but my levels just drop off. I might just burn my energy levels up quickly and need more food intake beforehand.

Another thing I would add is to be aware how different types of exercise affect your levels. Typically, cardio causes a drop and resistance training causes it to rise. So, if my levels are a little lower than I'd like to go for a run, I start the gym with some weights and vice versa.
We are all different and it takes trial and error to find out what works for ourselves rather than just following the one generic guideline provided by our consultant. Try each of the methods described above and find out what works for you. It may require a combination of things.

 

[Bootsey]

Another thing I would add is to be aware how different types of exercise affect your levels. Typically, cardio causes a drop and resistance training causes it to rise. So, if my levels are a little lower than I'd like to go for a run, I start the gym with some weights and vice versa.
We are all different and it takes trial and error to find out what works for ourselves rather than just following the one generic guideline provided by our consultant. Try each of the methods described above and find out what works for you. It may require a combination of things.

Thank you, I will keep trying different methods. It may be that I still in the honeymoon period that causing the problem.

 

[LionChild]

Hi, I'm Type 1 still a new diabetic just over a year now I'm asking if anyone can tell me how they hold there blood sugar levels when they exercise or do any physical work. I cannot seem to keep my levels up when I do anything physical. I spoke to my diabetic team and diabetic Doctor who have gave me a guide of instruction to follow for my insulin and food intake before exercise or physical work, but no matter what I do, I seem to drop very quickly down to hypo levels no matter how high my bs level is beforehand. I'm wondering would my age also have a impact on this, I am 51 years old? View attachment 52255

These guidelines can only be a rough estimate as each one of us has bodies that work in their own sweet way. Apart from advice on insulin requirements, or not, I would say just make sure also that you always have Gluco-juice/Lift with you and biscuit and maybe some dark chocolate too...? These are my staples to deal with hypos, and generally keep my BG up when it suddenly goes down...If you are exercising you will need something more nearby than these quick fixes however..

Interestingly I watched Strictly on TV the other night and noticed one of the professional dancers was wearing what looked very much like a Libre sensor on his arm. I presume someone close by had his meter, and it was on the alarm setting, so that if he did have a hypo mid-performance, he could be rescued? Very brave of him I thought...