Basal management and exercise

[Levy]

Hi all,

Just looking for experience with basal management and exercise (I'm personally on MDI but I think this also affects pumpers) - and actually more importantly, on days that you don't? I usually exercise Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays (although will sometimes miss out a day) and have never seriously considered having different basals for days that I do/do not train but I've noticed recently that maybe I should.

I was hoping to get some experience from others that do change their basals, how you do it (i.e. what change do you make, is it just on the day or the day after too, etc.) and how you worked out the way to do it?

 

[GrantGam]

I split my Levemir and adjust the AM dose depending on what I'm doing that day.

There's no real science behind my adjustment really and if I'm perfectly honest, it doesn't always work! It's trial and error for the most part. Reducing my basal for heavy exercise days means that I don't have to drink my weight in carbs to keep my BG's up. I still need to use gels, sports drinks, etc whilst exercising - just not as many.

I haven't noticed a big change in my overnight basal needs, so that's something that is fairly constant.

 

[Levy]

I split my Levemir and adjust the AM dose depending on what I'm doing that day.

There's no real science behind my adjustment really and if I'm perfectly honest, it doesn't always work! It's trial and error for the most part. Reducing my basal for heavy exercise days means that I don't have to drink my weight in carbs to keep my BG's up. I still need to use gels, sports drinks, etc whilst exercising - just not as many.

I haven't noticed a big change in my overnight basal needs, so that's something that is fairly constant.

Thanks! I've noticed personally that I don't need to adjust my basal for exercising (as long as I don't have any Novorapid active I can stay perfectly level during exercise). I think for me it's more about maybe adjusting it for days that I don't exercise as I've noticed my levels can generally be running a bit higher on those days. Not sure if that's something other people notice?

 

[GrantGam]

Thanks! I've noticed personally that I don't need to adjust my basal for exercising (as long as I don't have any Novorapid active I can stay perfectly level during exercise). I think for me it's more about maybe adjusting it for days that I don't exercise as I've noticed my levels can generally be running a bit higher on those days. Not sure if that's something other people notice?

Well it sounds like you could do with increasing your basal dose for your rest days. 10% increases are a good place to start. My daytime basal needs can more than double on a couch day, quite amazing really!

 

[Levy]

Well it sounds like you could do with increasing your basal dose for your rest days. 10% increases are a good place to start. My daytime basal needs can more than double on a couch day, quite amazing really!

Seems crazy I never thought of this before! I started using Libre a few weeks ago and it's only just occurred to me that some days of the week I just keep running higher than others. I'll have to give it a go.

 

[GrantGam]

Seems crazy I never thought of this before! I started using Libre a few weeks ago and it's only just occurred to me that some days of the week I just keep running higher than others. I'll have to give it a go.

Let us know how you get on Sounds like you've already got a solid grasp on things!

 

[novorapidboi26]

would you not want to reduce your basal for the exercise,,,,,,,,,and then if you need to drop the previous bolus too......

i find it strange you would need more basal for the day your aren't active.......its more likely you would need less for the day you are...

Periodic basal testing is wise....for the rest days anyway