Counter-productive exercise

[Ilana]

I go swimming twice a week, which I enjoy, but I struggle to control my blood sugars when I exercise. I was advised by my healthcare team to make sure my blood sugar is 7-12mmols before I start exercising so I either don't inject as much as I usually would for the meal I eat before I go, but then I feel unwell (the normal symptoms of being high) before I go. Then sometimes I inject normally before I go swimming then eat something carby without injecting before I go swimming, but then I feel like I'm only burning off the calories for the extra food that I just ate with the intention of swimming, which is annoying. I would love some advice and ideas on how to tackle this problem, thank you

 

[dancer]

It's trial and error, I'm afraid. If you feel the symptoms of highs when you reduce a bolus before exercise, you must be reducing too much.

It's much easier for me, because I'm on the pump.

Try reducing your bolus by roughly 20%. This was easier for me when on MDI because I used a half unit pen. You can't make exact reductions, so just round off.

If 20% isn't a high enough reduction, try 30% and so on.

How's your Maths? Any problems, just ask.

 

[nskelton]

If you're able to be flexible, try getting your sugars in that range before swimming but go swimming before a meal say dinner.

Then if you've had a drop in sugars you can eat your dinner and back off in the dose of insulin to accommodate the exercise you've done, therefore got a calorie deficit.

 

[copepod]

It depends on how energetic is your swimming. See Runsweet for details - http://www.runsweet.com/StartingSports.html and all the links from that page. Make sure you understand the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise.