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Cycle to work raising sugars

jackvdbuk

jackvdbuk

Well-Known Member
Messages
65
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi Guys,.

I have a libre and have noticed my sugars are rising after a cycle to work (10KM)

I Woke up at 7am - checked and was 5.6, i cycle to work and tested at 8.15 and was 9.9!

this seems to be a constant trend when cycling to work if i wake up at a good level, i eat breakfast at work and try to wait until it lowers but its really frustrating!

any ideas on how to curb the rise in sugar wile cycling in the mornings?
 
Apparently sugars rising from exercise isn't abnormal, the release of adrenaline stimulates the liver to released glucose or cortisol which makes you more resistant to insulin.
 
Do u see a simular pattern in the morning if you dont exercise? This may be worth looking at incase there is a pattern you have at that time. Although as tallgiraffe mentioned, it is common that sugars can rise during exercise especially if you have been fasting beforehand like in the mornings. Maybe increase the basal during the ride and reduce it afterwards.
 
I had a post on this a couple of days back.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/temp-basal-rates.115170/

@Snapsy provided a really helpful repsonse.

I now reduce Temp Basal by 50% for 30mins before cycle. I then do a temp basal of 150% for an hour afterwards. This morning i started at 8.3 and it is now 7.5. The cycling is causing me night time lows which is a work in progress.

Check out the above post. It's working for me although still needs some tweeking.

Best of luck.

Link added.
 
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I used to get a 2mmol rise after exercise but 6 or 7 almonds stopped it.
 
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Before you started cycling did you use to have breakfast at work too? (and didn't notice a rise?)

As mentioned it could just be the exercise causing the rise or it could be your liver doing a sugar dump because you're not eating until later - or a combination of both.
 
jackvdbuk said:
this seems to be a constant trend when cycling to work if i wake up at a good level, i eat breakfast at work and try to wait until it lowers but its really frustrating!
Click to expand...

Try having your breakfast when you wake up to see if it makes a difference @jackvdbuk (with exercising soon after you'll likely have to reduce your bolus dose).

Even without exercising, if I don't eat breakfast soon after waking my bg levels can be in double figures within a couple of hours, by eating breakfast it shuts of the liver dump and makes bg control more manageable.
 
Adrenalin can cause your BG to raise. Maybe, look for trends, if its going up every single time, consider injecting before you start cycling. Henry Slade (Rugby player) injects before a match as his BG rises.
 
@jackvdbuk I have the same issue. If I'm exercising first thing, before breakfast, I have 0.5u before I exercise, otherwise I climb and climb. I'm on a pump.

If I'm exercising after breakfast, say, at parkrun, I find my breakfast insulin on board is enough to not spike me too high when I'm just getting going. Curveball: I always reduce my basal to 50% for the duration of my run or my bike ride, so as to avoid a hypo, BUT I have to switch it up to 150% for an hour as soon as I stop exercising, otherwise I end up in the teens.

Trial, error and testing. And I'm still working on the maths....
 
thanks all,

Game plan is now to see if it rises when i train to work, i will also try the 7 almonds tip and see if i have similar results or it keeps it stable then go from there! great advice as always
 
hynes48 said:
Might be a stupid question but how do the almonds help manage your sugar levels? Sorry for my ignorance!
Click to expand...

I'm unsure to be honest however a fair guess would be that it stimulates a small insulin response that drives down the sugar that is elevated by cortisol. cortisol is released during exercise. either way it definitely works for me and many others. By the way it does not necessarily have to be almonds but they are low carb friendly.
 
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