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exercise and blackouts-not hypo's

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ahoban62

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I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 4 years ago, I am less than 70 kilos and 50 years of age, don't drink, or smoke and eat a balanced diet. I love exercise, and now I use insulin it is a case of measuring my sugar level all time and having some lukazade handy.

My problem is that if I swim say 3 times a week, 50x25 metres non stop, and play tennis and go for a run,lets say 1 hour twice in the week, I can guarentee that sometime in the next week or two I will get deja vu and maybe a blackout, been tested in the past for epilepsy, but I don't have that.

What do I do, become a couch potato terrified of telling GP in case I lose driving license; yet if I stop exercise, problem goes away.

And yes, my levels NEVER WENT BELOW 7, usually quite a bit above to compensate.

As I say it is not a deja vu within the timeframe of the exercise, rather a week or so after-so it is nothing to do with the insulin or burn up at the time of the exercise, but maybe it is just how energy is produced or not ??

help !
 
I've fortunately never blacked out but have had some very low levels through exercise.
Exercise will make you more insulin sensitive so you need to adjust according to the exercise you take. I think we're all individual and so need to make records and test frequently.#
It's been the thing that I have found most challenging and to be honest have only (semi) resolved by using a pump. I can now reduce my basal insulin to just a trickle just before and during exercise. I need almost nothing for a hard hill walk or long run.
Make sure your glucose is not too low before exercise. Test before, during and after, be prepared for hypos some hours (for me typically 5 hours ) after exercise so adjust the insulin at the meal following exercise.
This site helps explain what's going on http://www.runsweet.com/
I think you're referring to another post about levels. Personally, my levels are under 7 most of the time but will certainly spike much higher than 7, indeed if they were consistently at 7mmol/l 2 hours after a meal then I would often be hypo at 4 hours. On a run or a swim (even more because I swim in a cold outside pool) if there is active insulin on board I can drop from 12mmol/l to 4mmol/l in less than half an hour.
It's taken me a long time but I rarely go very low now (used to go down to where my meter said 'lo') except on very long days backpacking in the hills when I haven't yet cracked it. I have a pump, I use glucose as a drip feed(1 dextrose tab at regular intervals supplemented by larger amounts after 2-3 hours) . I've tried to work out what my body does. As we are all individual I suspect that's what we all have to do.
 
You really need to speak to a health professional, this doesn't sound like blood sugar related, not to scare you or anything, but what's to say it's not related to your heart or something else?

Blacking out during exercise certainly isn't normal...
 
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