Exercise and hypos

[phil.short]

I'm constantly told that exercise helps enormously with Diabetes, but I don't seem able to get started!

For the last 5 years or so I have been a bit of a couch potato (or rather a desk potato, tied to a computer monitor at work), but prior to that I was a gym freak. In my 30's I was a avid natural bodybuilder, and I'm not afraid of hard work and not averse to putting in gym time.

My problem is that now even just walking the dogs for 20/30 minutes will bring my BG down to borderline hypo level. Any strenuous work in the garden for 30 mins WILL drop my BG to less than 4 and make me ill for the rest of the day.

How can I contemplate proper exercise when my BG drops that rapidly?

 

[noblehead]

Eat a small snack of carbs before or during exercise should do the trick, try 10g of carbs first and test, if this doesn't work increase to 20g.

Nigel

 

[sugar2]

Are you at a consultant led clinic? I now have a pump, becasue I was getting frequent hypos...and with teh pump, half an hour before hitting the gym, I turn my basal arte down to 50% its normal rate. thatis teh beauty of teh pump, you can change the rates to suit your day, whereas once you jave injected that lantus/levimir...you have injected it!

Worth an ask...especially, if like me, one of the reasons you need to go to the gym is to lose a few pounds, then you really don't want to be having an extra snack.

Just a thought?

 

[CR741]

Hey, I found that if I had 15g of carb before I start it usually does the trick, or if you don't want to snack then you could reduce your units.

 

[Angeldust]

Carbs is key!

I do a lot of cardio at the gym...had a terrible hypo only once and it was because I took insulin with my meal prior. With the amount of cardio I do I need about 30g carbs beforehand and my levemir does the rest of the work I guess. My levels are almost always perfect afterwords.

My key to working out is a meal of carbs prior (no novorapid) and protein afterwords to help those muscles.

good luck in your trials!