Exercise (bike ride)

[sarah1990]

Hi I wondered if anyone could help
I've been going on bike rides riding for a couple of hours, my sugars can shoot up to about 21/22 even when I've not had breakfast, then when I've come home they've dropped then I'm having lows.... !!?? Is this normal, I love my bike rides and I don't want to stop. I'm type 1

 

[Juicyj]

Hi @sarah1990

Cycling can do this, if you haven't eaten prior to a ride your liver can give you a glucose boost, so it's good to eat something before exercising, going low afterwards depends on whether you have insulin on board ?

I also ride a bike and my method to approaching it would be, to eat something with less than 10g of carbs before, no bolus so no quick acting insulin, I also turn my basal down on my pump to 20% for the duration, I carry glucose and carbs and if I drop below 6 mmol/l then I eat 10g of carb or take a bottle of juice with glucose in it to gulp down as it delivers the glucose hit a bit quicker, I also start my rides above 7-8mmol/l. If you are on injections then it's wise to eat more than 10g of carb before, so around 20g. I also use a Dexcom G6 so can view my levels continuously throughout the ride, I drop quite easily when on my road bike, I go quite hard so it's an intense ride and can then struggle to get my levels up, that's why seeing the G6 helps.

My focus is to avoid lows when cycling as they suck the energy out it, so would rather run a bit higher then correct at the end if needs be.

Glad you love cycling, I do too, it's great to be outdoors and nothing like the feeling of freedom when cycling, also makes my forget I am t1, until I look down at my phone

 

[sarah1990]

Hi @sarah1990

Cycling can do this, if you haven't eaten prior to a ride your liver can give you a glucose boost, so it's good to eat something before exercising, going low afterwards depends on whether you have insulin on board ?

I also ride a bike and my method to approaching it would be, to eat something with less than 10g of carbs before, no bolus so no quick acting insulin, I also turn my basal down on my pump to 20% for the duration, I carry glucose and carbs and if I drop below 6 mmol/l then I eat 10g of carb or take a bottle of juice with glucose in it to gulp down as it delivers the glucose hit a bit quicker, I also start my rides above 7-8mmol/l. If you are on injections then it's wise to eat more than 10g of carb before, so around 20g. I also use a Dexcom G6 so can view my levels continuously throughout the ride, I drop quite easily when on my road bike, I go quite hard so it's an intense ride and can then struggle to get my levels up, that's why seeing the G6 helps.

My focus is to avoid lows when cycling as they suck the energy out it, so would rather run a bit higher then correct at the end if needs be.

Glad you love cycling, I do too, it's great to be outdoors and nothing like the feeling of freedom when cycling, also makes my forget I am t1, until I look down at my phone

Hi thank you for the advice it's really helped! my bs was 13 when I got up so had no breakfast, but I will have breakfast before I go in the future, and yeah I did do a correction on my bike ride as it was rising and not falling..... cycling is really the best, it does make you forget even for just a little bit, thank you for your help, take care

 

[Juicyj]

Hi @sarah1990

The issue I have with quick acting insulin is that it can easily drop me too, again, if it were me starting at 13 then I wouldn't eat with that number but then I also would only take about a 25% correction of what i'd normally take so i'd still have some insulin on board to bring it down, it's best to err on the side of caution and although we hate numbers like that, it's best to have a good safety buffer to avoid lows too, the best result is when your levels are sat nicely in range at the end as it's almost a double triumph then

 

[Juicyj]

This site is useful, not sure if you pump or inject, but it's a good resource: http://www.runsweet.com/diabetes-and-sport/cycling/

I have to admit it is trial and error and being confident in predicting outcomes, I managed my first 52 mile ride at the weekend, mostly in range, but it involved alot of work in monitoring my levels, insulin and carb control and a few stops, the fact I did it all mostly in range was more of an achievement that the ride itself as only a few months ago I would of thought this to be impossible.

 

[sarah1990]

Same for me, usually after I correct and back at home, drops so fast.... such a pain haha. Thank you, usually I would of done a correction but because I was going to be riding a couple of hours I didnt but I'm going again tomorrow, I will try everything you said, which is all very helpful and hope it helps. Nothing better than being in range all day

 

[Juicyj]

Also how do you monitor your levels ? If using a BG meter then stop every 30 mins to try and gauge speed and direction.

Would love to hear how you get on ?

 

[sarah1990]

Also how do you monitor your levels ? If using a BG meter then stop every 30 mins to try and gauge speed and direction.

Would love to hear how you get on ?

I have a freestyle libre. I will do I will let you know, going on tomorrow, Thursday and friday well done for being in range, that's brill, hopefully that'll be be soon